False mileage on imports

[Tom]

I hope they actually provide you with the original auction sheet when you pay your tenner instead of just giving you a number.

 

And I agree with Locky's, auction's are far from the best places to buy cars, you can repeatidly see the same cars coming back in after they have been turned down by other people.

 

But if they were clocked it would be before auction so the mileage on the auction form maybe correct with the car but not before it went in.

 

I wouldn't put complete faith in this check.

 

And if your unsure when buying a fresh import ask the dealer to show you the ad in japan, they of course can block where the car was bought from etc but it'll reveal the mileage in japan.

 

If they say no then somethings up imo.

[martin_a]

I spoke to Vine Place when i was looking for a car and one of there bits of sales pitch was that they guarantee the mileage.

 

They claimed to be in the process of reporting another importer because they'd seen one of their cars in Japan at the auction and passed on it due to high miles. When it arrived here it was 50k lighter! They were reporting him to BIMTA they said. Was a while ago now though.

 

m.

[Nick]

A lot of cars here have very low mileage, especially sports cars. They usually only seem to come out at weekends.

 

My GTR had 36k when I bought it, and most examples I looked had also had very low mileage.

 

The older cars get the more expensive and difficult it is to pass the Shaken (MOT), which is one reason why people chop them in on new models.

[garethr]

This was e-mailed to me by a New Zealander who has been exporting cars from Japan for upwards of 15 years. If it's the true picture, Japanese auctions are very different from ours....

 

Odometer Tampering

Tampering with the odometer is strictly illegal in Japan, and offenders are severely punished. By buying at an auction in Japan, you are guaranteed original kilometre readings because every car’s odometer reading is first checked with the national registration department before auctioning. They keep up to date information on every registered vehicle in Japan. Their database is up-dated every two years when the car goes through its strict registration inspection called “shaken”. Often you’ll see cars ‘cancelled’ at the auction because their odometer reading doesn’t match up.

However there is a section at the auction called ‘the orange corner’ for all cars showing a false odometer reading. But there are various reasons for a vehicle being put in this corner. For example, the car may have an aftermarket speedo fitted. Or the digital instrument cluster is faulty and the odometer can’t be seen. Or if a dealer is unsure of a car’s history, he’ll put it in the ‘orange corner’ just in case, otherwise he’ll be fined and banned from the auction if trying to sell off a car with false kilometres.

[mr lover]

did i read somewhere that sometimes the japs like to zero the odometer after a rebuild, or did i dream that

[bodilx6]

Dibbleyuk,

 

You are rigth about the rule. Max 10 years. I don't know about the 100.000km, but the 10 years Ï'm quite sure about.

[Willson]

did i read somewhere that sometimes the japs like to zero the odometer after a rebuild, or did i dream that

 

Yeah I have read that too.

 

There always seems to be a huge percentage of imports for sale that have 60-61k miles on them. Makes me laugh everytime I see one.

 

edit - It could be genuine of course tho, re the Shaken or suchlikes, just looks very convenient.

[Ewen]

Mine had 6,900 km (4,500 miles) on it when it came over from Japan. 4,500 miles for a five year old car is fishy is it not ?

The supporting documentation and service sheets were all I had to go on, but if clocked, I'd wonder why anyone would clock it so extreme.

[JamieP]

They just sent me this email... so much for a 24hr reply... Tossers.

I paid for the check to be done 9am yesterday.

 

Thank you for your request for a mileage check.

Sorry for the delay but our office is closed until Monday, we will

reply to you then.

 

Thank you.

[Muffleman]

The mileage on an import is irrelevant, could be anything and there's rarely any history anyway. You just have to buy on condition.

 

My first Supra had 30k on it, not bad for a 13 year old car. I'm 99% sure this was accurate, the condition was indicative of such low miles and when Dude serviced it he remarked on it's condition and how well it drove.

[Rayman]

Yep i think a fair few imports are clocked by sellers over here, i did a bimta test on a supra i was going to be buy early last year, it was a silver NA and that showed it had been clocked by 40K miles plus it had been over here for 2 yrs so figured it was more like 60K miles out.

 

Getting hold of the auction sheet is a good idea if you are buying a fresh import.

[Homer]

I just got the same email Jamie... tossers indeed

[JamieP]

I just got the same email Jamie... tossers indeed

 

I had a pop and he gave me some exscuse about the girl in the office having a car accident.

[markjodrell]

Do you have to tell them what milage is on the car now, that being the case whats to stop then just saying yes its correct or no its incorrect.

 

I would rather not disclose the shown mileage and let them tell me what it should have been .

[markjodrell]

I have just got this email back fron the people who do the milage checking, doent make good reading , however I am tempted to give it a go, I know ignorance is bliss,but I would rather know before I spend TOOOOO much money on the car.

see below I have copied and pasted the email:-

 

Dear Mark,

 

Thank you for your enquiry.

I am sorry but we do need your current mileage. The Japanese auction system that we use has to have an import mileage before it will let us run the check. I can assure you that the information that we receive and enter is deleted once we have completed the check, but if you really don't won't us to know your current reading then you could just enter any mileage!

Since I started this website 4 months ago I can tell you that around 90% have come back incorrect! more than I ever thought.

May I ask how you found my site? as I am not to sure which advertisement is paying off or not, thank you.

 

 

 

 

Copy below from one customer last week ( His WRX showed 56,000 and came back 194,000! )

 

( I would like to say Thank You very much for your serice. It was £10 well spent as the car i was looking at was only reading 56.000 Km. Your check saved me alot of money Once again Thank You...)

[Inferno]

Have to agree that it does sound a bit fishy when they ask you for the current ODO reading... could be a good service or a good money making scam

[pistonbroke]

Well, I have the service book from japan with mine, it was a personal import by the previous owner so no middle men. I can't make head nor tail about what the service book says, but its there anyway

[markjodrell]

Have to agree that it does sound a bit fishy when they ask you for the current ODO reading... could be a good service or a good money making scam

 

To be fair though they have said just put ANY milage in and they would still do the check.

 

I think this will open alot of people eyes, all this talk of low milage Jap imports , all the stories that they dont do the miles out there, all these 10 year old cars with guaranteed 32k miles on, I think we all wanted to believe it, myself included.Mine had 68k kilometers in Dec it was imported in Sept 06.Thats about 43k miles on a 1996 TT, I took my car to Chris Wilson and he was looking under the bonnet abd said it was fine , a bit tappity and he said its probably done about 100k miles, I asked him how could he tell , he said from experience he has seen hundreds of these engines and just knows my listening and looking, I still hoped he had made a mistake , as unlikely as that is.

I tried to put it to the back of my mind and admit to being a bit gutted having thought that I had just purchased this genuine unabused low milage example.I brought mine from a garage in Bradford they didnt and said that they couldnt guarantee the milage on the car,this now makes me even more suspicious where as at firs I thought they were just covering there arses. I will check mine out when I get home on Friday as Im working away without my supra at the moment so have not got the chassis number with me, I think Im going to be in for a BIG shock.

 

The main thing in my mind is I was going to go BPU but if the car has done over 100k miles is it wise to start getting more bhp out of a well worn engine, will it be up to it ???? :search:

[Inferno]

I think the best way to find out is to get people who KNOW what their car has done (e.g. pistonbroke) and have log books to back it up. Then they could use this service and see what reply they get... if they get a reply saying it is wound back 50k but infact they have proof that it isn't, then we know something is up.

[markjodrell]

I think the best way to find out is to get people who KNOW what their car has done (e.g. pistonbroke) and have log books to back it up. Then they could use this service and see what reply they get... if they get a reply saying it is wound back 50k but infact they have proof that it isn't, then we know something is up.

 

Apparently the check is NOT fool proof, all it tells you is what the milage was when it when through the auction house in Japan, there is nothing to say that it couldnt have been clocked prior to the auction which is the more likely I would have thought.

 

The main reason to do the check is to find out if its been clocked since being brought at auction , in other words by the importer who you brought the car off, if he has guaranteed the miles you could have some come back with them.

 

I bet theres a few importers looking over their shoulders RIGHT NOW

[hiten55]

im not sure i want to know - mines on 180 000 km. it looks like its done ALOT less, definately been looked after. so for now, im going to keep assuming that one night in japan, some mechanic was in a warehouse full of cars that needed clocking, got drunk, and clocked them the wrong way

[markjodrell]

im not sure i want to know - mines on 180 000 km. it looks like its done ALOT less, definately been looked after. so for now, im going to keep assuming that one night in japan, some mechanic was in a warehouse full of cars that needed clocking, got drunk, and clocked them the wrong way

 

Keep the dream :D

[Tom]

Still not convinced with this site, looks like a quick way to rip people off imo, does anyone have any idea how hugely immense this database would have to be they have? and more importantly how they got access to the records of 100's of auctions across Japan?

 

Just FYI, AUCTION SHEETS VERY RARELY PRINT THE FULL VIN NUMBER, IF EVER!, if they don't send a print out with the original auction sheet or some data I wouldn't believe a word they are telling you.

[carl0s]

Still not convinced with this site, looks like a quick way to rip people off imo, does anyone have any idea how hugely immense this database would have to be they have? and more importantly how they got access to the records of 100's of auctions across Japan?

 

Just FYI, AUCTION SHEETS VERY RARELY PRINT THE FULL VIN NUMBER, IF EVER!, if they don't send a print out with the original auction sheet or some data I wouldn't believe a word they are telling you.

 

Homer did his check at http://www.bimta.org/MileageChecks.asp

I don't think you can doubt that site.

 

I don't think this guy is having anybody on at all really, it all sounds straightforward enough. He is probably a BIMTA member who therefore gets charged £10 for doing a lookup, and makes a tenner on each one.

 

Also, the BIMTA site says

Mileage checks cost £20 per vehicle plus VAT and take 24 / 48 working hours Monday to Friday.

Which fits the pattern here..

[markjodrell]

Homer did his check at http://www.bimta.org/MileageChecks.asp

I don't think you can doubt that site.

 

I don't think this guy is having anybody on at all really, it all sounds straightforward enough. He is probably a BIMTA member who therefore gets charged £10 for doing a lookup, and makes a tenner on each one.

 

Also, the BIMTA site says

 

Which fits the pattern here..

 

Beat me too it I was about to say the same.

 

The £10 guy seems genuine to me , see the email he sent to me earlier on in this thread.

 

I am going to give it a go, I brought my car from a garage in Dec last year and although they wouldnt guarantee the milage if this shows the milage has been altered since the auction where they purchased the car from I would imagine I would have some come back if this showed they as a dealer had clocked the car.

Not too sure of the letter of the law here but I would think it is illegal to clock the car, even if they dont guarantee the milage, dont think no guarantee = okay to clock