Car dealer fined over 'clocking'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/5313718.stm

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A County Antrim car dealer has been fined £25,000 and ordered to pay £6,320 in compensation for selling nine vans which had their mileages "clocked".

In each case Michael McGrogan bought the van from an auction in England and sold it from his premises in Toomebridge with a lower mileage.

The total number of miles reduced in the vans was 548,350, with the largest single reduction being 103,094 miles.

McGrogan admitted arranging for someone in England to alter the mileages.

It is estimated that McGrogan made an average profit of at least £1,700 on each van, Antrim Magistrates Court was told.

The case against McGrogan, the owner of Mick McGrogan Commercials of Loughbeg Road, Toomebridge, was brought by the Trading Standards Service under the Trade Descriptions Act.

It first discovered that a Volkswagen van sold by McGrogan Commercials in April 2004 with 72,000 miles on it had been bought by McGrogan at an auction with 142,000 miles.

At about the same time the service received a complaint from the buyer of a van who had found a service history indicating a mileage of 105,000.

He had bought the van from McGrogan Commercials with 66,000 miles on it.

Further investigations into the mileage histories of vans sold by McGrogan found a further seven vans had been sold by his company with falsely described mileages.

Alison Gilchrist of the Trading Standards Service said: "The department views clocking and the sale of clocked vehicles as a very serious matter.

"The evidence in this case pointed to a systematic clocking operation, as was reflected in the penalties set by the court."