Mileage discrepancies and clocking can cause used car buyers big problems, not only could you end up paying more for a vehicle than it’s worth, the vehicle could have more wear and tear than you expected.
In September we tested the mileage of 7 million vehicles, since then we have continued collecting mileage data to release the 10 million vehicle mileage test which we have written about in this blog post.
What counts as a mileage discrepancy?
In this test, there are 2 different scenarios that would trigger a mileage fail, here’s examples:
- Mileage was lowered between MOT tests, for example: 60,000 miles in 2018 then 40,000 miles in 2019.
- There’s a mix of odometer unit readings, e.g. miles and kilometres.
The mileage check carried out in this blog post is the same we offer for free via our initial check, which you can carry out by entering a registration here or above:
Overall findings
Shown below are the findings from our 10 million mileage check broken down.
Total vehicles checked: 10,000,000 (10 Million)
Total vehicles failed: 829,571
Total fail percentage: 8.29%
Findings broken down
Failed on lowered mileage: 735,504 out of 10,000,000
Percentage of above: 7.35%
Failed from mixture of odometer readings (miles and kilometres): 141,136 of 10,000,000
Percentage of above: 1.41%
Failed on both mixed readings and lowered mileage: 47,069 out of 10,000,000
Percentage of above: 0.47%
Fails by make & model
We compiled the data from this mileage check to make a list of fails by make and model, we only included vehicles with more than 25,000+ total checked and 3000+ total failed.
| Make & Model | Total Failed | Total Checked | Fail Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| RENAULT SCENIC | 9679 | 30204 | 32.04% |
| VAUXHALL COMBO | 5262 | 39111 | 13.45% |
| FORD TRANSIT | 26864 | 204046 | 13.16% |
| JAGUAR X TYPE | 3058 | 26030 | 11.74% |
| BMW X5 | 3038 | 25967 | 11.69% |
| FORD TRANSIT CONNECT | 4949 | 45248 | 10.93% |
| VAUXHALL VECTRA | 8687 | 80077 | 10.84% |
| PEUGEOT 206 | 7678 | 71365 | 10.75% |
| CITROEN XSARA | 4571 | 43417 | 10.52% |
| FORD KA | 9926 | 98568 | 10.07% |
| FIAT PUNTO | 6586 | 66225 | 9.94% |
| MERCEDES-BENZ SPRINTER | 3517 | 35602 | 9.87% |
| PEUGEOT 307 | 3752 | 38219 | 9.81% |
| LAND ROVER DISCOVERY | 3431 | 35783 | 9.58% |
| VOLKSWAGEN TRANSPORTER | 5163 | 54331 | 9.5% |
| TOYOTA COROLLA | 3112 | 33482 | 9.29% |
| RENAULT CLIO | 11555 | 129239 | 8.94% |
| CITROEN C4 | 4226 | 47226 | 8.94% |
| TOYOTA AVENSIS | 3615 | 40539 | 8.91% |
| RENAULT MEGANE | 6105 | 68652 | 8.89% |
| TOYOTA YARIS | 8096 | 91378 | 8.85% |
| VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT | 9587 | 112550 | 8.51% |
| VAUXHALL ZAFIRA | 10588 | 125071 | 8.46% |
| NISSAN MICRA | 6525 | 80098 | 8.14% |
| CITROEN C3 | 4019 | 50368 | 7.97% |
| PEUGEOT 207 | 5251 | 66710 | 7.87% |
| VAUXHALL VIVARO | 3930 | 50355 | 7.8% |
| AUDI A6 | 3969 | 53077 | 7.47% |
| BMW 3 SERIES | 15636 | 210015 | 7.44% |
| FORD MONDEO | 10288 | 140240 | 7.33% |
| VAUXHALL MERIVA | 3063 | 42744 | 7.16% |
| FORD FOCUS | 25359 | 355077 | 7.14% |
| MINI MINI | 9102 | 128109 | 7.1% |
| VAUXHALL ASTRA | 21792 | 310845 | 7.01% |
| HONDA CIVIC | 6580 | 93813 | 7.01% |
| CITROEN BERLINGO | 3247 | 46755 | 6.94% |
| AUDI A4 | 8419 | 127233 | 6.61% |
| LAND ROVER FREELANDER | 3144 | 48557 | 6.47% |
| VOLKSWAGEN GOLF | 20392 | 321997 | 6.33% |
| SKODA OCTAVIA | 3807 | 60276 | 6.31% |
| VAUXHALL CORSA | 18738 | 297142 | 6.3% |
| SKODA FABIA | 3742 | 65893 | 5.67% |
| VOLKSWAGEN POLO | 10152 | 184751 | 5.49% |
| MERCEDES-BENZ C | 3864 | 71897 | 5.37% |
| AUDI A3 | 7376 | 147909 | 4.98% |
| VAUXHALL INSIGNIA | 3550 | 73065 | 4.85% |
| FORD FIESTA | 19067 | 400626 | 4.75% |
| SEAT IBIZA | 3431 | 77279 | 4.43% |
Explanation of above data:
- Make & Model – Vehicle make and model.
- Total Failed – How many failed out of the Total Checked for this make + model.
- Total Checked – The total checked from the 10,000,000 list.
- Fail Rate – The fail percentage for the make + model (worked out using Total Failed and Total Checked data)
Worst years for lowered mileage
The data below shows the worst years for mileage lowering being detected. for example, if mileage lowering was detected on 5th September 2013 this would count as 2013.
| Year Mileage Lowered | No of Vehicles |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 69883 |
| 2014 | 65466 |
| 2012 | 64020 |
| 2013 | 63168 |
| 2016 | 61378 |
| 2011 | 58818 |
| 2017 | 55658 |
| 2010 | 51004 |
| 2018 | 50623 |
| 2019 | 48272 |
| 2009 | 44001 |
| 2008 | 37596 |
| 2007 | 31273 |
| 2020 (up to 04/10/2020) | 20970 |
| 2006 | 11762 |
| 2005 | 1612 |
Based on the above data, 2015 was the worst year for lowered mileage being detected followed by 2014 and then 2012.
Average annual mileage of passed VS failed vehicle
We compared the average annual mileage of passed vs failed vehicles, here are the findings:
Average Yearly Mileage of all Passed Vehicles:
9122
Average Yearly Mileage of All Fails (Mixed units and lowered mileage):
7969
Average Yearly Mileage of Just Lowered Mileage Fails:
7925
Estimated vehicles with mileage discrepancies in the UK
According to the .gov.uk vehicle license statistics (published on the 3rd quarter of 2019) there were 38.9 million licensed vehicles in Great Britain as of the end of September 2019. The overall test fail rate in this test was 8.29%.
8.29% of 38,900,000 =
3,224,809
More information about this data
Where did this mileage data come from?
We used the DVSA MOT API to collect the mileage records of the 10 million vehicles we used in this test.
Estimated percentage of total vehicles tested in the UK
According to the .gov.uk vehicle license statistics there were 38.9 million licensed vehicles in Great Britain as of the end of September 2019, in this test we checked 10 million vehicles, that means we checked an estimated 25.70% of all vehicles in the UK or 1 in every 4.
Why was the overall fail percentage higher in this test, compared to previous tests?
We started collecting registrations from the DVSA MOT API for this test, previously we used variations of registrations searched for via the Rapid Car Check website. Also, the more registrations, makes and models we check, the more results can differ.
