VW Golf - Clocked mileage

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Wed 10 Nov 2021 14:35
VW Golf - Clocked mileage - VR6FAN
My elderly father purchased a 67 plate VW Golf earlier this year. We are now having to sell it due to his failing health.

We had the car MOT’d and discovered that the last MOT mileage is nearly 14000 miles more than the current Odometer reading. The ECU mileage is more than the mileage on last year’s MOT so that points to the Odometer being wrong.

The car was purchased from a VW main dealer and the bill of sale indicates a mileage lower than the current Odometer reading. I thought modern cars could not be clocked? I believe that the dealers should have verified the mileage at the time of sale, I have asked for official VW Service records but the dealer is proving a bit elusive.

Where do we stand and what remedies are available to us?
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Wed 10 Nov 2021 14:56
VW Golf - Clocked mileage - Andrew-T

From what you say, the only piece of inconsistent data is the mileage at the last MoT (presumably the car's first). As that will have been keyed in, unverified, by the tester, it may have been purely an input error, and probably of little use as evidence. In any case, if the car has been 'clocked' you should get a better return for it, especially with support from your bill of purchase :-)

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Wed 10 Nov 2021 15:06
VW Golf - Clocked mileage - VR6FAN
Andrew, the current ECU mileage is higher than the MOT Mileage for November 2020 which is what you would expect.

The ECU mileage however is 13857 miles more than the mileage currently showing on the dashboard display, this suggests that last year’s MOT mileage was correctly recorded and that the vehicle has been clocked and sold with a mileage significantly lower than the true mileage.
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Wed 10 Nov 2021 19:53
VW Golf - Clocked mileage - Andrew-T
Andrew, the current ECU mileage is higher than the MOT Mileage for November 2020 which is what you would expect.

I find it peculiar that the dashboard displays a different mileage from the ECU ?

What 'remedies' are you looking for ? I presume you feel the sale price might be adjusted downwards ?

Edited by Andrew-T on 10/11/2021 at 19:55

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Wed 10 Nov 2021 17:23
VW Golf - Clocked mileage - SLO76
Common problem unfortunately. People take cars on minimum mileage PCP and lease deals then have “digital mileage correction” carried out before returning the car. They save a lot of money over their real usage. It’ll usually show me f there’s a mysteriously low mileage between the last service or more often than not the service history is non-existent or simply disposed of. Modern cars are very easy to clock with the right equipment and this “mileage correction” is widely advertised. Buy cars only with a full stamped up service record and be very wary of any with mysteriously low final year mileages.

Edited by SLO76 on 10/11/2021 at 17:24

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Wed 10 Nov 2021 17:41
VW Golf - Clocked mileage - bathtub tom

Have you looked at the MOT history: www.gov.uk/check-mot-history

This may give you a fuller picture.

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Wed 10 Nov 2021 17:52
VW Golf - Clocked mileage - VR6FAN
There was only 1 Previous MOT given the cars age, that is what alerted the garage to the issue. As the car was purchased from a VW main dealer no one thought to check the mileage against the MOT record or the service history. I am of the opinion that the dealers are at fault for not checking and/or for selling the vehicle under false pretences.

They have still not got back to us, strange that!
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Thu 11 Nov 2021 12:58
VW Golf - Clocked mileage - VR6FAN
Looks like there may be an innocent explanation for the anomaly. Apparently VW ECU’s record in Kilometres which correspond to the current mileage figures. Looks like the previous MOT used the ECU reading and didn’t correct for Miles not Kilometres. If this is true I am surprised that it wasn’t picked up sooner, VW’s are a popular brand.

Edited by VR6FAN on 11/11/2021 at 12:58

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Thu 11 Nov 2021 18:34
VW Golf - Clocked mileage - elekie&a/c doctor
As a previous mot tester, the mileage recorded on the test certificate is the one displayed on the Speedo. Is it possible that the odometer on the car had been set to Kms , if that is possible on this model ?
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Thu 11 Nov 2021 18:40
VW Golf - Clocked mileage - RT
As a previous mot tester, the mileage recorded on the test certificate is the one displayed on the Speedo. Is it possible that the odometer on the car had been set to Kms , if that is possible on this model ?

Many VW models can easily be switched between miles and km by the press of a button on the display menu.

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