Motors News

New statistics released recently show that 'clocking' has become a common and serious problem among second hand cars, especially in Cork and Dublin.

Have you bought a second hand car recently? Did it come with surprisingly low mileage? If it did then it could be clocked. That’s because new statistics released by Cartell, the motor history company, suggests that there’s almost 250,000 ‘clocked’ cars on Irish roads at the moment.

Dublin comes in as the worst affected county with a whopping 97,266 vehicles suspected of being clocked while Cork comes in second with roughly 30,550 vehicles believed to be clocked.

Jeff Aherne, Director of Cartell, says, “Clocking of a vehicle is now a relatively easy thing to affect and it deceives the potential buyer into paying more for a vehicle than its true market value.

“It can also mean a purchased vehicle is prone to unanticipated mechanical problems, or even, in extreme cases, rendering the vehicle less roadworthy.”

You might be thinking ‘how are there so many clocked vehicles if it’s against the law?’ Well, the surprising thing is that clocking in Ireland is not illegal, but it is against the law to tell prospective buyers that the car is showing the correct mileage if it’s not.

So the next time you’re buying a car with suspiciously low mileage, make sure to ask if the car is showing it’s true age. Otherwise you could be in for a surprise when the NCT rolls around.