"They cheat people and run away and no-one knows where they are. " Keith Regan.

Car clocking

Inside Out exposes the rogue traders who use the internet to sell second hand cars with curiously low mileage.

We reveal the results of a four month undercover investigation into the murky world of second hand car sales.

Also read our behind the scenes diary looking at how we broke this story.

Dodgy motors?

Mention second hand car salesmen and you conjure up an image of Arthur Daly and his trademark camel hair coat selling a few dodgy motors to unsuspecting punters.

But nowadays unscrupulous car dealers are using far more sophisticated methods to con us out of our cash.

The Inside Out team wanted to see how easy it was to purchase a car and then increase its value by taking miles off the car's clock.

The investigation started at a car auction in Bourne in Lincolnshire.

Inside Out filmed this car clocker in action

Inside Out bought a high mileage car typical of the type that crooks identify as a potential licence to print money.

The Vauxhall Vectra had just over a 100,000 miles on the clock.

Finding the "experts" prepared to reduce the car's mileage was the next step - and it proved remarkably easy.

A quick search on the Internet revealed dozens of "mileage correction services".

The team picked three to come out to the garage where the Vectra was being kept.

The "clockers" were secretly filmed plugging their hand held computers into the car's engine management system.

A total of 60,000 miles simply vanished.

Second hand worries

Surprisingly these car clocking services aren't illegal - it's selling a clocked car that breaks the law.

But there are plenty of people prepared to do just that as Keith Regan from Leicestershire Trading Standards explains:

"They cheat people and run away and no-one knows where they are. The car clockers that we have come across put a lot of effort into deceiving.

"They make the story line look as though it is a genuine car as if it has been owned and cherished by that individual."

Online sites have thousands of second hand cars for sale.

It's impossible to tell how many of those vehicles have been clocked.

Past owner Paul Cropper - surprised to find car clocking

An Inside Out researcher went to an address in Leicestershire where the woman was selling an MG ZT estate car.

She claimed it had 90,000 miles on the clock.

The paperwork seemed to be in order, but once the previous owner was tracked down to Derby, her story unravelled.

Previous owner Paul Cropper told us he had part exchanged the car with 104,000 miles on the clock only two months before:

He said, "What surprises me is that this is for sale with 94,000 miles on the clock - it had got 125,000 on it when I sold it."

The case is now in the hand of Leicestershire's Trading Standards department.

Faking it

The team also discovered how easy it is to fake a car's history.

The clocked Vectra had no trouble getting a new MOT with the wrong mileage on the certificate.

The new computer system brought in by the government doesn't record a car's mileage history.

Under the crusher - the Vectra ends up at the dump

Service records can be easily faked using stamps and documents that are sold on the Internet

After a decent valet the RAC's Ed Richards assessed our car's new value.

He said, "It would be on the forecourt for a thousand pounds plus. You have certainly doubled its value for the cost of a mileage correction service."

The next step would have been placing the car for sale on the Internet but the Inside Out team found a better home for their dodgy motor - the scrap yard!

Top consumer tips

If you are buying a used car and are worried about the mileage, look for signs which indicate a well-travelled vehicle:

* A shiny steering wheel/gear lever.
* Worn pedal rubbers/driver’s seat/carpet.
* Lots of chips on the bonnet.

You can also get the car examined by a vehicle history-checking company.

They will be able to tell you whether it has been clocked, stolen, written-off, or has outstanding finance, using some basic information about the car.

Links relating to this story:

• BBC Inside Out - Car clocking
• Department for Transport
• Leicestershire Trading Standards
• RAC

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites

Behind the story...

Buying a car can be a mine field - Inside Out investigates

Alistair Jackson, the BBC Inside Out Producer who made the film, gives a unique insight into the car clocking investigation in this filming diary.

This is how he broke the story...

"When the Inside Out team decided to investigate the whole issue of the sale of illegal clocked cars, I could not have imagined it would have lead us to remote car auctions, renting lock up garages and having rather enlightening liaisons with people that could, with the switch of a handheld computer, double the value of your car."

August 2006

"I meet with officers from Leicestershire County Council's Trading Standards Department.

Keith Regan - Trading Standards is investigating the problem

"It's clear from what they say there is a growing problem with illegally "clocked" cars being sold on the Internet

"What is also surprising is how those that actually take the miles off cars aren't doing anything illegal - it's only if you are caught trying to sell the vehicle that you could end up in court.

"We recruit a local mechanic and car expert "Dave" to act as our advisor and consultant. We decide the best approach would be to actually purchase our own vehicle to show the whole process from start to finish."

September 2006

"Bourne car auction, Lincolnshire....

"With Dave on hand to provide expert advice, we are looking to buy the perfect car that can show what is going on in the illegal car market.

"Dave identifies a Vauxhall Vectra with 140,000 miles on the clock.

"Amusingly, and rather disturbingly for a moment, I bid at the wrong time and nearly end up paying more than £1,000 for a different car!

"Eventually we get the car and head back to Nottingham."

October 2006

Alistair with Paul Cropper - car clocking uncovered

A rather intensive search for a lock up garage eventually leads us to one in Nottingham.

"It's perfect Arthur Daly territory.

"Dave ships in plenty of mechanics gear to make it look authentic.

"At the same time we advertise in the motoring press as a "mileage correction service" to try to establish who is looking to have miles taken off their car."

November 2006

"We arrange for three "mileage correction services" to come to our lock up.

"It's been rigged with several secret cameras that will record their every move.

Even documents can be made to look like a true record

"The first clocker shows us but has problems getting his computer to connect with our vehicle's engine management system.

"Unfortunately for us he calls his "mate" who is the second clocker we have booked.

"We manage to explain this away although for a moment the investigation looked in jeopardy.

"They both end up working on the car together and quickly solve the problem.

"The third clocker turns up and quickly takes off even more miles!"

December 2006

"Calls are now flooding in for our own mileage correction service.

"They range from private individuals to taxi companies.

"It seems business is booming for clockers.

"We are also on the trail of a clocker in Leicestershire after we are tipped off that he is selling a number of clocked cars."

January 2007

"We identify a car that is for sale on the Internet and is clocked.

"We have researched the car's history and only two months before it had 40,000 miles more on the clock!

"We pose as potential buyers and secretly film the seller telling us the car is in good condition and doesn't have many miles on it for its age.

"We inform trading standards who are now investigating."

February 2007

"The RAC come out to value our car and tell us that, thanks to the clockers, we have doubled the value of our car.

"Getting the paperwork in order is easy too.

Fake car histories can be supplied easily

"We get it MOT'd with the new mileage on.

"The mechanic tells us they never know the cars mileage history.

"The government's new computer system doesn't give MOT centres those details.

"We could now put our car on the market but instead take it to the one place we now realise all these cars should end up - the scrap heap!"

Alistair Jackson - BBC Inside Out Producer

Film clubs

When film enthusiasts shot home movies during the last century few ever imagined they were creating a priceless portrait of the East Midlands.

So to coincide with the major new BBC series Nation on Film, which brings together fascinating cine footage from across the UK.

Inside Out takes its own trip down memory lane.

Local historian and cine enthusiast Maxwell Craven visits clubs and archives where he unearths incredible clips.

Amongst them are the creation of the M1 motorway in Derbyshire, the Mansfield Miner's rallies of the 1960's, and even a wartime family Christmas - a rare home movie incredibly shot in colour.

Young firefighters

How do you deal with teenagers who won't go to school, get in trouble and have no ambition?

It's a familiar problem for youth workers in Nottingham - trying to convince young people to take responsibility and do something with their lives.

But now they think they've found a new way. They've identified a group in Nottingham which they consider the most at risk of getting into trouble, and have sent them to work with firefighters.

So can it be done? Inside Out followed the teenagers over two months to see what happened.