Omega Owners Forum

Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: Varche on 17 November 2018, 09:58:28

Title: Car mileage clocking
Post by: Varche on 17 November 2018, 09:58:28
One in 16 vehicles checked now has a mileage discrepancy, which means there could be 2.3 million clocked and potentially dangerous cars on UK roads, the LGA said.

How can the clockers get away with this when MOT records the mileage? Is it new vehicles before their MOT or systematic clocking e.g. every six months go in for a reduction with presumably a record being kept? Potentially dangerous? I guess in extreme cases the services would have been missed as not "due" yet!

As an aside I remember once trying it with a black and decker drill on a car in the early seventies that was probably 15 years old. The idea was to get it back to zero. I soon gave up.


Here is a newspaper article to the problem. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/11/17/record-2-million-cars-have-had-mileage-clocked/
Title: Re: Car mileage clocking
Post by: TheBoy on 17 November 2018, 10:24:26
That's a huge improvement, because only a few years ago it was 1 in 4 cars.

With digital dashes, all it needs is software, and this is relatively common. I think the drop in numbers is possibly due to people actually doing MOT checks (though I bet the vast majority don't).

Many people lease, and have mileage penalties.  And because these are not MOT'd, are prime candidates for a bit of "adjustment".  Whether or not these are included in the figures, who knows, because journalists are too lazy/thick to look too hard.
Title: Re: Car mileage clocking
Post by: STEMO on 17 November 2018, 10:44:41
That's a huge improvement, because only a few years ago it was 1 in 4 cars.

With digital dashes, all it needs is software, and this is relatively common. I think the drop in numbers is possibly due to people actually doing MOT checks (though I bet the vast majority don't).

Many people lease, and have mileage penalties.  And because these are not MOT'd, are prime candidates for a bit of "adjustment".  Whether or not these are included in the figures, who knows, because journalists are too lazy/thick to look too hard.
The fact that it's been done can't be hidden though. If you interrogate the ecu, it will show up.
So I believe  ::)
Title: Re: Car mileage clocking
Post by: Jimbob on 17 November 2018, 10:56:47
While I was looking I came across a heavily clocked A6, easy spotted on MOT records!

In fact condition, versus mileage, I reckon it was clocked every year pre mot, then stupidly clocked lower when sold
Title: Re: Car mileage clocking
Post by: Field Marshal Dr. Opti on 17 November 2018, 10:58:03
That's a huge improvement, because only a few years ago it was 1 in 4 cars.

With digital dashes, all it needs is software, and this is relatively common. I think the drop in numbers is possibly due to people actually doing MOT checks (though I bet the vast majority don't).

Many people lease, and have mileage penalties. And because these are not MOT'd, are prime candidates for a bit of "adjustment".  Whether or not these are included in the figures, who knows, because journalists are too lazy/thick to look too hard.

Surely not. I can't believe the good people of this sceptred isle would be dishonest.

Johnny Foreigner perhaps but not British people. :)
Title: Re: Car mileage clocking
Post by: shyboy on 17 November 2018, 14:11:11
Is Stemo correct? Can the ECU reveal the dirty deed?
Title: Re: Car mileage clocking
Post by: iansoutham on 17 November 2018, 17:04:43
New BMW cars put a little pixel bot on the display if tampered with as the info is in the clocks, the exuband the key. If it does not all add up on the checksum (key cannot be altered), it brings up the dot. Even these add-ins for behind the dash to alter the mileage ratio (travel 20 miles, says you have travelled 7) cannot fool it and BMW cancel the vehicle warranty immediately.
Title: Re: Car mileage clocking
Post by: Varche on 17 November 2018, 20:04:15
We got fed up of looking at cars that had chequered histories here in Spain. Part service histories, stuff not quite right. Mileage was one. Once a car has been moved from one EU country to another and reregistered the history is apparently not available from the manufacturer. If that is true it is very poor.

Clocking must be costing the public millions .
Title: Re: Car mileage clocking
Post by: LC0112G on 17 November 2018, 20:06:14
I had a J reg Vauxhall Cavalier GSi2000 as a company car from new. Kept it for 4 years, put about 90K miles on it and then (stupidly) sold it for peanuts to local used car dealer the day I picked up the LC.

A few months later I was in the Local Vx dealership (can't remember why - LC was probably busted) when the new owner drove it in. He wanted to look at my car, and I wanted to look at his. I explained to him how the crease in the roof had happened, and the damage to one of the wing mirrors. I then looked at the speedo. Showed 64K miles. ::)
Title: Re: Car mileage clocking
Post by: STEMO on 17 November 2018, 21:26:12
Is Stemo correct? Can the ECU reveal the dirty deed?

From hpi:

When some cars are clocked, everything is retained within the ECU, so quizzing this will highlight the mileage having been adjusted. When buying a car it’s worth seeing if a marque specialist or franchised dealer can establish if the car has been clocked; you’ll probably be billed £50-£100, but if it stops you buying a car that’s been heavily clocked it’ll be money well spent.
Title: Re: Car mileage clocking
Post by: deviator on 19 November 2018, 09:20:08
I bet they are basing this on the mileage at MOT time.

In which case, I'm guessing there is a lot of cars that are incorrectly included in these figures. My example is my own MX5, it's an import and the odometer is in KM. If the MOT tester doesn't notice/know/care then when he punches my KM in miles section it reads as that. Hence the mileage on my car jumps all over the place.
Title: Re: Car mileage clocking
Post by: Doctor Gollum on 19 November 2018, 09:45:32
I bet they are basing this on the mileage at MOT time.

In which case, I'm guessing there is a lot of cars that are incorrectly included in these figures. My example is my own MX5, it's an import and the odometer is in KM. If the MOT tester doesn't notice/know/care then when he punches my KM in miles section it reads as that. Hence the mileage on my car jumps all over the place.
You should see the chaos this causes to our fuel fobs because people can't be arsed to take the kms from the tachograph, instead entering the mileage. I say can't be arsed as that's not quite true... By screwing it up they can waste a couple of hours trying to get fuel without actually bothering to do so with a legitimate excuse that the machine won't let them. Of course this invariably happens at about 3pm on Poets day, so no management find out until Monday and no one can get fuel because they lack the initiative to understand what needs to happen in order to reset the milage :-X

Rant over :D
Title: Re: Car mileage clocking
Post by: Keith ABS on 19 November 2018, 13:06:55
 I had a GSI manual Carlton years ago that had the digi dash, so loved by Mig V6
It threw a wobbly one day.
Turned out it had been clocked by a computer
It was registering 225000 when I had it.
 By it then showing correct mileage it was showing 350000.
Sold a year later with 375000 on the clock
Title: Re: Car mileage clocking
Post by: TheBoy on 19 November 2018, 19:09:43
That's a huge improvement, because only a few years ago it was 1 in 4 cars.

With digital dashes, all it needs is software, and this is relatively common. I think the drop in numbers is possibly due to people actually doing MOT checks (though I bet the vast majority don't).

Many people lease, and have mileage penalties.  And because these are not MOT'd, are prime candidates for a bit of "adjustment".  Whether or not these are included in the figures, who knows, because journalists are too lazy/thick to look too hard.
The fact that it's been done can't be hidden though. If you interrogate the ecu, it will show up.
So I believe  ::)
Some, not all.
Title: Re: Car mileage clocking
Post by: STEMO on 19 November 2018, 19:24:54
That's a huge improvement, because only a few years ago it was 1 in 4 cars.

With digital dashes, all it needs is software, and this is relatively common. I think the drop in numbers is possibly due to people actually doing MOT checks (though I bet the vast majority don't).

Many people lease, and have mileage penalties.  And because these are not MOT'd, are prime candidates for a bit of "adjustment".  Whether or not these are included in the figures, who knows, because journalists are too lazy/thick to look too hard.
The fact that it's been done can't be hidden though. If you interrogate the ecu, it will show up.
So I believe  ::)
Some, not all.
That was quick!  ::)
Title: Re: Car mileage clocking
Post by: New POD on 23 November 2018, 20:55:41
The son of a mate works for a construction firm.  He was at a client office at a meeting with the MD of a decent sized company. 

The MD's car was coming to the end of the lease, and having a few dents, removed and the scuffs on the wheels disappeared and a 25K haircut.

Because he'd gone well over the mileage limits and is also a crock. Like half the population it seems.

Apparently Fraud is okay.