Buying used car: AA KM certification, checking car out

[Guest]

I'm currently living in the US and about to move to NZ. I noticed that a lot of the cars for sale on sites like Trademe has "AA km certified". So what happens if the AA km certified car you buy turns out to be a lemon and you find evidence of tampering with the odometer? Do people in NZ generally trust the whole AA km certification?

What's the common practice in NZ for checking out a car from a dealer. Do you guys take a local mechanic with you, or do dealerships allow the cars to be taken off-site to be checked out by your mechanic?

[Guest boostcut]

if the aa dont get it right your legally obliged to request a refund or take back to the dealer, but if you remove the speedo, you have practically tampered with it.

what makes you think its been tampered with?

[Guest]

Oh, I haven't bought any cars. I'm just curious really. Some of these cars I see have such low kms, and the kms are AA certified, which makes me think twice about how reliable the AA certification is.

[Guest boostin]

Or how reliable the AA is to start with!!

Its not hard to do. Look at the km's, then look at the overall condition of the car. Check wear on the steering wheel, gear shifter etc. Check the screws around the speedo etc and see if they've been tampered with.

On late model cars, the speedo reading is kept in the ECU too, but its usually a couple of hundred km's different to the odometer, so thats another check to make.

[subiv5]

Mechanical warrenties are getting popular with dealers these days so this often stops people getting pre purchase inspections done. As they don't bother believing the warranty will cover then if the car is a dud.

The AA do on site inspection, along with mobile mechanic's and the like