General Possible clocked mileage?

[Danny23]

Hi, I have paid for a Fiat Ducato but not yet collected it.

Something popped in my mind when I returned from viewing the van which was the mileage was showing around 77,600, but the mileage on the last MOT (Sept 2020) was 78,200.

Is there any logical explanation for this such as a typo by the garage, flat battery for a few months showing incorrect mileage or is this a clear sign of a tampered odometer?

To give you a bigger picture of this van here are its miles listed on its dated MOTs

2011 - 28,226
2012 - 39,562
2013 - 51,097
2014 - 57,984
2015 - 62,557
2016 - 68,577
2017 - 77,079
2020 - 78,302

There is a 3 year period with no MOTs, also the exterior of the van is in poor condition. This didn't scare me off at first as im planning on converting it into a camper, and assumed at first this was due to being idle for the majority of 3 years.

But I am due to collect it in 2 days but now having a little panic its had its mileage clocked back and im buying a potential issue.

The garage took at as a part ex so don't really know the history of it. It has 2 listed owners.

Thanks for any insight!

 

[The Panda Nut]

Ask directly for an explanation. MOT testers are quite a pedantic lot and they are audited so its pretty unusual for them to get this wrong. Its better to loose a deposit than to buy a lemon.

Buy on price and condition at this age as many bits including engine may have been swapped out for 2nd hand parts. Check engine number and VIN carefully. I would be wary about the honesty of anyone selling a vehicle with any dodgy numbers.

Good luck.

 

[ben]

Perhaps it was sorn that time?

If you were to buy my old bravo from me now, you'd see the last mot in 2005 at 67,000 miles and the new mot now in 2021 at 67,008 miles ?

 

[g8rpi]

The milage should not go back so ssuming your record of the current odometer reading is correct, there are 3 possibilities
1/ MOT garage typed 8 instead of 7 (I've had warranty issues in the past due to this type of error)
2/ The instrument cluster has been changed and not set accurately.
3/ The van was clocked.
I think 1/ is most likely. It's highly unlikely that they clocked it for less than 1000 miles because it makes no diffeentc to the value of the van.

I'd be more worried about the 3 years without any use recorded. ot using any vehicle causes degredation of mechanics, bodywork and even electrics. Unless it is inhibited and stored in a controlled atmosphere which is un likey in thi case.
I'd rather buy a car that had 20,000 miles over 3 years than one that had sat on grass under a tree for the same 3 years.
That said if everything works and body is not rotten a minor discrepancy on mileage is not an issue.

Robert G8RPI.

 

[Danny23]

Yeah it’s definitely not been kept in a controlled environment, the paint peel is one of the worst on a ducato I’ve seen. But the guy at the garage said the 240 miles he drove it back it didn’t miss a beat.

I got it for £1750 - worth a gamble on the issues being cosmetic instead of mechanical?