According to Shoreham Vehicle Auctions managing director, Alex Wright, this move could place a significant new administrative and compliance burden on the motor trade.
Alex Wright MD of SVA
And with the proposed eVED requesting drivers to estimate their mileage for the year ahead and pay upfront, tampering with a vehicle’s mileage is likely to become commonplace.
A major challenge for the motor trade – and therefore for the Government’s proposed pence-per-mile eVED system – will be accurately recording vehicle mileage as cars move through dealer networks, fleet logistics, preparation centres and onto forecourts for sale.
Across fleets, franchised dealers and independent retailers, it is commonplace for used vehicles to be collected by trade plate drivers and driven to their next destination rather than transported, often accounting for hundreds of additional miles.
If the car has to be driven to a bodyshop and then taken on a test drive by technicians before it finally reaches the forecourt for sale it will rack up mileage. What happens when customers take a car out for a test drive, who owns that mileage and how is it going to be recorded by the DVLA?
“The new eVED system immediately presents challenges for the motor trade which haven’t been fully thought through by the Government. We have been lobbying the DVLA for years to record and track trade mileage without any progress.
“As the motor trade knows the DVLA currently does not facilitate the process of tracking the ‘in trade’ ownership of a used vehicle which allows traders to use trade plates for movement and test drives without registering the vehicle to themselves,” explained Wright.
“If that changes and the DVLA is able to facilitate the ownership of a vehicle at all times through dynamic API feeds, then perhaps the system would be less arduous for the trade to monitor and manage,” he added.
Another challenge of the new pence-per-mile eVED system could be drivers opting to adjust their car’s mileage downwards if they feel the new system is unfair and going to leave them out of pocket. There are plenty of mileage correction companies in place who are ready to jump on the bandwagon to make a quick buck.
“The Government holds all the cards in helping address both the trade mileage and clocking issues. The Government making the act of clocking vehicles illegal would be a great foundation to address the issue while the DVLA must address the ongoing challenge of tracking in trade ownership,” said Wright.
