Joined: 25 Apr 2007 Posts: 3441 Location: Melbourne Australia
Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 7:26 pm Post subject: What would you do?
Hmm. I shouldn't have done this, but I did. It cost me about $24- to do and I must confess, I am not really surprised but I still feel kinda sick in the stomach.
I did buy this car from a so called 'well known dealer' who seem to have a reasonable reputation. I did not see the original auction sheet but timing wise it seems to tie in quite well when I bought my vehicle.
The obvious thing I am concerned about is that the evidence seems to point to the dealer I bought it off.
Our research shows that this vehicle has the following history through the Japanese Auction House system.
Last recorded Auction date: ________2nd December 2006
Last Recorded Kilometers: ____________ 123,528
We would like to point out that this information is true and accurate as at the specified date supplied from the Japanese auction system. As such we cannot be held responsible for any irregularities or inaccuracies.
If our research shows that there is a discrepancy between the current speedometer reading and the auction reading we strongly advise you to contact your local Trading Standards Officer. www.tradingstandards.gov.uk
Thank you for using Japanese Import Mileage Check Ltd.
What would you do?
a) Forget about it
b) Talk to the sales guy and abuse the shit out of him
c) Just simply bad mouth the Dealership
d) take the matter further
Finally, have I got a leg to stand on anyway? Where would it get me?
FYI: When I bought the car , it had 73,500km on the clock - 50,000km difference. That to me looks pretty sus
Chris
Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 564 Location: Perth, WA
Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 7:43 pm Post subject:
most of the times, it gets changed before it comes into Aus
and then the dealers dont know about it........... they see it advertised at a lower milage and buy it
you do take the risk when you buy an import that it has been wound back.......
mine has most likely done more than it says, but i dont care, the interior is in good condition, and motor runs well........keep it serviced regulary and it should be fine _________________
Dont worry Chris mine reads 62,000km but no way in hell mine would've have done that going on condition of rotors & underbelly of the car FYI mine realisitically should read 98,000km going on the Jap auction sheet was questioned at the time which doesnt bother me at all as knew what i was getting into.
Id be suprised if any Jap import coming thru has genuine km's on them.
But if you did all the necessary checks id feel slightly pee'd off.
50k you'll rack that up in no time as going by the pics your car looks to be very looked after in the first place. _________________
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Joined: 14 Apr 2007 Posts: 1148 Location: melb, aus.
Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 7:51 pm Post subject:
as long as you're happy with the car, dont let it get to you too much eh?
given that the car was auctioned on only 10 december - i would think that it was purchased directly by your dealership (as opposed to being purchased by a dealer in japan and then consequently sold to the dealership in australia). probably worth saying something to them, see if you can get some compo! lol
i paid 10 quid for that mileage check too and mine turned out OK - not surprising, since i had the auction sheet and it came with a service history dating a back until about the year 2000 (just did it out of interest)
Joined: 25 Apr 2007 Posts: 3441 Location: Melbourne Australia
Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 8:05 pm Post subject:
I am actually OK with the clock being wound back in Japan.
What I am worried about is the dealer here in Australia doing it to make more money. I can probably say that if the car had 120 odd thou Km on the clock I would have most likely still bought it. However, I just think that if the buyer in Australia got the car cheaper and wound back the clock making a shite load of money as a result and really did a pretty ordinary job as far as the complience goes, I just feel a bit ripped off.
Obviously it is a serious matter legally if it was in fact done here in Australia no matter if it was an import or not.
As I said, I didn't see an auction sheet from Japan so I can't be sure. I was just going off my trust in the car dealership. As mentioned before, it would depend on whether the cars last transaction, before me, was between the auction house or another party. I am guessing, If someone bought the car from auction and then sold it to the import dealer in Australia after winding the clock back the importer here would like to know about it.
I think I am leaning towards Xcape's therory.
Not knowing how well you are with confrontation, it's hard to advise you what to do. I personally would at the very least put it to the dealer and ask what they plan to do about it. Keep calm but use terms like "I feel like I've been defrauded" etc and see what response you get. You may be surprised with the response they give/offer.
If they wipe their hands of it, again only my personal opinion, I would avise them (calmly), that you will be referring the matter to the Fair Trading Dept.
Bottom line is however, if you hadn't of found out you'd still be happy with your purchase so don't lose too much sleep over it.
Joined: 11 Apr 2007 Posts: 1454 Location: Victoria
Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 8:15 pm Post subject:
there is the possibility that the car was bought at auction by an export dealer in Japan and then resold on to the dealer - the dealer may very well have bought it under the impression that those kms were genuine
I know I have access to some big export dealers in Japan and have sourced several cars that way. I use the condition of the car as a guide, rather than kms
I would definitely say something to at least the dealer. I wouldn't accuse him of anything at least first. If he didn't do anything untoward, he should be able to give you some evidence that he was jewed. Otherwise, maybe a call to fair trading would do some possible future buyers a favour.
Mine has around 70k and service books to prove.
I believe without service history its almost impossible, and even then this too can be forged.
Most 2JZ's will have a sticker on the cover when under 100k and it gets removed at 100k service when belt change.
-But more to the point, I'd send them an e-mail with all details.
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