More Dirty Tricks Dodgy Car Dealers Play

Clocked: If a car has been “clocked” this means that someone has tampered with the odometer – the device on the dashboard that says how many miles the car has done in total. They usually reduce the figure to make it appear the car has done fewer miles than it actually has so you will pay more for it.

Again, a history check can sometimes pick up if a car has been clocked.

Alternatively, a good idea is to look at the service manual. If the last service stamp says it was carried out at 60,000 miles and the odometer reads 40,000 you know it has been clocked!

Written Off: If a car has been involved in a serious accident an insurance company can sometimes declare that the car is too dangerous to be put back on the road and is “written off”. Unfortunately some shady mechanics can fix up these cars so that they look OK and then go on to sell them. Your history check should tell you if it has ever been written off.

Stolen: Thousands of cars get stolen every year with the objective of being sold on again for money. If you buy a stolen car, when you go to do things like pay for the tax and insurance you have to give your registration number and these companies have databases of stolen registration plates so alarm bells will start ringing. You will get a nice friendly visit from a police officer who will take the car from you and no matter how innocent you were of the fact it was stolen, you won’t see a penny.