🕵️‍♂️ Berlingo Mystery Milage Challenge: Can You Work Out Why?

[NGRhodes]

Spotted this 2017 Citroën Berlingo for sale with 117K miles:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-detail ... 0271118901

Your challenge:
Using any public or online sources you like...

What’s the story behind its mileage?

Take your best guess — took me a while, but I worked it out - I’ll reveal the answer later.

[Rich B]

is 117k particularly high for an 8 year old practical car?

[Jobbo]

I’ve only looked at the MOT checker. It seems to have been driven without an MOT quite a lot. But barely at all in the last year.

Go on, is it really 1,117,000 miles?

[Mito Man]

The stains on the seat make me think the former lady owner was into dogging?

[Mito Man]

is 117k particularly high for an 8 year old practical car?

Weirdly its apparently 70,000 miles above average according to Autotrader. Are they so bad no one wants to drive them far?

[Sundayjumper]

The mileage declared in the advert - 117,679 - is lower than the mileage recorded when it was MOT’d in August 2023 - 117,691.

The stamps & writing in the service book all look the same - as if they were all filled in recently, at once.

[NGRhodes]

There is a subtle hint in one of the photographs about the few years with high milage.
One of the other mileage oddities is related to a mass event that affected us all.

[Sundayjumper]

Ah yes, the 117,679 is visible in one of the photos. It’s definitely been clocked, so I’m going to assume the service history is a complete fiction as well.

[Gavster]

It was in another country for a couple of years where it accumlated the mileage

[mik]

Used within an airport or something similarly off-public-roads?

[NGRhodes]

It was in another country for a couple of years where it accumlated the mileage

Yes, now we are getting very warm - one of the photos has a tiny hint of where.

[Rich B]

i’m assuming it’s the stickers on the windscreen, but i’m bored now!

[NGRhodes]

Ah yes, the 117,679 is visible in one of the photos. It’s definitely been clocked, so I’m going to assume the service history is a complete fiction as well.

Quite the opposite, the service history, also see Gav's reply.

[Sundayjumper]

i’m bored now!

This

[Rich B]

the answer had better be something BLOODY SPECTACULAR.

[Mito Man]

Yep, if this wasn’t moved to Austria during the covid years to move Nazi gold then I’m disappointed and want my time and money back.

[NGRhodes]

i’m assuming it’s the stickers on the windscreen, but i’m bored now!

The sticker is a French ULEZ-zone sticker.

This car spent a lot of time in France, the underside is very clean (having seen the car), definitely not seen many British winters.
The other oddity is that its been MOT'd but not taxed for a few years, this is because its been for sale for around 2 years.
The car itself seems fine (test drove it), but something has put buyers off.
At some point it was advertised at £6k, so maybe the price, mileage and patchy at first glance history put people off ?

[Sundayjumper]

So apart the fact it’s a French taxi that’s been clocked, what’s the amazing thrilling answer to this mystery ?

[Rich B]

i’m assuming it’s the stickers on the windscreen, but i’m bored now!

The sticker is a French ULEZ-zone sticker.

This car spent a lot of time in France, the underside is very clean (having seen the car), definitely not seen many British winters.
The other oddity is that its been MOT'd but not taxed for a few years, this is because its been for sale for around 2 years.
The car itself seems fine (test drove it), but something has put buyers off.
At some point it was advertised at £6k, so maybe the price, mileage and patchy at first glance history put people off ?

i have a french ulez sticker on my van…

[duncs500]

Yep, if this wasn’t moved to Austria during the covid years to move Nazi gold then I’m disappointed and want my time and money back.