I have bought a used car from a 2nd hand car dealer 30 miles from my house, it was advertised on Auto Trader on Thursday 19th April, I rather stupidly didn't take anyone with me and trusted that he was honest. The next morning I took the car to my local garage who told me that the the clutch needed replacing, the exhaust was starting to go and the front tyre was bald - I realise I should've noticed this at the time.

I rang the dealer who told me that the boss wasn't in and someone would call me back, they didn't. Later that day I discovered he had put a staple through the MOT certificate where it showed the mileage, I had bought the car thinking that it had done 76,000 miles the MOT certificate actually stated 87600 last June. I sent him a letter the same day by recorded delivery stating the issues with the car and that I wanted a full refund and return of my part exchanged vehicle he refused to sign for the letter. Since then he told me I would get a refund and someone would collect the car on Mon 23rd, nobody came and he will not answer any of his phone numbers to me.

I have given him 7 days as advised by citizens advice to rectify the situation and today decided to drive over, the boss was again nowhere to be seen although I am fairly sure he is the boss and he told me he would ring me back today. I have since discovered from a previous employee that he ceased trading as the company I bought the car from 3 weeks ago and is now trading as something else although he wrote the old company name on my receipt. He has also advertised my part exchanged car on Auto Trader with a mileage of 7600 less than I sold it to him with so he is clearly the one clocking the cars. He has offered to pay £200 towards the replacement of the clutch and a new tyre my question is should I take this as an expensive lesson or refuse the amount offered and hope that trading standards will help me?

Thanks

please use the edit button in the gray lower bar of the above post and add some blank lines

dx

Get on to trading standards today, I mean as soon as you have had your first coffee, they treat clocked cars very seriously and will listen. Car clockers get sent to prison not fined.

I have already reported him via citizens advice as I can't contact trading standards directly, they said trading standards had responded with a no commitment to contact meaning they don't need to speak to me to pursue the issue but I wanted them to help me get my money back. I will ring citizens advice again this morning as I only discovered he has already changed his trading name last night. He sold me the car under a name that had ceased trading 3 weeks ago

please use the edit button in the gray lower bar of the above post and add some blank lines

 

dx

Apologies have made it easier to read now I was rushing to post it before I went to bed in the hope of getting answers quicker.

Lisa

Can you keep us posted on this please. As Conniff says, TS should treat this very seriously. You should be writing to the seller by recorded post to formally reject the car. Once the letter has been posted the car must not be driven. Keep all your paper work safe as TS will need to see it. Normally I would advise to pursue the seller for a refund via the county court but in this case I think TS will want to be involved so you should follow their advice.

I have just paid for a hpi check which came back clear and not showing any discrepancies which when I rang to query this she said it's because they haven't been told of any mileage for the car and without a manual check with VOSA which I could've done for free, they have now recorded the mileage discrepancy.

I rang citizens advice again this morning they have said that trading standards won't contact me as they have given a non-commitment to contact so basically I have to sort it out myself. I am sending a recorded delivery letter today to his new business name as advised by citizens advice, the car hasn't been driven as it's not roadworthy. It seems that the official route is on the side of the conman rather than the consumer

I have just paid for a hpi check which came back clear and not showing any discrepancies which when I rang to query this she said it's because they haven't been told of any mileage for the car and without a manual check with VOSA which I could've done for free, they have now recorded the mileage discrepancy.

 

I rang citizens advice again this morning they have said that trading standards won't contact me as they have given a non-commitment to contact so basically I have to sort it out myself. I am sending a recorded delivery letter today to his new business name as advised by citizens advice, the car hasn't been driven as it's not roadworthy. It seems that the official route is on the side of the conman rather than the consumer

No No No! Contact Trading Standards yourself directly before you do anything else.

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/advice/index.cfm

This is a clocking issue something they SHOULD be interested in as it's a criminal offence to sell a car with false advertised mileage. Does it state anywhere on your invoice that the mileage is not genuine? It's also illegal to sell an un-roadworthy car.

It didn't say it anywhere on the car until he gave me the receipt where he had written mileage not warranted, although he had intentionally covered up the mileage so he knew it was incorrect. All of the telephone numbers on the trading standards website direct me to the citizens advice number even the local office has the consumer direct number as a contact

What part of the country are you in?

I am in West Yorkshire he is in Lancashire there is an office number for lancashire trading standards but it diverts to consumer direct and the other number won't speak to me about consumer complaints. I thought they would be more interested to be honest seeing as my part exchanged car is still on his forecourt as evidence that he is doing this if they drag it out much longer he will have sold it on

Ok Lisa... I have just been on to Citizen's Advice for you and explained your situ. I'm going to PM you the reference details.

Apparently the whole consumer advice set up changed April 1st and you have to now be referred by CAB to Trading Standards who will take action from the information you provide CAB. TS do not apparently need to contact you at this stage but that dosn't mean to say that they are not investigating your complaint. I suggest that you get someone to go along to the seller posing as a potential buyer for your old car and attempt to photograph the current mileage.

Can you tell us the seller's trading names please and the make, model, year of the car you bought and price paid.

I will stick with this one.

PM sent. Try and make the call ASAP.

Thanks a lot I really appreciate it, I can't reply to your pm but I have contacted them again. The name was Lancashire Diesel Centre, Heys Lane, Great Harwood he changed the name of the business 3 weeks ago to Heys Lane Car Sales at the same address. The car is a 2004 Ford Focus and I paid £1695. Citizens advice are passing the further info on to trading standards and hopefully this might get me somewhere

Lisa

And what car did you trade in? Did you manage to speak to the person I mentioned in the PM?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/dealer/527961/stock/used/cars#advert201216464880428

No I tried to speak to her but he said he could deal with it. My car is the red ford focus he is selling at £595 it states the mileage is 83,000 when it was actually 90,600 and the engine size is 1.8 not 1.6 as he is advertising

As I said earlier, it would be interesting to see exactly what the milometer is reading... it could be that there is an error in the advert.

Have you sent your letter yet? If not, mention that you are rejecting the car under the SOGA 1979 as being falsely advertised and being not fit for the purpose (i.e. having a bald tyre). No doubt this is the advice you got from CAB.

Please keep us posted.

Yes it has been posted by special delivery this afternoon I will let you know the outcome thanks for all your help

Yes it has been posted by special delivery this afternoon I will let you know the outcome thanks for all your help

No probs. Knowing that we may get rid of another rouge car dealer is all the thanks we need!

I have spoken to someone at the garage tonight,

Andy is pretending to be the manager of the site not the owner

although one of the employees told me that it was him I actually spoke to yesterday morning

when he was pretending not to be the owner.

He has told me that Andrew Smith (who I think is imaginary) has sold the business and will be taken over next week,

this Andrew Smith owns 5 garages and has sold them all this week

he is moving abroad by the end of the week

so I either take the £200 that he is offering or get nothing as there will be nobody for me to take to court.

His actual words were

"take who to court there is no-one to claim from and you won't win"

He is adamantly denying clocking cars and couldn't offer an explanation as to why their were such discrepancies

nor would he give me the contact details or names of the other garages for the elusive Andrew Smith as it wasn't right to give his details out to customers.

You need to pass this info on to CAB first thing tomorrow under the same reference number. Personally I think he is bluffing. I wouldn't fall for it.

Don't quite get this at the moment.

What was the mileage on the clock on the car when you bought it?

What is the date of the MOT showing the 83000?

What is the mileage showing currently on the clock of the car you part exchanged?

This could be a case of a dealer misrepresenting mileage in an ad which is probably why TS will not contact straight away as I expect they are investigating. Not quite as serious as clocking. Expect the usual answer from a dodgy dealer though if there is a discrepancy on the car you bought of there was a fault which needed a cluster change so we fitted a second hand one!

TS will investigate all of this and the company changing hands is plausible. Unfortunately you have to take a lot of things at face value at the moment and unless you have the hard evidence it's a bit early to be making serious allegations. The value of the cars involved do not warrant any trader taking the risk of clocking givrn the penalties. TS take action not just against the garage who sold the car but the person who clocked as well so even if a private sale they should look at it.

Something does seem a bit odd though. If you could get the info it would pretty much clarify the situation.

Car was advertised as having done 76k which is what it is now (ish). Mileage on MOT issued last June 87600. Car that OP traded in was 90600 miles, now advertised as having done 83k. I have suggested that the OP tries to arrange for someone to pose as a buyer and take a pic of the mileometer of her old car. Also car was sold with bald tyre apparently.

He is clearly using scare tactics in trying to make you accept the £200.

Keep with it as advice already given above, he will come unstuck, ... the old saying play with fire comes to mind for him!!!

Good luck with your case

Any news Jay?