Volkswagen Touareg - I've been sold a clocked car.... what can i do? | Legal matters | Back Room Forum

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Sun 22 Sep 2013 21:35

Volkswagen Touareg - I've been sold a clocked car.... what can i do? - iany

So...

I've had my touareg for 2 years, garage i bought it from put a 12 month MOT on when i bought it in the september, although it had only been done 3 months prior they said they'd rather.

everything looked in order, the car said it had done 90k, at the time it was the only touareg i could afford under 100k miles so i was pleased.

after a short time it needed an exhaust manifold, handbrake linkages and various other small bits, then after 12 months a new clutch. everyone that worked on it said it was a little tired for just 90k....

new MOT last week, got the new style doc that now tells you the last 4 mileage readings.... mine goes from 122k (june 2010) to 90k (sept 2010) then back up on the last 2 since i owned it. looks like its been clocked and lost around 30k miles.

To add to it i googled the garage name to get their details and find their name in lights on their local council website having been busted for selling clocked cars by trading standards in august of 2010.... wish i'd known that when i walked in there!!

Pretty P'd off as you can imagine, any idea what i can do now? I'll struggle to sell the car with this history!!

help!

Ian.

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Sun 22 Sep 2013 21:55

Volkswagen Touareg - I've been sold a clocked car.... what can i do? - Andrew-T

Yes, you have been mildly swindled. But realistically, when you come to sell the car (which I presume is now back above 100K) it isn't going to affect its value much. I would guess the loss will be mainly emotional as potential buyers may look askance. But you can point out the work you have had done, and I doubt that the result will be very different.

Edited by Andrew-T on 22/09/2013 at 21:56

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Sun 22 Sep 2013 21:56

Volkswagen Touareg - I've been sold a clocked car.... what can i do? - Falkirk Bairn

Did you buy on a credit agreement / HP, pay an initial deposit by Credit card?

Bank/HP/CC Companies are jointly liable under consumer credit act.

Claim off them!

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Sun 22 Sep 2013 22:09

Volkswagen Touareg - I've been sold a clocked car.... what can i do? - tony g

Hi ian ,
Well it's a classic case of clocking ,it's certain that the garage issued a new mot to hide the fact that the mileage was incorrect .

The repairs that you carried out are not relevant to the clocking issue ,nor is the two year gap between you buying the car and discovering the true mileage .

Clearly the mileage issue will have an effect on the cars resale value ,so first you have to determine how much your car has been devalued .Check similar cars to yours selling on autotrader ,with the correct and incorrect mileage .The difference between the two is the amount you have lost .i would guess £2/£3000 ,depending on the cars age now .

Then you have to decide how to recover the money ,the small claims court is probably the only way .

You have to decide , will the garage have the means to pay you when you win your case .

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Mon 23 Sep 2013 10:46

Volkswagen Touareg - I've been sold a clocked car.... what can i do? - Andrew-T

Tony G - we haven't been told the actual age of the vehicle, but must be 6 years or more. Would the difference in value between 90K and 120K be as much as that, even 2 years ago?

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Mon 30 Sep 2013 14:53

Volkswagen Touareg - I've been sold a clocked car.... what can i do? - iany

sorry for the dealy replying, didnt notice the responses...

The car's now 9 years old, was £8k when i bought it, with the "real" mileage would have been about 1500 less from what i can see.

its now done 118k, i had a clutch and a few other things replaced that my local garage said seemed a little early (at 95k) and said it should have been over 100, turns out it was acutall 127k miles at the time. things that i thought about when buying and one of the rasons i went for one under 100k.

yes i did buy on a crediut card (the balance of the deal after 6k part ex for my old car) and apparently should pursue the card company as the car sales comapny appears to have volutarily gone into insolvency...

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Tue 1 Oct 2013 18:03

Volkswagen Touareg - I've been sold a clocked car.... what can i do? - harry55

Depending on various factors, you said you part paid with a credit card. As long as it was at least £100, then pursue your credit card company under s75 of the consumer credit act. They are jointly and severally liable with the merchant, who you say has gone insolvent.

Do not be put easily put off by the credit card company. Provide copies of all receipts and correspondence, and tell them what you are seeking and why. Be reasonable but stay firm.

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Sun 13 Oct 2013 18:25

Volkswagen Touareg - I've been sold a clocked car.... what can i do? - iany

so far the credit card company have been ok, they sent out some forms and asked for a load of info and evidence which i've provided. i hope to hear something back during the next week.

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Sun 13 Oct 2013 20:58

Volkswagen Touareg - I've been sold a clocked car.... what can i do? - gordonbennet

Ian, i hope you get some joy with this, i agree it will make a huge diference when you want to sell on, having to admit that the car has been clocked is really well over 150k will send most buyers running.

And i'm wishing with all my heart that the credit card company use every bit of their considerable financial muscle to pursue these swindlers for the shirts off their back, they belong in the gutter.

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Fri 18 Oct 2013 16:13

Volkswagen Touareg - I've been sold a clocked car.... what can i do? - Skezza

I too hope you have luck with this issue. Where I live (Stoke), there are a number of very unscrupulous garages that do everything from odomoter correction (as it's known), to dodgy MOT's and selling cars that have clearly been shafted through an MOT. They've got cars for sale now, for ridiculously cheap, that don't even look safe to be on the road.

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