MyCarCheck.com is warning used car buyers that clocking remains ‘absolutely rife’ and urges them to check before they buy.

An OFT market study in 2010 estimated that clocking could be costing UK used car buyers £580m a year but MyCarCheck.com believes this is quite a conservative estimate.

Roger Powell, divisional head at CDL Vehicle Information Services (which owns MyCarCheck.com), said: “A member of our Glasgow call centre team recently dealt with an enquiry concerning an extreme case of clocking.

“The customer suspected that the mileage had been altered and he was actually not too surprised when we told him that, according to the last recorded figure, it had been wound back by around 100,000 miles. It turned out that for several years the car had been a taxi.

“Worse still, the customer had already purchased the vehicle. Such calls are always difficult because we prefer to prevent people from making an expensive used car mistake rather than confirming their worst fears. People question why we say ‘check before you buy’ because they think it is obvious, but the scenario I have just outlined is unfortunately very common.”

Powell welcomed the recent jailing of a Swindon mileage correction firm boss, Colin Michael Ogle.

Powel said: “Pursuing the clocker rather than the vehicle seller sends out a clear message to other mileage correction providers and hopefully the news coverage has raised awareness of the issue among the car buying public.”