Taken for a wild ride

My financial mistake A couple saw a shiny BMW X5 for Dh70,000 in a Sharjah used-car showroom and thought it a bargain - until they learnt the hard way that the clock had been reset.

Buying a used car always carries some degree of risk. But when you buy from a registered dealer, you might expect a little more certainty. That's what Martyn Staniforth thought when he and his wife, Rebecca, bought a BMW X5 from a licensed dealer. The British couple was looking for a reliable 4x4 vehicle to take Mrs Staniforth, 32, from their home in Mirdif, Dubai, to work in Jebel Ali. The Staniforths moved to Dubai in 2006 to further their careers, but Mr Staniforth, 40, lost his job as a project manager for Portakabin, a manufacturer of portable buildings, in May 2009. His wife works as an HR manager for another company in Dubai.

With just one job between them, Martyn decided to use his redundancy pay to buy a second-hand car for the two of them, perhaps his first mistake, as it is unwise to buy big-ticket items if your employment outlook is uncertain. In September 2009, the Staniforths visited the car company in Sharjah. Within minutes of entering the showroom, the couple clapped eyes on a black X5. "The car looked all shiny and new. It had a lovely red leather interior, a CD player, a spacious boot, sunroof, a GPS system and, to our delight, it had very low mileage for its year. It was perfect."

The odometer on the 2003 model showed that the vehicle had covered 95,000 kilometres. The sales manager explained the low mileage by saying that the car had one previous owner - a woman who used the vehicle mainly for shopping trips. With a price tag of Dh70,000, the Staniforths thought they had a bargain in hand. The couple drove out of the showroom with their pristine-looking car, but two weeks later, while driving along Sheikh Zayed Road, the driver's power window stopped working. A few days later a rattling sound started emanating from the engine.

"We didn't think that it was any big deal at the time, but we decided to take the car to the BMW dealer in Dubai," said Mr Staniforth. A few days later he received a call from the garage telling him that the driveshaft was failing - which would cost Dh3,000 to repair. "I just couldn't believe it. This is not something you expect from a car that's only done 95,000 kilometres." Mr Staniforth was in for a second shock. The mechanic then went on to tell him that the car had been re-clocked. "A computerised diagnostics test said the real mileage was 221,000 - not 95,000 kilometres. I was so angry, I just wanted to race back to the dealer there and demand my money back."

To add to his injuries, Mr Staniforth learnt that the car had been serviced at the same garage until a certain point in 2007. Up until this time it had been registered by an owner in Dubai and was up to 175,000 kilometres. Afterwards, the BMW was purchased by another person, someone in Sharjah, after which no service records could be found. Mr Staniforth returned to the dealer with the papers in hand to prove that the car had been illegally manipulated, and he demanded a full refund.

"At first the dealer denied any knowledge, and also pretended that he didn't fully understand us, as English wasn't his first language," he said. The Staniforths went back to the dealer six times in November and December, but each time their pleas fell on deaf ears. "The dealer eventually agreed that the car had been re-clocked but said he was ignorant of this fact so couldn't claim liability," Mr Staniforth said.

He then took the matter to the police, but claims that when he visited the Sharjah police station in December, officers wouldn't investigate his complaint. "Their response was that it was my fault," he said. "It made me think about how many other dealers are getting away with selling clocked cars - and no one seems to be doing anything about it. Obviously this means dealers can clock cars till they're blue in the face," he said.

Mr Staniforth also consulted a lawyer, who advised him to drop the matter. "He said my only right of redress was through a civil case, which could end up costing me three and a half times the value of the car - and there was no guarantee that I would be awarded any compensation at the end of it." Mr Staniforth said pursuing the matter had taken up considerable time - which he might otherwise have spent trying to find suitable employment. He remains out of work. The couple didn't have the money to buy a new car, so they kept the old one, which continues to cause them trouble. Mr Staniforth says they have paid Dh15,000 on repairs, including replacing the suspension and various engine parts.

Worst of all, their car still shows the incorrect mileage - which means that if they sell they car, they will themselves be breaking the law. "We can't change the clock unless we are given a police report to verify this change, but Sharjah police have not been forthcoming," Mr Staniforth said. Mr Staniforth said he naively thought that car dealers were legally obliged to verify that their cars had authentic papers before selling them.

"The lesson learnt is, never buy a used car from a dealer in Sharjah, as there's no support if your car turns out to have a falsified service history. If you buy second-hand from anywhere else, whether it's a dealer or a private sale, take the vehicle to a mechanic to get a proper estimate of the car's state, bearing in mind that even the agency can only give you a rough idea - otherwise you can never be sure of what you might end up with."