Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed

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Sun 25 Jan 2015 00:43
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - mrducga

Hello guys,

Today I just bought an Audi Q7 advertised as having done 25,000 (the odometer reading says over 26,000 when I checked the car).

It's looking very nice and clean which makes the 25,000 figure believeable.

However, when I got home, I checked the latest MOT in Sep 2014 and it showed the car odometer reader was 40,000 then, 35k in 2013 and 29k in 2012.

This is a reputable dealer so I don't think I will have a problem returning the car and get a refund.

However, I do like it and would like to keep it so I would probably go down the compensation route.

In this case, what would be the problems for me in reselling the car in the future? I have done my research and people say I should say that the car has been clocked which I'm fine with but I can't say by how much.

Is there any completely legal way (not those mileage correction companies) to verify the accurate mileage of the car at all? It would be nice for me to know so I can put my mind at rest and can help with negotiating the price with the dealer too.

I would think that Audi should be able to do it but again I'm not a car expert (hence this thread).

Any advice on this car clocking issue in general and keeping a clocked car in particular would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

David

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Sun 25 Jan 2015 08:53
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - brighteyes
On the face of it this is a slam dunk on misleading advertising. However I would be surprised if, somewhere in the small print of your Sales Contract there isn't a clause disclaiming responsibility for the mileage reading. Having said that your argument could be that the dealer should have checked all the documentation, including the MOT and discovered the inaccuracy in the mileage. I think your first action is to revisit the dealer with the original advertisement and the MOT certificate and put it to him that the advertising was misleading and therefore in breach of the Sale of Goods Act and see if he is willing to negotiate a settlement that would be acceptable to both of you. If he is unwilling to do this then your next step is legal advice. This could work to be costly even if you win as the courts are not duty bound to award you costs and not worthwhile if, as you stated, you're happy to keep the car. Good luck, hope you get the compensation that on the face of it you deserve.
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Sun 25 Jan 2015 09:40
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - bathtub tom

Could this be a case of the odometer displaying kilometres and MOTs showing that figure?

40K km equals 25K miles.

Perhaps the dealer set the odo back to miles?

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Sun 25 Jan 2015 11:19
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - Brit_in_Germany

Changing from km to miles does look very plausible, after all, clocking to remove 15,000 miles doesn't make much sense for a six year old car. I would be happier with 40,000 rather than 25,000.

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Sun 25 Jan 2015 11:43
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - mrducga

Yes I was thinking something similar too as the figures seem to match up.

The current mileage is 26,545 miles which equal 42,700 km.

The difference of 2000 km could have been the distance covered by the owner from September 14 until now.

In this case how could we make it right? Can't seem to find any reference on DVLA website about this.

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Sun 25 Jan 2015 11:38
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - mrducga

Hi thanks for your advice much appreciated.

As I said earlier I'm not to worried about dealing with this dealer as they are quite reputable (they mainly sell supercars, this car was a P/X from a customer) and it seems to me like there has been a mistake somewhere as clocking 15,000 miles isn't really going to make them a lot more profit.

I will probably go down the compensation route but just wondering how we can make it right. I would have been happy to pay the price they gave me even if the mileage was over 40k to be fair as it's a nice and clean car.

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Sun 25 Jan 2015 12:28
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - pd

Difference in value on a 2010 is about £1200-£1500 so that's probably the sort of figure you'd be looking at.

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Sun 25 Jan 2015 13:10
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - mrducga

That's what I have in mind too thanks for your advice. Will talk to them tomorrow and hopefully sort it out.

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Sun 25 Jan 2015 16:48
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - Avant

Do let us know how you get on. Are there any clues in the service record?

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Sun 25 Jan 2015 17:43
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - Andrew-T

Do you feel that you have lost out financially? This is a low-mileage car so you may have paid top whack? If there are no problems with it other than the odometer reading, discuss it with the dealer and haggle a bit of a rebate. The miles/km switch looks the most likely explanation as there seems little point in clocking a car with such low mileage.

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Sun 25 Jan 2015 18:33
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - mrducga

Hi I just got a phone call from the dealer and they explained that it's indeed the km/miles issue.

The car previous owner was an European and he wanted the mileage to be in km and not miles.

I looked at the service book and there was one occasion in 2012 (last time it was serviced at an Audi service centre) in which the mileage was recoreded as km.

However, on the first MOT certificate which was done in 2012 around similar time, ironically at the same Audi service centre, the mileage was printed out with Odometer reading as "29517 Miles" (note the Miles here). Later MOTs just showed the numbers and not Miles.

The more serious problem is that in VOSA MOT history which I've downloaded, it shows the odometer readings in Miles and not KM.

Therefore, on paper, the car is considered clocked and that worries me because I will have to sell the car at some point in the future and not sure how this would affect the sale.

The dealer did offer me a refund if I return the car (as I said they are a reputable dealer) but I do like it a lot.

They also said that I just needed to record future MOT odometer reading in km but not sure how complicated that would be?

Also another question I have is would VOSA change the mileage history if it's found to be inaccurate at all?

Many thanks guys you have all been amazing in helping me here!

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Sun 25 Jan 2015 19:06
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - RobJP

VOSA will not change their records - no chance. Forget it.

The dealers have done all they can, which is to offer a full refund.

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Sun 25 Jan 2015 21:01
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - gordonbennet

The dealer seems helpful, i wonder if they'd be prepared to put in writing an explanation of the situation, this could then be kept with the cars paperwork and produced when you come to sell on.

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Mon 26 Jan 2015 12:46
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - Andrew-T

<< Therefore, on paper, the car is considered clocked and that worries me because I will have to sell the car at some point in the future and not sure how this would affect the sale. >>

That will depend on how long you keep the car, and how many miles you add to it. After about 3 years I doubt it will make much difference to the resale value. I suppose the history may raise an eyebrow - perhaps you could get your dealer to put something in writing about the history? Might help later.

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Mon 26 Jan 2015 15:47
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - Dave N

26K miles in 5+ years, and the previous owner was 'European' (aren't we all now?) and wanted km's. Sounds like BS to me.

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Mon 26 Jan 2015 20:03
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - alan1302

26K miles in 5+ years, and the previous owner was 'European' (aren't we all now?) and wanted km's. Sounds like BS to me.

So what do you think happened with it?

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Tue 27 Jan 2015 08:36
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - RobJP

26K miles in 5+ years, and the previous owner was 'European' (aren't we all now?) and wanted km's. Sounds like BS to me.

So what do you think happened with it?

There are a fair few people who will lease a car with a very low mileage allowance (because it's so much cheaper in monthly payments)

They then do their high mileage, which they were intending doing all along, and every year they get the mileage 'corrected' for £100 or so, and then drop it in for a service.

In fact, for a car like this, with that sort of mileage showing at the end of the 5 year term, they could get it 'corrected' after 3 years, when the car was due for an MOT and probably a service. Then 'corrected' again at 4 years, and then at 5, just before handing it back.

So you think you're buying a low mileage car. In reality, you're buying a high mileage car that's barely had any servicing. Quite possibly 1 or 2 oil changes in 60-80k.

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Thu 29 Jan 2015 13:45
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - Simon

I'm not going to speculate about this particular Audi but some years ago now I knew a bloke who owned a mint Sapphire Cosworth. He used to run it round with the odometer disconnected all year and reconnect it about 300 odd miles before he had it MOT'd. That way it kept the mileage reading at an attractive level.

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Sat 31 Jan 2015 15:56
Audi Q7 - Just bought a clocked car - advice needed - Andrew-T

There are all sorts of giveaways in or on ae car which can suggest a true mileage. Not many owners (or users of lease cars) bother to renew worn seats, or pedal rubbers and things like that. Bodywork scuffs, marks in the tailgate opening, bonnet and screen chips ...

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