Peter Simpson provides us with an insight into the automotive sales trading world – and beyond.
I’ve just heard the story of a 24-year-old ‘car dealer’ from Birmingham who is starting a two-year and elevenmonth prison sentence for what was described in court as “ripping off customers by selling unroadworthy death trap vehicles.”The case was bought by Birmingham City Council and followed a string of trading standards complaints. One customer, whose £4500 Discovery was reported as needing £7000 worth of repairs to make it roadworthy, also launched a Consumer Action Group blog, and obtained a CCJ, though it’s not known whether he was able to enforce the Judgement and get his money.
The court was also told that the dealer concerned had bought 360 cars from just one auction between October 2019 and June 2021, and that the defects they were sold with included a Škoda with an electric window held up by wood and all the operating mechanism removed (a common problem with Fabias and others), a Ford Ka with a corroded and leaking petrol tank, a Land Rover Discovery with severe chassis corrosion and a £2900 MINI Cooper that needed a new clutch and turbo costing the new owner an additional £3000. In all these cases, the dealer concerned refused any help. Indeed the Škoda buyer was told to “Buy a fuse from Halfords” and that “cars sold for under £1500 are sold as seen and as unroadworthy.”
It was also stated in court that the person concerned used several trading names including Yew Tree Cars, Sam Harrison Cars and Lee Hudson Cars – please note that there may be other, totally unconnected, motor trade businesses with similar names elsewhere – and advertised in several places online, including eBay and Auto Trader.
It’s clear that this particular case was deliberate di
