Mileage Query

[cmax200]

I have touched on this is another section but thought I would post it here for information and advice.
3 weeks ago bought through a dealer, a 3 year old Merc it was sold as having 20K on clock, however on obtaining the documentation I found that the present mileage is less than that recorded at 2 services some 12 and 6 months ago at different garages. The strange thing is the difference is only some 2.5K. My concern is where has the car been for the past year and how and why has the mileage gone down?
As it was only due for an MOT on purchase there is no previous recorded MOT mileage, I spoke to Merc Finance who were previous owners and they declined to comment!
Has the car done excessive miles in the year? and what sort of explanation could the dealer give me that would justify the differences in mileage?
At the moment I have on advice from Trading Standards I have rejected the car in writing and not using it until the matter is resolved. I have resorted to hiring a car during this period as to protect my position I cannot take the risk of having it damaged in any way.
Obviously I have no desire at this time to mention the dealer in case there is a genuine explanation and I am giving them the opportunity to do so.
Any comments will be welcome.

 

[television]

Have you tried asking the previous owner who name is in the log book

 

[rf065]

How many owners has it had?
It only takes one dishonest one to clock the mileage.

Russ

 

[cmax200]

The previous registered owner was Merc Financial Services and they said they would not discuss the car with me. but to go back to the dealer. It has had 2 previous owners. But the difference in mileage appears to be between the time MFS had the car and till it was sold to me. Its a funny one as its not as if its been clocked a great amount unless it has done excessive mileage in that time and someone took it back too far.

 

[rf065]

Normally you would expect a new speedo had been fitted or there was an honest explanation, but, it would not be the first time on this forum that a clocked car had come from Mercedes. It has happened recently.

Russ

 

[cmax200]

They are not an Authorized Merc dealer just a local one that specialises in Mercs.

 

[television]

They are not an Authorized Merc dealer just a local one that specialises in Mercs.

There you have the answer, its been got at, they are dead easy to wind back

 

[cmax200]

Thanks m8s Ill give you feedback on the outcome in due course.

 

[Rappey69]

I know of someone who makes a very good living from programming cars, mainly dashboard displays...
apparently he does a lot of work for a mercedes dealership !!!
A ford focus had a new speedo. this man came round and set the new zero mileage one to what the car should have as fords claimed it cant be done
Unfortunately no authorites seem to really care that a buyer has just been ripped off due to a clocked car and trading standards only seem to investigate if the case looks worthy.
as for the police (as surely this is fraud when a seller clocks a car by 100,000) they are not interested...

 

[hawk20]

Normally you would expect a new speedo had been fitted or there was an honest explanation, but, it would not be the first time on this forum that a clocked car had come from Mercedes. It has happened recently.

Russ

That is not fair is it? You mean one was sold by an MB dealer, I think. And was there any evidence at all that the dealer had clocked it or was it a previous owner?

 

[hawk20]

If you buy Approved Used and have any problems you can hand the car back -within 30 days I think. And buying cars with full MBSH makes it very easy to check that the mileage is genuine.

 

[carlsson20]

Go on line type in mileage correction, £150 gives you any mileage you want, most new mercs are leased to businesses. most cars have limited mileage agreements...10k a year. go over that and your charged a silly rate per mile. Along comes a guy with a laptop.........it been happening for years

 

[television]

If you buy Approved Used and have any problems you can hand the car back -within 30 days I think. And buying cars with full MBSH makes it very easy to check that the mileage is genuine.

This car did not come from a MB network Hawk

 

[cmax200]

Update, The paper trail/record of services etc does not give any further indication. The retailer have the car back at present and looking into why the mileages dont tally, they appear to be as confused as I am and are having difficulties as to how the mileage has gone back (only about 2K) Its not as if anyone would clock the car only that small amount. It does pose me a problem because it is on the MB register as having done 22k last year and now on new and first MOT shows only 20K. Does not make sense and I myself could be left having to explain it to any future buyer if I sell it at a later date.
Is it possible for the Electronics to have had a blip or what else could cause this anomaly. I miss having the car but do not wish to end up with questions that I cannot answer.

 

[television]

If a cluster is replaced the info in the old one is transferred to the new one,so it did not lose the difference there

 

[cmax200]

According to dealer there are 7 units in car that record mileage and they all indicate the correct mileage apart from the one for the mileometer. They have updated all software reset the mileometer unit and all appears to be correct. It appears that there was a period when the battery was down and some minor electrical work (electric seat) carried out. Hence this caused the problem. !! Looks like i will have the car back.

 

[jberks]

If a cluster is replaced the info in the old one is transferred to the new one,so it did not lose the difference there

Not sure about this Malcolm - when I had my cluster replaced, I believe they had to reprogram the mileage into the new cluster alongside the options list using star. It took them nearly 2 hours to swap the clusters so it must have been more involved than just a plug swap.
Could be wrong but I also remember looking at a cluster swap on my 210 and that was the same - mileage had to be programmed in manually via star, otherwise it would read incorrectly.

It does sound like someone has swapped the cluster with another car. It would be interesting to know why, but I guess if it had a fault and they were jobbing a similar model out - which is likely with a fleet car where several came in together - swap faulty parts from several cars into one (making a lemon for some poor sod) but making several good, saleable cars in the process.
I'd say, if you're happy with the car, have them reprogram the cluster with the correct mileage and also ensure that it's configured to the correct spec (options like command/phone etc) and it should be fine. After all, as you say, you're only talking about 2500 miles.

 

[television]

Not sure about this Malcolm - when I had my cluster replaced, I believe they had to reprogram the mileage into the new cluster alongside the options list using star. It took them nearly 2 hours to swap the clusters so it must have been more involved than just a plug swap.
Could be wrong but I also remember looking at a cluster swap on my 210 and that was the same - mileage had to be programmed in manually via star, otherwise it would read incorrectly.

It does sound like someone has swapped the cluster with another car. It would be interesting to know why, but I guess if it had a fault and they were jobbing a similar model out - which is likely with a fleet car where several came in together - swap faulty parts from several cars into one (making a lemon for some poor sod) but making several good, saleable cars in the process.
I'd say, if you're happy with the car, have them reprogram the cluster with the correct mileage and also ensure that it's configured to the correct spec (options like command/phone etc) and it should be fine. After all, as you say, you're only talking about 2500 miles.

The info does have to be transferred, this is for the options on the car. I do not have the info on what STAR says, sure it is possible that the mileage is done separately, and that I do not know, but the transferring on Star is a must

 

[rf065]

After all, as you say, you're only talking about 2500 miles.

I thought the 2,500 miles was less than was showing at previous services 12 & 6 months ago, if that is the case, it could have covered 30,000 miles in that time before being clocked. Not sure I believe a "battery going down" or "electric seat repair" would alter the mileage.

If 7 other sensors record the mileage, how many miles has it done in the last 12 months?

Russ

 

[jberks]

If 7 other sensors record the mileage, how many miles has it done in the last 12 months?

Russ

That is the key question - clearly if it was bought as a 20k miler and is actually a 50k car thats a different issue and more likely to be fraud. That said, in the current climate it's quite possible for the car to have been sat around for a few months so have clocked up very little since the service. Nice to know the ECU keeps a record though.