UKC

So I've been looking for a new car for quite some time now, and eventually found a car that I think is a pretty good buy, is in great condition but one thing is bothering me, the miles on the clock.
It's a digital clock, the car was advertised in Autotrader with 86000 miles on it. Ok, so this type of car BMW 1 series, for my budget, that is what I was expecting, fine. But on looking into the MOT history the 2015 MOT has the car clocked at 96000, and that was November. Fair enough the guy said he isn't using it as he got a company car, and so won't have put many miles on since then but how can the car have 10,000 miles less now than when it was last MOT'd. I asked the guy and he couldn't explain it to me, infact onn our telephone conversation he said it has around 95000.
If this is an innocent error on his part or Autotraders part then it would be a shame to miss out on it, it has soe important spec I have been trying to get, but I can't seem to get it out of my head that such an important part of selling a car, well, you'd surely make sure it was correct, wouldn't you?
Then on the other side, if he was trying to hide anything then you'd not make it so obvious, would you?

Am I over thinking this, am I too paranoid, should I have faith in my fellow man, or am I right to be concerned?

What you reckon?

In reply to Dominicandave:

Sounds like he has put a lower mileage on the autotrader ad, either intentionally or not. If intentional it was probably just to make the car look like it was priced better for the mileage and attract interest. I'd probably avoid it. It's not a rare car, sure you will find another.

In reply to Dominicandave:

Seems like there are three possibilities:

It's an innocent mistake on the advert.

It's a misleading advert in the hope it can be shrugged off as a mistake and you'll buy anyway but may not have gone to look had the true mileage been posted.

It's been clocked and the guy is a muppet with a patchy memory or too many lies on the go to keep track of them all.

Your call really. How much time and money do you risk wasting going to view it to decide which you believe.
jk

In reply to Dominicandave:

Change of instrument binnacle. Not illegal unless for fraudulent reasons.

I had a car and the binnacle needed to be changed. Apparently you only get one opportunity on installation to enter the mileage. Maybe the garage entered a lower mileage by mistake? Mine was set to zero so I effectively lost all the mileage the car had done, but knowing the exact mileage at failure, I sold it one declaring the extra mileage with no problems. It was subsequently sold on at least once more time but whether the subsequent sellers still declared the lost mileage or not I would not know. Could have happened here? Maybe the seller buys and sells and so was not aware of previous MOT? Or he's on the fiddle, your guess.

Look for garage receipts for change of binnacle? Of course there is software out there that can "wind back" the mileage so got to be careful.

Usual decision - if your not happy walk away, or investigate further until you are that it is explainable. Always other cars out there.

In reply to Dominicandave:

Is it worth clocking a car 10k miles? Unlikely

In reply to Dominicandave:

You dont say how old it is, how long this guy has owned it and whether there is a pattern of miles per annum between annual MOT mileage recordings (if its had more than one MOT). I dont know how much you're planning on spend but if something appears fishy then it usually is. Do you know if he's a 'back street' dealer. I'm on a VW forum and there are always people turning up to sell their vans, when you google their mobile number up pops a whole host of vehicles they have sold or are selling.

I suppose the other thing to check is the service history assuming there is one.

You're not being paranoid, dont place faith in everyone (I've met people who'd sell their gran for a few quid), personally I'd walk away.

In reply to Dominicandave:

What does the milage say on the 2014 MOT and what does it actually say on the clock?

In reply to timjones:

The MOT log is actually very consistent, goes up between 11 and 13000 each year. Full BMW service history. Everything is very correct, just the guy seems a little daft. I just phoned him and asked how the ad could be wrong, and he said he'd never looked at the ad. Now that to be flags up something weird. Would you not check to see how the car looked at least after advertising it? Then he said he was selling it because he got a company car then he just said he got a company car and bought another one, and so now he has three. I dunno if he is a really bad salesman or he is just a really clumsy kind of bloke, it's hard to tell. On the phone he seems genuine in tone, but the things he says are just not making sense to me. Why I asked you guys, to see if I am being super paranoid or understandably so.

In reply to BazVee:
Well it is advertised for £5299 its 2007, I guess I was expecting to get it for £5000, but having 11000 miles more than that which originally attracted me to it devalues it for me by quite a bit. Infact I wouldn't have considered looking at it if the as had said 96000 miles. That is where I'm at in reality, is 96000 miles much more than 86000, in my head it's a deal breaker I guess.
Just spoke to him again and told him it was overpriced at that price, and the lowest he'd come down to is £4,800 which I guess is fair. It's the 1 series Msport and so has great spec. Is the reduction in price worth the extra miles though..........

No wonder I am still looking for this car, I'm really suspicious of everything haha!

In reply to Dominicandave:
Beware of people with a scatty facade which hides dishonesty, I'm scatty and honest, but I've been taken in by dishonest people who've seemed plausible if you decided they were just scatty a couple of times.

It might not apply to him but it's 'a thing' I've come across. Sounds like I'm paranoid too?

In reply to Dominicandave:

I'd say that if the clock matches the MOTs.and the car comes up clean on a reputable data check then you're being paranoid.

In reply to Dominicandave:

move on buy another

In reply to Timmd:


And people selling cars can be quite dishonest ... one lady owner guv

In reply to Dominicandave:

If it were me, I'd walk away. There's always another car out there.

Something else that has me pondering, payment on private sales. What is the standard way to pay these days? Bank transfer, cheque, do people still hand over cash these days? I've never bought a car from a private seller.

In reply to Dominicandave:
I've bot a few cars privately over the last few years via EBay/Gumtree you really need to do your homework on the particular model of car Known faults,Value etc it's a mine field especially buying from a private seller you've no come back so you need to be sharp! If somethings not right walk away there's always always another car! Only you can make the call.....I've been lucky the last 4 cars I've bot privately have all been crackers maybe lucky maybe not and strangely I'm just about to buy a Bmw 120D M sport

Check on the Forums of the car your buying always great info from owners who know the car and what to look out for, I always like/want full Dealers History ,owners Manauls and proper receipts of work carried out
I don't like to many owners but it's not a deal breaker! And I insist on decent photos of the car if not I ask for more and try to buy from good Genuine professional people if possible as the car will mostly be spared no expensive on Servicing & repairs always get an hpi report it's worth the £10!! Im always happier if the car is at the address that's on the v5 logbook and ask for further ID if necessary

Regards the 1Series make sure the timing chain is ok and not rattling and bear in mind a lot of owners ditch the 1er at 80k+ as the flywheels & Turbos can be getting to the end of their lifespan which isn't cheap
So listen for noise & vibrations and always insist on a test drive............. Good Luck 😏

I've mostly paid cash in hand and asked for a written receipt & one chap refused my cash he didn't want it
So I had to pay into to a local branch and send him a bank transfer which was awkward as it took 2hours to hit his account! If you've got the stomach for it ,it can be quite an adventure travelling to collect And driving it home