20% of used import cars 'clocked'

ALMOST ONE in five cars imported from Britain and Northern Ireland have had their mileage changed, according to a study by AA Ireland and car-checking company Cartell.ie.

A random examination of 3,067 imported cars this year found the mileage on registration in the State was different for 18.5 per cent of the vehicles when compared to data held by the National Mileage Register (NMR) in Britain. According to the SIMI 49,253 cars have been imported from Britain and Northern Ireland so far this year, only marginally fewer than the 49,830 imported last year.

Changing the mileage, known in the motor industry as "clocking" usually involves reducing the mileage on a used car to increase its price. Occasionally the mileage may be increased to reduce the potential import taxes on a car.

Jeff Aherne of Cartell.ie said ex-fleet cars were among those most likely to be clocked with Audi, VW and Ford among the makes emerging as most frequently having their mileage changed. Conor Faughnan, AA Ireland spokesman said: "There is now clear evidence that unscrupulous dealers and middlemen are using Ireland as a dumping ground. This is likely to be simply because up to now they were sure they could get away with it."

He called on the Department of Transport to make clocking a criminal offence to curb the practice: "You may not mislead a customer about any aspect of a car, and you cannot sell a car that is unroadworthy but no law says that you cannot change the odometer dial."

The report estimates up to 9 per cent of UK-registered cars have been clocked, despite the existence of the NMR, and AA Ireland and Cartell.ie are in the process of establishing an Irish equivalent. While clocking fraudulently increases the selling price it also creates a safety risk because it means breakdowns and faults to critical items such as brakes and steering become more likely, Mr Faughnan added.

If the number of clocked imported cars in the Republic's fleet was proportionally similar to that in the UK there could be 200,000 cars with doctored odometer readings here, he said.