Car Buyers beware-flaw in HPI mileage checks

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oat

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Yesterday I returned home from doing a deal on an S3 at an Audi main dealer. Did a quick MOT check using VOSA and it transpires the previous owner has done a Marty McFly and gone back in time with my S3.
I would have thought an HPI check would have picked this up but it did not.

Dealer refunded my deposit and is as shocked/gutted as I am, although they are in utter shock this hasn't been unearthed during their HPI check
This got me thinking and after a lot of research I've discovered ANY HPI mileage checks are NOT linked to the VOSA MOT database!!:keule: Talk about a major flaw in the system!! I still can't believe this hasn't been unearthed by anyone before!!

Be careful out there guys when buying, make sure you do a VOSA MOT check for the mileage as well as full HPI for any outstanding finance/insurance write off etc.


http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/internet/j...ry-Request.jsp
 
glad you got your money back mate, don't think it was ever in doubt, Audi would be as ****** off as you were I'd imagine...it pays to do your own homework now a days...
 
Yea lol, O well at least it was that simple and they wasnt pushing you to buy it still.
Good luck on the hunt still!
 
glad you sorted it and got your money back.didnt think you would have much of a problem to be honest

my friend is looking at a S3 today,showing around 50k told him to do a vosa check as well as a HPI check.better to be safe than sorry

how much is a vosa check by the way?
 
afcjay said:
glad you sorted it and got your money back.didnt think you would have much of a problem to be honest

my friend is looking at a S3 today,showing around 50k told him to do a vosa check as well as a HPI check.better to be safe than sorry

how much is a vosa check by the way?
Click to expand...

It's Free!:busted_cop:
 
Google VOSA MOT CHECK - I have a bad feeling I might end up ruining a few peoples days as clocking is more rife than you would imagine...:angrymod:
 
Guys how would you check a car that you have just seen on sale, because on the vosa site it asks for the regestration and MOT test number from VT20 MOT Test Certificate or VT30 Refusal of an MOT Test Certificate (failure notice) or Document Reference Number from the V5C Registration Certificate issued by the DVLA??

Im just asking because my mums seen a audi a3 8p 2.0 tdi going pretty good price, done a hpi but after eading this thread yesterday its got me thinking as the car shows 36,000 on the clock which for a 2004 is pretty low.
 
S3 AJ.X said:
Guys how would you check a car that you have just seen on sale, because on the vosa site it asks for the regestration and MOT test number from VT20 MOT Test Certificate or VT30 Refusal of an MOT Test Certificate (failure notice) or Document Reference Number from the V5C Registration Certificate issued by the DVLA??

Im just asking because my mums seen a audi a3 8p 2.0 tdi going pretty good price, done a hpi but after eading this thread yesterday its got me thinking as the car shows 36,000 on the clock which for a 2004 is pretty low.
Click to expand...

call the seller and ask for the imfo you require.if they have anything to hide they will refuse
 
Just checked mine, all ok thankfully. However I checked my 1998 Pug 106 on the database and it shows the first MOT being done in Jan 2006! Im hoping this database has only been around for a few years and thats the reason why. However I did buy the car last year with rediculously low mileage (46k for a 10 year old car) so im starting to worry a little!
 
It does state on the site that records only go back to the start of the computerised MOT's i have a couple of the old style MOT certificates in my history folder that didn't show up on the VOSA site..... i think it goes back to around 2005/2006 something like that
 
666markyboy said:
It does state on the site that records only go back to the start of the computerised MOT's i have a couple of the old style MOT certificates in my history folder that didn't show up on the VOSA site..... i think it goes back to around 2005/2006 something like that
Click to expand...

Thats put my mind at ease then!
 
Curious, my folks neighbour is ex traffic cop and currently works for VOSA... see what he has to say.
 
HPI checks definately are not perfect. About 5 years ago I bought a BMW 528 from a main dealer, bought it with the standard BMW mileage check guarantee, all history etc so all seemed fine.

A year later I was selling it and the buyer ran a check, it failed as there was a mileage discrepency of 10k miles in the period just before I bought it.

Turns out that the when the dealer took the car in p/ex from the previous owner and ran a check they gave the wrong current mileage in (10k more) but it didnt raise any alerts.

So when I bought the car I got this certificate but just skim read it as it was a main dealer and just read the passed bit.

A year later when I sell it having done only 5k miles it fails the check as a year previously it supposedly had more mileage than it was showing now.

Anyway to cut a long story short, I threatened the dealer with court action, wrote to head office and after about 3 months I got compensation for the loss in value of my car due to their error as the car will always have a mileage alert against it.

Eventually I sold it to someone who believed the letter from BMW UK stating their mistake and he took it off me at a bargain price.

So HPI checks are only as accurate as the human inputting the data
 
VOSA MILAGE CHECKS ARE OK IF THE OWNER HASNT USED ONE OF THOSE CLOCK ADJUSTMENT GUYS IN THE 1ST 3 YRS
sorry bout caps
 
I test drove a car the other week,it had 30k on the clock,either it had a bad life or it was double the mileage,you can tell if a car is a high miler this one had dinks all over the body and interior also the engine bay was worn.
 
Not always true, some high mileage cars are in better nick than low miles ones as they have spent less time round town and in car parks. Interiors suffer less from someone who gets in and out of a car twice a day even if they do 100 miles inbetween each time.

I didnt check my S4 when I bought it, dont think anyone would have clocked a car down to 140k!
 
HibiscusS4 said:
Not always true, some high mileage cars are in better nick than low miles ones as they have spent less time round town and in car parks. Interiors suffer less from someone who gets in and out of a car twice a day even if they do 100 miles inbetween each time.

I didnt check my S4 when I bought it, dont think anyone would have clocked a car down to 140k!
Click to expand...

So my current car has 110k but I can put it for sale the same price as a 60k one,sweet I can't wait for the money to roll in. :tumble:
 
had a car moted last week it now shows old milages on the mot slip ..but as you know the mot cert looks like a pice of a4 paper anything is poss to alter ?
 
IMO HPI checks are a waste of time
far too many cars that have been seriously crashed don't hit the database
 
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