August 2010 NMR Update

Today we uploaded over 103,000 mileage readings via batch. As of 31^st August 2010 23:56 the National Mileage Register contains 3,471,801 records. The Register, despite its name, contains records in both miles and kilometers! This raises an interesting question:

Have you ever wondered why cars in Ireland are advertised in miles AND kilometers?

Since Jan 2005 new cars sold in Ireland displayed their odometer (mileage clock) in kilometers rather than miles. For the Irish consumer this was confusing – about as confusing as the comparable change from Irish Punt to the Euro Jan 2002! However car sales websites and dealers took the transition in their stride with many listing both the kilometer and mileage equivalents in vehicle advertisements, making it easier for buyers to make the transition.

The upshot is that nowadays we have Irish odometers pre-2005 mostly in miles and after 2005 mostly in kilometers (unless they were imported along the way in which case they are mostly in miles). This can be somewhat confusing if you are purchasing a used car registered after 2005.  Mile/kilometer mixups account for a fair chunk of false mileage discrepancies. Some sellers may use this confusion to their advantage and advertise 50,000 Miles as 50,000 Km, or worse tamper or ‘clock’ a vehicle to its numeric rather than actual kilometer equivalent. Make sure when recording the mileage to double check the odometer units.

Finally, out of interest, here’s a break-down of the percentages for odometer readings by year for vehicles in the August 2010 batch update. (Note: the 2010 readings are valid only up until August 2010!)

(Note: Figures are derived from mileage data via Cartell.ie)