Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy from franchised dealer

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Wed 5 Nov 2014 13:23
Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy from franchised dealer - DrJimS

Hi,

Looking for a bit of advice.

I bought a 4yr old Fiesta (ex Motability) from a Ford franchise dealer few weeks ago. Car was advertised with 21k miles on clock and sales documents from dealer state this as mileage. Last week when the new DVLA documents came though I went to check when the next MOT was due and logged onto the DVLA/VOSA website and got shock when mileage on site said 34k from the first (and only) MOT in June 2014.

I immediately called the dealership and after the few days of "investigation" the sales manager called me back to say that they bought the car with 34k miles from motability, but when they had it serviced it was realised that the odometer was recording Km not miles at which point they changed it to miles hence the 21k. Suffice to say none of this was mentioned when the car was purchased. They said that they would be willing to provide a letter stating this that I could give to any future buyer if this became an issue.

I checked with CAB and they say I may have a case for a full refund under the trades description act in that rather vague way that they do.

My question is the dealer's explanation credible, the log book with a FSH from Ford records mileage consistent with their explanation (but is also equally consistent with the last owner clocking the car). Would a letter from the dealer hold any weight in a future sale (priviate and/or trade), and do you think a request for a full refund would be justified in this case?

Edited by DrJimS on 05/11/2014 at 13:24

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Wed 5 Nov 2014 13:30
Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy from franchised dealer - skidpan

If the car is 4 years old it was registered in 2010. That means it was due for its first MOT in 2013 when it was 3 years old. For it to have its first and only MOT in June 2014 it would mean it was registered in June 2011 thus the car is 3 1/2 years old.

So which is it?

I went to check when the next MOT was due and logged onto the DVLA/VOSA website and got shock when mileage on site said 34k from the first (and only) MOT in June 2014

But the DVLA site does not tell you when an MOT is due by mileage. An MOT is due 12 months after the previous one.

Very confused here.

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Wed 5 Nov 2014 13:35
Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy from franchised dealer - DrJimS

Bit of rounding up with the years. It is a 61 plate.

I logged onto the DVLA site to see when next MOT was due on the basis of the date of the last one. It was at this point I noticed the mileage discrepancy.

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Wed 5 Nov 2014 13:43
Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy from franchised dealer - skidpan

But why after buying the car did you need to log onto the DVLA system to find out when the next MOT was due. The dealer would have given you the MOT when you bought the car.

At that point you should have noted the discrepancy and sorted it before handing over any cash.

Bit late now.

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Wed 5 Nov 2014 13:48
Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy from franchised dealer - DrJimS

But why after buying the car did you need to log onto the DVLA system to find out when the next MOT was due. The dealer would have given you the MOT when you bought the car.

At that point you should have noted the discrepancy and sorted it before handing over any cash.

Bit late now.

Dealer didn't provide/produce any documentation asociated with the car other than the log book with the service history in it.

Having had the luxury of a company car this is my first car purchase in a very long time, kind of assumed when buying from a franchised dealer that there would not be problems like this.

Edited by DrJimS on 05/11/2014 at 13:49

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Wed 5 Nov 2014 13:41
Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy from franchised dealer - Brit_in_Germany

I don't see a problem here - car has 21k on the clock and has travelled 21k. No issues under the act.

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Wed 5 Nov 2014 13:53
Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy from franchised dealer - DrJimS

I don't see a problem here - car has 21k on the clock and has travelled 21k. No issues under the act.

Has it? The only official record of the cars mileage shows it as being 34k. Dealer's explanation of a Km/miles swap on the odometer is credible but equally they could have messed up thier checks when buying the car from motability.

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Wed 5 Nov 2014 13:55
Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy from franchised dealer - skidpan

Dealer didn't provide/produce any documentation asociated with the car other than the log book with the service history in it.

What mileages are in the service history. Do they match the 21k on the clock or that on the MOT?

You should never hand over your cash until you have seen all the documents. If the dealer will not show them to you or says they are in the psot (or soemthing similar) run away fast, they are hiding something.

The last dealer I bought a used car from produced a wallet file that contained all the documents relating to that car. No searching, no excuses, all there. And he was not a franchised dealer, just a long established local car lot.

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Wed 5 Nov 2014 14:00
Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy from franchised dealer - DrJimS

Dealer didn't provide/produce any documentation asociated with the car other than the log book with the service history in it.

What mileages are in the service history. Do they match the 21k on the clock or that on the MOT?

You should never hand over your cash until you have seen all the documents. If the dealer will not show them to you or says they are in the psot (or soemthing similar) run away fast, they are hiding something.

The last dealer I bought a used car from produced a wallet file that contained all the documents relating to that car. No searching, no excuses, all there. And he was not a franchised dealer, just a long established local car lot.

The log book shows 3 Ford services, the last one being from the dealer I purchased from.

"Mileage" was recorded as (approximately): 1st 7k, 2nd 20k, 3rd, 21k.

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Wed 5 Nov 2014 16:19
Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy from franchised dealer - galileo

The log book shows 3 Ford services, the last one being from the dealer I purchased from.

"Mileage" was recorded as (approximately): 1st 7k, 2nd 20k, 3rd, 21k.

If the odometer was in Km, would not the speedo also be in Km/hr?

That would explain why it was possibly always driven at 5/8ths of the speed limit. (25 in a 40, 45 in a 70 etc)

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Wed 5 Nov 2014 17:00
Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy from franchised dealer - Mike H

If the odometer was in Km, would not the speedo also be in Km/hr?

Not necessarily, given the circumstances. You can argue that the facility to switch the digital odometer between kilometres and miles is pointless if there's an analogue dial for the speed, but it's there, presumably because they use the same physical dial but with different figures on for the kilometre & mile versions. It may therefore be that the electronics were set incorrectly at the factory, or a battery disconnection may for example have caused the wrong default to appear.

No-one here has mentioned (at least I don't think they have) that 34k kilometres does indeed equate to 21k miles in broad terms, so it sounds aplausible explanation IMHO.

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Wed 5 Nov 2014 14:39
Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy - Andrew-T

I seem to recall a thread a few months ago about this miles/km discrepancy and whether it affects the value of the car. As electronic dash displays are easily switched from one to the other, if there is no other fault with the car it seems the only issue may be the price you paid. I doubt that a strong case could be made for refund - all you might do is suggest a goodwill reimbursement if you can persuade your dealer that you were misled to your disadvantage. Either 21K or 34K would be unexceptional, and hardly worth anyone's while to clock. You can only ask.

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Wed 5 Nov 2014 16:29
Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy - RobJP

The difference in value on a 4 yr old Fiesta from 21k to 34k will probably be £500 or less. There is an argument that the higher mileage car might even appeal to a more knowledgeable buyer, if selling, due to the fact that the (very) low mileage car is more likely to have brake discs rusting, condensation causing rust in the internals of the exhaust, etc.

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Wed 5 Nov 2014 17:28
Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy - RT

Why would a Motability car be used anywhere that uses km? Motability is a UK government benefit and nowhere in the UK uses km.

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Wed 5 Nov 2014 18:29
Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy - elekie&a/c doctor

Do you have this type of info display?issuu.com/stalker1971/docs/new_fiesta_manual.Page 66. Looks to me like the mot station have entered the odometer reading incorrectly as Km.Perhaps you need to speak to them?

Edited by elekie&a/c doctor on 05/11/2014 at 18:34

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Wed 5 Nov 2014 21:20
Ford Fiesta - MOT mileage discrepancy - catsdad

This is quite hard to follow as no dates have been provided for the services or MOT. However if the third service was done at 4 years old then the service and advertised mileage are consistent. However the second service reading is ony 1k less than the third. This suggests that the second service is also recorded in km? If so I wonder if the odomoter is easily flipped km/miles and so honest mistakes have occured. I doubt the MOT station will be able to comment as why would they real one MOT among many.

If it does turn out that the likely explanation is a simple error you have lost nothing but it might still be worth seeing what you can get. An interesting tack may be to revisit what the salesman said. If they bought it in on the belief of it having a higher mileage (at a price reflecting this) then sold it at the lower true (we assume) mileage then they will have trousered a wider margin than usual. This may give room for negotiation. It might be worth saying to the dealer that you are unhappy at the mix-up and asking them to make a goodwill payment, aiming to get say £250? Or next service and MOT for free?

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