Speedo saga wound up

By FIONA ROTHERHAM

High-profile Auckland used-car salesman Rod Milner has had his day in court.

Three years and many dollars later, Rod Milner Motors has won a District Court appeal after being accused of selling a car with a wound-back odometer to an 86-year-old widow.

The case was once described by self-styled anti-clocking campaigner Dermot Nottingham as "one of the most disgraceful episodes in the history of the odometer fraud saga."

Mr Nottingham is now trying to revive his campaign through a civil action against another Auckland car dealer for allegedly defrauding the public.

The Rod Milner Motors saga began in June 1997 when former property high flyer Terry Fidow, backed by Mr Nottingham, claimed his mother-in-law, Irene Collyns, had been sold a clocked car by the car yard. They demanded a refund under the car yard's moneyback guarantee.

Mr Milner believes he was deliberately targeted as the former head of the Imported Motor Vehicle Dealers Association.

Mrs Collyns bought the 1988 Nissan Bluebird from Rod Milner Motors in 1994 for $15,000, trading in her Mazda 323. The Nissan's odometer reading was then 49,233km. By May 1997, the car started having mechanical problems with only 74,100km showing on the clock.

An examination by Robinson Instrument Services revealed odometer scratch marks.

It was claimed the car's odometer had been wound back by up to 100,000km.

This all erupted while Mr Milner was recovering from major heart surgery.

One of his staff members made the mistake of saying publicly that the tampering with the Japanese import must have occurred after Mrs Collyns bought the car.

The next day the Herald ran a story where the car yard apologised to the widow and offered her a refund.

But "smelling a rat," Mr Milner intervened and asked an old friend, former National MP Trevor Rogers, to travel to Japan to investigate further.

Mr Rogers returned armed with documents confirming that the mileage was 46,000km when bought by the car dealership.

In the book, Car Wars, ghost-written by television producer Damien Comerford, Mr Nottingham admitted that he stage-managed a picket outside Mr Milner's Greenlane car yard, inviting the media to witness the event. Mr Milner claims the picket ended shortly after the television cameras departed.

Mr Milner, a JP, wanted to clear his name.

His Greenlane car yard was vandalised twice in one week just after the case was heard before the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal.

In September 1997, the tribunal found the Nissan's odometer had clearly been wound back, most likely before the car was bought in Japan. However, the tribunal said on a technicality that it could not order compensation for Mrs Collyns.

This decision was appealed and overturned by the District Court in July 1998.

Mr Milner was able, also on a technicality, to appeal for a second time.

"If we didn't fight this, any Tom, Dick, or Harry could come back years later with a scratched speedo and the dealer would have no leg to stand on. That's why I fought it," he said.

District Court Judge Jeremy Doogue recently handed down his decision on the cross-appeal.

Rod Milner Motors had restated in court its claim that any tampering to the car's odometer occurred after the car was sold to Mrs Collyns.

Technical evidence indicated the scratches found on the odometer would not have caused the wheels to rotate out of position. This was based on the way the scratch marks were angled.

Technical experts hotly disputed whether the continuous scratch line on the odometer had read 158,000km before purchase.

Judge Doogue found "the end result is that any of the theories of how the marks came to be on the wheels brings with it logical difficulties."

Because the odometer had been through many hands, the judge said evidence of additional markings could not be safely relied on.

Mr Milner said publicity over the case had cost him business.

Three other Japanese imports sold by the car yard were found to be wound back. The car owners, two of whom featured on a 60 Minutes programme, have been given refunds.

Mr Milner said three dodgy cars out of the 600 or so vehicles the car yard imported from Japan each year was not a bad statistic.

Rod Milner Motors now has each import checked before being sold.

Mr Milner is now considering legal action over allegations made about him, including in Car Wars.