A GALWAY car sales company has given a formal undertaking to the National Consumer Agency (NCA) not to engage in selling “clocked” cars.

The agency said as a result of a recent investigation it had formed the view that Arch Motors Ltd, of Westside, Galway, had been engaging in misleading commercial practices by selling or offering for sale used vehicles with altered or reduced odometer readings to increase their value.

The practice is known in the trade as “clocking”.

The Consumer Protection Act 2007 prohibits practices such as the selling of clocked cars or offering them for sale.

The NCA said on February 19th it identified three cars which were for sale by Arch Motors with a reduced mileage reading.

One of these vehicles was sold on February 22nd.

In addition to the formal undertaking not to sell clocked cars in the future, Arch Motors undertook to compensate consumers affected.

It is the second undertaking which the agency has obtained this year from car dealers.

In March a Limerick city car sales company, Orange Motors Ltd, gave a formal undertaking not to engage in car clocking or selling clocked cars following an investigation by the NCA.

It compensated three customers whose cars were clocked.

“By taking this action the agency puts a stop to this misleading practice by the dealers concerned, ensures that consumers get redress, and sends a clear message to other dealers that they cannot mislead consumers by selling them clocked cars and expect to get away with it,” said NCA chief executive Ann Fitzgerald.

The agency has received more than 40 complaints about car clocking in the past year, and assistant director Catherine Lenihan said it had a wide variety of enforcement tools to help it protect consumers.

These included undertakings, prohibition orders, compliance notices and prosecutions.