A spokesperson for the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport explains: "The law at present makes it illegal for a car dealer to sell a 'clocked' car but there is currently no law against tampering with an odometer, or 'clocking' in itself." It is thought that offenders, if found guilty, will face a fine of up to €5,000 or up to three months in jail.
A recent study of over 100,000 vehicles by car history check experts Motorcheck.ie showed that as many as 15 percent of vehicles offered for sale could be clocked. The incidence of this practice also seems to be slightly higher with UK imports.
Motorcheck.ie has campaigned for tougher legislation against car clocking for years. Their MD, Michael Rochford says: "Clocking not only misrepresents the true mileage of a vehicle but a clocked car can prove to be a serious threat to the safety of the driver and other road users as the proper functioning of safety features and warning lights on the vehicle are very often compromised in addition to the odometer when the on-board computer is interfered with."
Based on their research, it is thought that car clocking in Ireland could be costing car buyers up to €60m per year in inflated prices.
If a car is found to have been clocked, it will generally mean that 25 percent of the value of the vehicle will evaporate overnight." Motorcheck's Irish National Mileage Register now holds almost 9m readings for Irish vehicles and can access hundreds of millions of readings for UK vehicles.
The National Consumer Agency successfully prosecuted a number of Motor Dealers in recent times under Consumer Protection Legislation for engaging in 'Misleading Practices'. But prosecutions have been difficult to achieve and the sanctions involved are usually no more than a slap on the wrist and a small fine for the person involved.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, says: "Tampering with odometers is doubly unacceptable. First, it is unacceptable from a commercial point of view, because it misrepresents the extent to which a vehicle being resold has been used. Second, it is unacceptable from a safety point of view, as it gives the impression that a vehicle has been subjected to less wear and tear than is in fact the case," said
There are a small number of scenarios where legitimate work needs to be carried out on a vehicle's odometer, and according to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the wording has been carefully drafted to ensure that people who are legitimately accessing odometers are not penalised, for example while repairing a vehicle, and also to ensure that trip-counters are not included in the definition of an odometer.
