Dealer sold ‘clocked’ cars
An investigation by the National Consumer Agency (NCA) discovered that Arch Motors Limited, Westside, Galway, was misleading buyers and has been ordered to compensate motorists who purchased the cars.
“Clocking” is the practice of changing a car’s genuine odometer.
The odometer is a ‘clock’ that tells you how many miles or kilometres the car has done.
The consumer agency did not find Arch Motors were actually clocking the cars.
However, it identified three vehicles offered for sale by the firm that were clocked or had an altered or reduced odometer reading.
The company said that as soon as it was made aware of the registration numbers of these vehicles and the problems identified, “we checked the trade-in documentation and this information is being handed over to an Garda Síochána”.
Arch Motors said it had never knowingly sold and would never knowingly offer for sale any vehicle with incorrectly recorded mileage. “In this case we were as much the innocent party as we were apparently duped in relation to what was traded into us.
“As professionals we have a liability to our customers to carry out due diligence in relation to cars we take into stock and we were very happy to give undertakings to the NCA. We will certainly increase our vigilance in this regard into the future to ensure that this problem will never again arise in this dealership.”
The investigation was carried out last February and investigators tracked the sale of one of the cars. Arch Motors agreed to compensate the motorists affected.
The agency’s chief executive Ann Fitzgerald said the investigation sent a clear message to dealers.
“They cannot mislead consumers by selling them clocked cars and expect to get away with it. Car clocking or selling a clocked car is a very serious matter.
“Not alone does the practice cost the consumer money but it also puts the safety of road users at risk. The more wear and tear, the higher the risk of breakdown or accident.”
This is the second undertaking the agency obtained from a Galway car dealership. In June, Kilgarve Cars, Ballinasloe, was convicted of selling a clocked 2002 VW Passat and fined 2,000.
It is not known how many cars in Ireland are clocked.
Cartell, which runs a car-checking website, is currently compiling a national register. It estimates that of the 300,000-plus vehicles imported from Britain, at least 15% might be clocked.
“A horrendous amount are [clocked]. But it’s getting to a situation where it’s more and more difficult to clock them,” said Cartell director Jeff Aherne.
www.consumerconnect.ie
www.cartell.ie
