Honda Jazz - Odometer reading disclaimer on Vehicle Order Form

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Sat 8 Apr 2023 23:21
Honda Jazz - Odometer reading disclaimer on Vehicle Order Form - nixnix68

I was just about to transfer the balance of payment for purchase of second hand Honda Jazz when I noticed the following comment at the bottom of the front page of the Vehicle Order Form - 'The odometer reading is currently being investigated. The accuracy of the odometer reading therefore cannot be relied upon and should be ignored'

What is the legal situation here? I don't see why I'm supposed to take delivery of a car when such a key piece of information is stated as being unreliable? Had the disclaimer been placed next to the mileage figure in the Vehicle Information section I would not have signed the form. At the very least does this fall under some kind of deceptive business practice code of conduct? No mention was made of it to me verbally either.

I find the wording strange. It refers to an active process of investigation but with no expectation of a conclusion. Is this a standard disclaimer? Has anyone seen this same wording before? Sorry if I sound a bit dense but its the first time I've tried to buy a car.

Am I within my rights to cancel the contract and get by £500 deposit back?

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Sun 9 Apr 2023 00:07
Honda Jazz - Odometer reading disclaimer on Vehicle Order Form - Adampr

I'm sure you can ask for your deposit back, but it sounds like a fairly normal disclaimer. If you check the MOT history online, you will get a decent idea of whether the mileage is correct.

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Sun 9 Apr 2023 08:22
Honda Jazz - Odometer reading disclaimer on Vehicle Order Form - SLO76
It was normal practice at the dealership I worked for. Every car on sale had a mileage disclaimer on it, which was marked as incorrect until we had investigated its mileage. The only cars that were marked correct from arrival were those which we had previously sold and serviced and knew inside out.

Check the Mot and the service history to corroborate the mileage. If there’s no service record I’d hesitate to buy it. Clicking is rife with cars under 4yrs of age due to PCP and contract lease terms punishing higher mileages but with older cars post second Mot it’s hard to hide any serious tampering.
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Sun 9 Apr 2023 21:06
Honda Jazz - Odometer reading disclaimer on Vehicle Order Form - Andrew-T

Has anyone seen this same wording before? Sorry if I sound a bit dense but its the first time I've tried to buy a car.

Am I within my rights to cancel the contract and get by £500 deposit back?

Always within your rights, but I don't think this is a valid reason to reject a car. Years ago, when I occasionally bought a used car from a trader, it was common to find a small sticker on the odometer dial saying much the same thing. That would have been before the days when a car's mileage record was available online. It simply says that the seller cannot guarantee that no-one has clocked the car - if someone has, it isn't the seller's fault.

There are far more important considerations to reject a car IMHO.

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Sun 9 Apr 2023 21:56
Honda Jazz - Odometer reading disclaimer on Vehicle Order Form - nixnix68

Thanks for replying.

I would absolutely agree if a sticker had been placed on the odometer or the disclaimer was watermarked over the mileage figure in the vehicle order form but the mileage is stated in the main body of text of the document with the disclaimer tucked away in the small print. No asterisk.

The wording is what I find really confusing though - it claims that an investigation is currently underway regarding the mileage. My understanding is that unless all the relevant history checks have been carried out the vehicle should not be sold.

We shall see.

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Sun 9 Apr 2023 23:05
Honda Jazz - Odometer reading disclaimer on Vehicle Order Form - Andrew-T

Can you tell whether the small print that worries you is a regular part of the form, or has it been added specially to your particular copy ?

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Mon 10 Apr 2023 11:02
Honda Jazz - Odometer reading disclaimer on Vehicle Order Form - nixnix68

Interesting question. My family have bought maybe 12 cars from other branches of this franchise and don't recall seeing this before or having any kind of issue. They were all much newer Kias though and the branches they bought from were Kia main agents so I'm assuming they had history with the trade ins.

Just phoned the sales agent. When I mentioned the order form saying the odometer was being investigated he claimed not to know anything about it - so that's very ...odd. He's worked there for years from what I can tell so they can't now claim its a standard disclaimer can they?

He also claimed not to know what happens when an order is cancelled which is clearly even odder. He then immediately went onto say that usually the deposit would be kept in cases like this especially as they've turned people away. So on the one hand he doesn't know what happens when someone cancels an order and on the other hand he does. I pointed out he should be able to sell it again easily if he has people waiting (no need to re-advertise even) - not sure he appreciated that bit.

The sales director isn't in today so he's going to speak to him tomorrow and get back to me.

This isn't the only issue I've had with them not being upfront about the car's history but I'll spare everyone the boring details.

They'd be a bit foolish to not give my deposit back as I still need to buy a car/have years of car buying ahead of me and my family have used their other branches for 20+ years but we'll see.

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Sun 9 Apr 2023 23:29
Honda Jazz - Odometer reading disclaimer on Vehicle Order Form - SLO76

Thanks for replying.

I would absolutely agree if a sticker had been placed on the odometer or the disclaimer was watermarked over the mileage figure in the vehicle order form but the mileage is stated in the main body of text of the document with the disclaimer tucked away in the small print. No asterisk.

The wording is what I find really confusing though - it claims that an investigation is currently underway regarding the mileage. My understanding is that unless all the relevant history checks have been carried out the vehicle should not be sold.

We shall see.

Yeah, not very reassuring. Our disclaimer was on the dash next to the mileage as well as the order form. Stock would often go on sale before it could be marked as correct but 99/100 they were quickly changed as the checks and signed paperwork from the previous owner came back ok. The car may be fine, it might get just be their policy to limit liability especially with clocking again so rife on cars within the first 3/4yrs of their lives.
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