54 plate Scenic mileage history issues

[Deanxm]

I have recently purchased a 1.6 vvt auto scenic Privilege with running issues, the cause of which illuded most garages for some time for £50, 24hrs and £9 later ive fixed it but this is not the issue, it just makes me feel good to mention it

I bought the car on sunday, my friend bought the car 18 months ish ago, the previous owners had the car in london since pretty well new acording to the V5.
The odometer reads 36'000miles.
There is no mot history for the car on the Vosa site exept the mot my mate put the car through last year, stated mileage at time of mot is 49'000

Now i have not looked through the service book yet but could anyone explain to me why a UK car with no damage, in a genuine sort of condition could A) have lost 13'000miles in the hands of a man that only took it to the garage once to mot it, has had no other work done to it and is as likely to work on his own car as i am likely to travel to the moon by thursday and B) why Vosa have no record of any mot that has been done on the car (not even the one he bought it with) except the one he put it through last april.

There must be a logical explanation for the mileage, probably involving the very reliable, near bulletproof (cough) digital dash rather than being driven backwards everywhere.
Not sure about the complete absinthe of MOT history with vosa though, i find that odd.

Any idea's anyone?

D

[RichardW]

MOT mileage is at the mercy of fat fingered testers,so may just have been entered wrong.

No previous history may indicate that it's been on a private plate previously - I don't think the database is clever enough to link the info.

[xantia_v6]

The MOT test identifies cars by VIN, so a change of plate would not lose the history. Was it previously registered in another country (the V5 should confirm this)

[Deanxm]

The car was registered at a london ish address from memory but i will find out tonight when i go and get the paperwork and bits, sure its not been out of the country but it is the only obvious cause i suppose, unless it was used for 3 years then stuck in a garage and not touched.

D

[Deanxm]

Owners were my mate then before that one owner from new who lived in Effingham, there are two notes in the 'Special notes' section of the V5, one says Registration not transferable, whatever that means.

D

[bxzx16v]

My old C8 had a registration not transeferable on it , could it be that the car was registered new on a private plate and then that was removed and a replacement number allocated to it which may have a value to it . My C8 had the Mot history though from its first Mot onwards on the Dvla website even with the plate changes .

Mark

[Deanxm]

OK, as mentioned above though the mot history is added by vin not reg.
A googly turned up a guy looking to buy a motorbike from a dealer and he had no mot history either, bar the test it was put through prior to sale, speculation ended with a theory of being garaged on or before it's 3rd birthday and not touched for 5 years, which is probable with a bike, not so much a car but I guess stranger things have happened.

D

[RichardW]

If it says number not transferable then it's been on another plate at some time - probably explains the lack of MOT info if the system hasn't caught up yet.

[ekjdm14]

What was the running issue that caused your bargain buy/simple fix scenario if you don't mind my asking? If it was fuel system/gunky crap related then I would suggest maybe it has stood for a lengthy amount of time.

Or again, is it even possible that the issue "hid" from garages when the vehicle was less than 3 years old resulting in a layup until your friend purchased it?

That of course would mean the MoT it was bought with was not genuine, but then that is possible I guess if your friend never checked it online (might throw up some issues with taxing the car though if he did that, although it might have been possible)

[Deanxm]

My mate just taxed it online and paid DDebit, no issues, his name on the V5.
So far as i see the running issue was a very, very loose spark plug, that nice Tan deposit you get on a plug was coating the whole plug wel tool and the coil was burnt, this had also happened to the loose plug which im guessing was the problem and would explain his complaint about the smell of burning in the cabin and petrol smell for a month or two before being forced to take it off the road, im just hoping the cat isnt toast.
photo(23) by Deanxm, on Flickr
I think this slight lack of ground electrode and an incinerated coil would account for the missfire and emissions fault code.

Im going to drive it tomorrow to its MOT so i will find out if it really is fixed and i will ask the tester if he has any ideas about the missing history.

D

[Deanxm]

This wont mean anything as i dont have any before pictures but trust me, it had been sitting for months used as a shed with muck piled up on it, it looked rough.
30 hrs of work later and lots of DA action and a total spend to date including insurance and mot of £338 and we have this
image by Deanxm, on Flickr
photo(25) by Deanxm, on Flickr
photo(24) by Deanxm, on Flickr

D

[demag]

Dean how's this going now? Looks gorgeous.

Sent from my Wileyfox Swift using Tapatalk

[citroen7]

i was just trawling scenic threads and was reading this i know why your mileage dosent add up , it will be because the dashboard was changed i have just bought a 2004 with 52k on it a call to Renault revealed the true mileage is 101k still low for year the other one i was going to see had 92 on the clock but was actually 179 needless to say i didnt bother!