Faulty car sales - the car is a Cat N write off as of July 2023 - Motorshop BHX (Possibly linked to Yewtree Car Sales/James Harrison Cars of Solihull)

[eternalblue]

Morning everyone,

I'm finding myself in a situation here with a dodgy used car that appears to be getting deeper and deeper.

It's spiralling a bit but I'll try and be as concise as I can, if any info needs clarifying just ask. Bear with as it's a long story.

Shortly before Christmas I was shopping for a car - my first car purchase after passing my test - getting frustrated at being given a runaround by a few dealers, several instances of having arranged viewings only to find the cars weren't there when arriving, cars not as described, "I'll call you back later" and so on.

On the 19th December I saw an ad for a 2013 Golf - we'll call it Golf 1 - from a private seller on Gumtree being listed in Solihull. I tried contacting him but couldn't get through, so set off to view a couple more at some dealers that morning.

As I'd left the last dealer with no intention of buying anything they had I received a call back from the private seller apologising for not picking up as he'd been busy at work all morning but if I could get there within two hours he'd have time to show me the car - in hindsight a red flag that I missed

Between the visits to other dealers and rushing over to meet him I crucially forgot to do a HPI check as I had been on other vehicles

Seller text me that he lived on Yardley Green Road postcode B95QA, when I arrived there I called him and he directed me to number 170 where he was waiting outside with the car - another red flag I stupidly missed, not verifying he lived there.

Had a look over the car and took it for a test drive with him and all seemed fine. Parked up and chatted for a short while about it, he assured me it had been looked after. He produced documents including a V5 registered to somewhere in Wales and when asked told me he'd recently moved and not updated it as intending to sell the car on anyway.

Service history provided only covered the last 3 years and nothing earlier, the latest service receipt being from a couple of months prior and being done by a main dealer in Birmingham with the registered keepers details which appeared to corroborate his story. After reminding me he was on a timer I daftly agreed to the purchase on the spot rather than going home to think on it. I paid £4250 via bank transfer letting the seller input the account details himself.

He confirmed receipt of the money and went to transfer the V5 online but it wouldn't go through, at which point he said "You'll just have to do it yourself using your new keeper slip", tore the front page off the logbook but it seems he also took the MOT cert away with him, and off he went on foot towards where we'd met. Checked my bank app and payment had been made to a Mujahid Sajed, not the name on the V5

I sat in the car for a while to sort out insurance then drove home without issue, the car drove nicely as it had done on the test drive and gave me no cause for concern mechanically.

At home that evening I started to go over the events in my head and realised all the naïve things I'd done wrong in the spur of the moment, I opened my laptop up and saw the ad was still open so I screenshotted it with the description "cared for to the highest of standards, no expense spared" etc with the sellers phone number showing. Then it dawned on me I had forgot the HPI check -sure enough, the car is a Cat N write off as of July 2023 noting minor damage to the passenger front and rear bumper, and passenger door. All clear otherwise.

After a few days of worry and kicking myself I accepted that I'd bought carelessly in a private sale despite all the advice available, and may have to learn an expensive lesson, but for now the car seemed fine.

I booked it in for a service and health check for peace of mind at the local branch of National Tyres but it wouldn't be until January - the few garages open in the area during Christmas were all fully booked. Also booked in one tyre replacement as per MOT advisory.

In the meantime curiosity carried on gnawing I returned to gumtree to see what was available in Solihull. 26th December, another Golf - I'll call it Golf 2 - private ad, typed out almost identically, different name, same phone number as Golf 1. Saved plenty of screenshots and downloaded in archived webpage with the info. Then I found another advert for Golf 1 that had been posted a month prior, same seller details again but he'd forgotten to remove the ad. Saved it too.

For the rest of the Christmas period I didn't use the car as I was uncertain about taking my partner and child in it until it had the health check.

January 3rd I dropped it into National Tyres in the morning and went to work, only to receive a call from the garage within an hour or two asking to come and pick it up. Their VCDS diagnostic tool immediately picked up 38 electrical faults running from the front bumper through the car along the passenger side, electrical systems failing in the passenger doors, safety features malfunctioning or disabled.

They politely advised me that it's out of their payscale and they wouldn't know where to begin, arranged a refund for the planned work and referred me to a nearby specialist who would be able to offer more knowledge. I spoke to the other garage and they can't fit me in until tomorrow (10th Jan) due to demand after being closed over Christmas.

Returning to Gumtree again I expanded the search radius to areas around Solihull. Golf 2 is still on the market as a private sale. It then appeared in Stechford, identical advert but from a trader, Motorshop BHX, with 5 years of account use and a landline number, with 12 other cars on the market. 

They also have the same listings on motors.co.uk under the name Motor Shop BHX (/dealers/cars/motor-shop-bhx/36730/is the url) with an address listed as 1 Avocet Close, Birmingham B33 9HF, a different landline number, listed as an independent trader. I've saved numerous images from here, but I can't be sure the address listed is genuine at all. Land registry shows house was bought in 08 with a name that can't really be linked.

The same company also has an ebay business seller profile where Golf 2 was listed for sale, I checked the revision history of the listing which shows they've had it up for sale since 19th December or earlier, and have also saved this info. All of their ads are typed in the same style which is CAPS + MORE CAPS + MORE CAPS + PERFECTLY LOOKED AFTER CAR + etc

I tried to call the private seller about the logbook after the sale and the call wouldn't connect. When I found the dealer pages I called tentatively and they hung up as soon as I asked any questions re verifying the business name.

At this point the evidence I have via Golf 2's ads show that:
This car is available from a dealer and private seller at the same time, i.e the dealer is illegally posing as a private seller. 
Linking the private ads of Golf 1 and Golf 2  show that the dealer is posing as a private seller in order to sell written off cars without declaring it which is illegal, potentially dangerous cars which is illegal, as well as goods not fitting description being illegal ("cared for to highest of standards" etc I'd argue is fairly binding)

Not really being sure where to turn next my partner decided I was trying too hard and googled "dodgy car seller birmingham" and lo and behold we come to Mohammed Sajad, aka James Harrison Cars, Yewtree Cars, Lee Hudson Cars, currently serving 3 years in jail for illegal car selling activity up to 2021, which brought me to this website.

From the old adverts I've seen from the Lee Hudson days posted on here the typing characteristics are the same (CAPS + CAPS + CAPS), the areas of operation are the same, posing as Solihull but moving around Yardley and the B33 postcode. The facebook profile for Junaid Sajad that was previously posted on here (the fake policewoman argument as a reminder) shows a cover picture with a banner stating 'RIP HASSAN' a search for Mujahid Sajed brings what I think are old profiles for Mujahid Sajed and Sajid that are the guy I bought the car from, both with these 'RIP HASSAN' tags on the profiles

There's no coincidence, no doubt whatsoever that Yewtree are still shifting hazardous vehicles onto unsuspecting victims.

I'm off now to Citizens Advice to show my evidence and get the ball rolling on legal action, and will report back tomorrow when I've got a full professional verdict on the state of the car.

If anyone has anything to add or question, or advice, in the meantime, let me know here please

Edit to add: I'm not from Birmingham myself so snooping on the known family address isn't easy