The Subaru Impreza is the UK’s most clocked car, according to a study conducted by Rapid Car Check.
The car history check specialist tested 50,000 vehicles in July 2019 to discover how many have a ‘dodgy’ mileage.
For the purposes of this study, this meant a vehicle that had its mileage reduced between MOT tests, or a vehicle with a mixture of odometer readings in kilometres and miles.
Of the 50,000 vehicles tested, 3,964 had a mileage discrepancy of some kind, giving a fail percentage of 7.92 percent.
A total of 3,664 vehicles had their mileage reduced, with 510 showing a mixture of odometer readings. This means 7.32 percent of the 50,000 UK cars tested have likely been clocked.
Earlier this year, we revealed that as many as one in 14 cars have been clocked – a process that involves ‘winding’ the odometer back to provide a lower reading.
With a fail rate of 17.72 percent, the Subaru Impreza tops the list of the UK’s most clocked cars, ahead of the Ford Transit, Toyota Yaris, Renault Clio and Vauxhall Vectra.
Subaru also topped the manufacturer table, with a fail rate of 16.98 percent. This put it ahead of Mitsubishi (13.89 percent), Toyota (13.73 percent), Mercedes-Benz (10.83 percent) and Renault (10.63 percent).
‘Almost impossible to tell a clocked vehicle’
It’s difficult to spot a clocked car, but checking the service and MOT history will lower the chances of ending up with a dodgy motor.
You can also ask HPI to check the car against the national mileage register. Barry Shorto, head of industry relations at HPI, said: “It can be almost impossible to tell a clocked vehicle just by looking at it, which makes a vehicle history check an even more vital form of protection for buyers.
“A clocked vehicle could be hiding serious levels of wear and tear, especially if it has been previously used as a high mileage private hire vehicle for a couple of years, meaning the additional cost of unexpected repairs or even a potentially serious safety threat to driver, passengers and other road users.”
Top 10 clocked cars in the UK
| Make and model | Total checked | Total failed | Fail rate |
| Subaru Impreza | 220 | 39 | 17.72 percent |
| Ford Transit | 906 | 142 | 15.67 percent |
| Toyota Yaris | 303 | 38 | 12.54 percent |
| Renault Clio | 640 | 73 | 11.40 percent |
| Vauxhall Vectra | 365 | 38 | 10.41 percent |
| Honda Civic | 626 | 62 | 9.90 percent |
| Mini Hatchback | 699 | 63 | 9.01 percent |
| Volkswagen Passat | 558 | 48 | 8.60 percent |
| Ford Mondeo | 537 | 45 | 8.37 percent |
| Volkswagen Golf | 2,846 | 219 | 7.69 percent |