Mileage Correction Firm Ban Could Wipe Out ´Clocking´

Mar 29 2010 For years motorists have worried when buying a used car that the mileage may have been altered at some point during the vehicles life. Mileage ´correction´ firms have been changing cars mileage clocks for many years for ´legitimate´ reasons. The method known as ´clocking´ is legal, but only for legitimate reasons, which tend to be very rare.

This begs the question as to how there is over 50 businesses in the UK offering ´mileage correction services´. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) recently conducted a survey of the used car market and the research highlighted that clocking could cost consumers £580m a year.

The report from the OFT suggests that one-in-five of the 3.6 million people buying a used car each year experienced a problem with the cars mileage. This is a staggering figure which is ultimately leading to consumers having to waste money on over priced vehicles and in some cases even having to take bigger car finance packages than are really needed.

Mileage correction services cause car prices to increase as the reduction in miles on a vehicle increases the value. These increased prices then lead to consumers having to spend more money, which is why the OFT want the ban of mileage correction services implemented.

The OFT have also suggested that trusted companies which consumers reply on when buying new cars, such as HPI and Experian, are given mileage figures which are taken at MOT tests. Motor auction houses could also take mileage figures when vehicles pass through their halls. VOSA would have to authorise for these records to be shared but it would lead to increased consumer confidence when buying a used car.

A spokesman for OFT said: "We believe that occasions where there are legitimate reasons to correct a car´s mileage are very rare. Yet there are over 50 businesses in the UK openly offering ´mileage correction services´.

"We have a strong suspicion that many of these companies adjust mileages for illegitimate reasons. We take the view that the commercial practices of mileage correction businesses may breach the consumer protection regulations where the provision of such services is ´directly connected with the promotion, sale or supply of a car to consumers´."

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