Six in 100 vehicles have ‘mileage discrepancy’

There has been a dramatic increase in mileage discrepancies between 2005 and 2010, with certain vehicle styles apparently more of a risk than others.

Compact executive cars are the most likely to be clocked, with 7.9% of those checked on HPI's National Mileage Register showing a discrepant mileage last year.  Luxury cars came in second with a 'clocking rate' of 7.7%, followed closely by family cars on 7.4%. 

Estate cars have leapt from just 3.4% in 2005 to 6.4% in 2010 and it's a similar story for roadsters and convertibles.  In contrast, superminis and hot hatches were least likely to be clocked, at 4.7% and 4.9% respectively.

Adopted as standard by leading retailers and manufacturers, the National Mileage Register holds data going back to 1992 and over 130 million mileage records.

"It's always been assumed that clockers will target older vehicles, turning back the mileage and pushing up the price," said HPI's MD Daniel Burgess.  "And to a certain extent that is true.  However, the majority of the vehicles checked by HPI in 2010 were just three to five years old, over half had less than 50,000 miles on the clock and only a third had mileages over 60,000.

"With clocking on the increase and all cars of all ages being subjected to mileage tampering, dealers should be protecting their reputation by using our National Mileage Register."