Just going on what I've read, maybe I'm wrong.

They suit the silver nicely though , what silver is that?

Excellent stuff joe, well done

First dibs on the Bose system when you break it

Joe Iv got the Bose system in mine,I know there expensive but I dont notice that much of a difference.Maybe Im not working it properly lol!

I had a play with it on the test drive, and didn't think anything special but then I know sod all about stereos.

Not as good as the 8 track I had in my Humber Sceptre lol

Picking the GT up next Saturday, won't be ready until then as they're sorting a few of the niggles out for me. Should give me time to work on the Mrs bout the coupe.

Well it didn't quite go according to plan. The dealer couldn't find the history when I went to look at it the other week, but rang me later that day to say he'd found it and it had had the clutch and belts done. I turned up today and looked through the history and couldn't see ant evidence of either, so he rang the place who did the clutch for him and had them fax over a copy of the invoice - fair enough. Then he rang the garage who'd done every service on it since new and asked them (on loud speaker so I could hear) when the belts were done. The answer came 'in march 2010 at 87k miles'. The car only has 76k on the speedo now! The dealer read the reg number out to the guy on the phone and had him check it several times, but it seems the bloody thing has been clocked. Needless to say I walked away. Oh well

That was close, well done for being so diligent. Question everything.

I'm bloody glad I did.

Gutted the car wasn't what it seemed Joe, but yes, well done for making sure you did more checks.

Make him a lower offer, you obviously like the car, why let a a digital number change that?

If the car's been clocked, surely you would have to wonder what else the seller has tried to hide.

It crossed my mind to make a lower offer but as jimbob said, you have to wonder what else they've done. Also, I'd sell it on at some point and couldn't possibly lie about the mileage.

Anything in the history for replacement instrument panel?

Fair point, I didn't see anything but ought to have asked the question. Even if it had it's hard to see how it'd work out though. When I realised and went through the history checking the service intervals, it'd only had one owner who'd done 20k a year every year, but then since 2010 only 11k in 2 years.

It seems not impossible that the original garage misread either the speedo or the paperwork, or the paperwork's author wrote it incorrectly... 67k in early 2010 seems more in keeping with previous records.

Indeed it does, so sod that I'm going nowhere near it.

I wonder should I report it to DVLA or trading standards? Anyone know the correct course of action? I don't like the thought of someone else trading in a perfectly good car, or parting with their hard earned cash to find it's not what it seems. I'd definatley like to prevent this car from being sold as something it's not.

Barnacle is saying that it was in fact done at 67k and not 87k which is quite possible, mistaking the 6 for an 8.
*If* it has been clocked, why would they do it? probably to increase the asking price.
Worst case scenario then. Car has been clocked and has around 90k real miles. Make the dealer an offer for a car with that mileage.
As he knows you're serious about buying the car (with a screwed up history) he will be pretty keen to offload it I should imagine. Try and squeeze a warranty out of him too for peace of mind.
You might get a bargain!

Ah I see, I'll have a think on that one.

Yeah, sorry Joe, perhaps I wasn't clear. Jas is right; my thinking was that perhaps it's the number on the belt-change service that's wrong, not everything else.

not sure on the alfa system but clocks on a lot of cars will usually default to the higher mileage, meaning if you put in clocks with a lower mileage they would read the previous mileage stored by the electronic module, sounds like human error to me, surely the old mot certificates are a sure fire way to determine mileage.

There weren't any old MOT certificates with it, which only added to my suspicion.

It's the same everywhere though, people will 'lose' the bad stuff quite easily. As I say, look at the car with your eyes and what you know has been done, then offer the appropriate price.

Most 2nd hand cars will have SOMETHING to hide, I bought from a well known dealer and there were still some surprises!...

Like my Bravo, which came with no service history and 35k miles, four odd tyres and *brand* new discs and pads all round (and two locking bolts well overtightened)... It's possible they did the belts at the same time - though the cam isn't due till 150,000 km (!) - as they were clean and shiny, too.

In the ten thousand miles and three months I've had it, it's used exactly no oil and one EGR valve.

Ilooked on line for the mot mileage records, and they do seem to tie in with the figures being mixed up.

I think you did the right thing in walking away, it sounds as dodgy as hell.

I am sure there are far better examples around.

Joe, I bet your heads in a spin now, all this conflicting advice!

It really is. Going to ring the alfa dealer who's done all it's services since new tomorrow and write it all down to see if I can make reasonable sense of it, or if it convinces me it is dodgy.