Take
care with vehicle mileage checks with reimported RV8s
Checking
a car that's for sale. See Part 3 of the five part Guide
to Buying a Classic MG published in Safety Fast! from September
2009 to January 2010. More
Vehicle mileage checks. See an article on the issues
and concerns together with a case study of the frustrating difficulties
experienced by a V8 enthusiast with the mileage report for a
reimported RV8. More
A 60 page buyer's
guide for enthusiasts wanting to get an MGV8. Coming soon!
Posted: 13.3.10 |
Vehicle
mileage checks when buying a classic MG
With a classic MG the mileage is of interest to a prospective
buyer, particularly if one of the key selling features
is a low mileage. This is often the case with reimported
RV8s which seem to leave Japan for Australia, the UK or
Mainland Europe with generally low recorded mileages,
25,000 or less not being unusal. With any classic MG,
buyers can check the mileage in two ways – by examining
the mileage records shown in the seller’s history
file for the car and by buying a vehicle data check which
includes a mileage check. Guarantee support may be offered
by the service provider as part of the vehicle data check.
Getting a vehicle history or data check is the wisest
investment you will make when buying any secondhand car.
The check will reveal if the car has been reported stolen,
has outstanding finance on it (if it has, then it is technically
still the property of the finance house), has been written-off
or has been recorded as scrapped. From the vehicle check
report you will be able to confirm the Vehicle Identification
Number or VIN for the car, so you can match it up to the
numbers on the car and those on the V5C registration certificate.
The vehicle check may also show up any discrepancy in
the recorded mileage which will enable you to enquire
just how certain the seller is the mileage figure is correct.
The discrepancy could arise if a new odometer has been
fitted – either because the original unit failed
or a replacement mph unit was fitted on an MG reimported
to the UK as part of the preparations needed to register
the car in the UK.
The vehicle mileage check will be made against the data
held by the National Mileage Register. Understandably
the commercial organisation maintaining the register has
to be very cautious with odometer changes because while
most changes will be for understandable reasons, it may
not always be so as odometer changes can be used to disguise
more sinister activities. So their mileage database "is
operated within fairly strict guidelines".
Unfortunately we have had a report of frustrating delays
in resolving difficulties with incorrect data held on
the National Mileage Register with a reimported RV8. Even
after the RV8 seller provided clear documentary evidence
of the UK mileage following an odometer change when the
car was reimported, getting incorrect mileage records
on the database changed proved very difficult and time-consuming.
So whilst the database manager recognises "an odometer
change is expected with imported cars so is not unusual",
their case seems to be "we may have seemed obstructive,
but we're really trying to err on the side of caution
and remain within the guidelines we’ve established
for the register – rules that have been in place
since its inception in 1997". With attempts to get
incorrect mileage records changed they add that "whilst
we try and resolve such investigations quickly, sometimes
they can take several weeks, as your case study experienced.
We also try and impose some fairly rigorous rules around
when we can or can’t make adjustments to the mileage
database."
So what are issues here?
Mileage can be checked to some extent by looking at the
documentation with the car, like MOT test certificates
and service invoices which record the mileage, and of
course by having an MG specialist examine the condition
of the vehicle. Whilst one can understand the caution
of the database manager in altering their mileage records,
but they do seem to carry it to extremes. It might be
better if they were willing to report more detail - for
example"odometer changed on importation, no information
on prior mileage and mileage in the UK since importation
15,000 miles" or even simply "odometer changed,
total mileage unknown" or just "this mileage
is disputed".
As with many "guarantees" attached to services
you need to check what is included and what is excluded
from the cover. The guarantee issued by at least one of
the vehicle data check service providers "doesn't
cover the import status, mileage or descriptive information,
but it does cover the outstanding finance and stolen markers.
It doesn’t cover the V5 documentation checks, as
all we can do is flag any reference numbers that we know
for definite have been confirmed by DVLA as being from
a batch stolen from DVLA."
So be prepared if you are buying or selling a reimported
RV8 - getting an incorrect mileage record revealed by
a vehicle mileage check report changed may be difficult.
The seller should offer full documentary evidence of the
mileage in the UK following importation and should keep
the original kph odometer which was replaced with an mph
unit when the car was prepared for UK registration with
the car as part of the history file for the vehicle.
More information on vehicle mileage checks
We have a note which will be part of a buying guide to
be published shortly called "So you want to buy an
MGBGTV8 or MG RV8?" More |
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