Dodgy dealer and car troubles :(

Tam89

Hi my first post sorry its long.. I need some advice. I don't know what to do next or whether there really isn't anything else I can do.
I recently purchased a car 17TH May 2012 for £1400 cash to later find out the car is not road worthy on 7th June 2012 . A mechanic confirmed it was a water pump fail and head gasket blown repair cost £500. I contacted citizens advice they advised me on what to do. I phoned Ash (trader) to inform him with the problem of the car he said it’s not his problem. I asked for his address as I would take the matter further he refused to tell me it. I said to him if he can prove the problem was after I bought the car then I will leave it. He said he doesn’t want trading standards breathing down his neck and put the phone down. I contacted citizen’s advice again and told them. They said to write him a formal letter of my complaint recorded delivery. I sent them to the address I bought the car. My complaint had then been passed onto my local trading standards (Shrewsbury) as Ash refused to accept my letters. I know of others that have purchased cars from Ash on eBay that have been falsely advertised. I have copies of conversations with them via eBay messages. I bought the car in Manchester who I now suspect is an illegal trader. My local Trading standards said they need to establish the name of the trader, his trading name & an exact address they told me they contacted Trading Standards in Manchester and there are no records of business at the address I purchased the car. So i done abit of of searching myself on the internet about this trader and passed it on to Trading Standards

My local trading standards have now said

I have had a look at the details you sent me & you might well be right there are links to the person that sold the car.

The main problem you have is that you do not have a receipt or invoice which states any of the names or companies & without this it will be very difficult to make a claim against the seller. Trading Standards would always recommend that consumers obtain proper paperwork when entering into a contract with a business as this can be vital if there is a dispute over faulty goods etc.

If you did want to take the matter further you would need to consider suing the seller in the County Court & to do this you need a definite name/address for him. You could not do this if you were unsure who you actually dealt with & you could not sue the limited companies you have highlighted as you will not have a contract with them. If you were to sue the wrong person or company your claim would be thrown out of court.

Surely this person should be investigated? he's going to carry on selling dodgy cars like he has done allready and one day somebody who buys a car off him will have a serious accident

Joe_Horner

Bottle of red down tonight (celebrating new business) so this is a brief reply.

If you don't have definite details then it's going to be hard, as Trading Standards have said.

On the plus side, if Manchester TS are on the ball (some are, some aren't) the guy will get large piles of poo-poo raining on his head soonefr or later because once a good TS department are aware of a problem it's only a matter of time. I know that doesn't help you with youru immediate problem but try to take a little satisfaction from the karma your complaint may have lined up for him

If no-one else posts in the meantime I'll try to come up with suggestions for your problem when brain is properly in gear

Tam89

Congrats on new business
Thankyou for your reply. I found the car on ebay. I have a copy of the ad. Many Many years left in car no Major faults to list.. Pffft!!
I found lots of information on this man just by typing his mobile number into google ha. Im just really upset nothing can be done. I would of thought Trading Standards would be able to do a proper search on him especially with the information I gave them. I was thinking of giving up even then I don't know what to do I can't afford to repair the car yet although I'm still paying insurance I hope to hear from Manchester Trading Standards soon and get a better outcome

hartcjhart

Tam89 wrote: »

Hi my first post sorry its long.. I need some advice. I don't know what to do next or whether there really isn't anything else I can do.
I recently purchased a car 17TH May 2012 for £1400 cash to later find out the car is not road worthy on 7th June 2012 . A mechanic confirmed it was a water pump fail and head gasket blown repair cost £500. I contacted citizens advice they advised me on what to do. I phoned Ash (trader) to inform him with the problem of the car he said it’s not his problem. I asked for his address as I would take the matter further he refused to tell me it. I said to him if he can prove the problem was after I bought the car then I will leave it. He said he doesn’t want trading standards breathing down his neck and put the phone down. I contacted citizen’s advice again and told them. They said to write him a formal letter of my complaint recorded delivery. I sent them to the address I bought the car. My complaint had then been passed onto my local trading standards (Shrewsbury) as Ash refused to accept my letters. I know of others that have purchased cars from Ash on eBay that have been falsely advertised. I have copies of conversations with them via eBay messages. I bought the car in Manchester who I now suspect is an illegal trader. My local Trading standards said they need to establish the name of the trader, his trading name & an exact address they told me they contacted Trading Standards in Manchester and there are no records of business at the address I purchased the car. So i done abit of of searching myself on the internet about this trader and passed it on to Trading Standards

My local trading standards have now said

I have had a look at the details you sent me & you might well be right there are links to the person that sold the car.

The main problem you have is that you do not have a receipt or invoice which states any of the names or companies & without this it will be very difficult to make a claim against the seller. Trading Standards would always recommend that consumers obtain proper paperwork when entering into a contract with a business as this can be vital if there is a dispute over faulty goods etc.

If you did want to take the matter further you would need to consider suing the seller in the County Court & to do this you need a definite name/address for him. You could not do this if you were unsure who you actually dealt with & you could not sue the limited companies you have highlighted as you will not have a contract with them. If you were to sue the wrong person or company your claim would be thrown out of court.

Surely this person should be investigated? he's going to carry on selling dodgy cars like he has done allready and one day somebody who buys a car off him will have a serious accident

sorry but that doesw not make a car 'unroadworthy

which is 'tecnically' right

will they???

sorry but you bought a 'cheapie' car and the HG has gone thats life

Tam89

I can no longer drive the car with a blown head gasket I would of thought that is unroadworthy not safe to drive anyway. It was only 2 days before I bought the car the mot was done?

I understand cars have there problems but not so soon after buying the car in faith that it was reliable and nothing major to report.
The mechanic told me it seemed as though the water was being filled regularly?

Someone else who bought a car from this man days after took it to their local garage and told them that the following needed doing.
Front brake pads
Front brake discs
Radiator fan
Complete exhaust system
Timing belt
Water pump
Anti-freeze
Dash light bulbs
Rear brake need cleaning and adjusting
One tyre is no good.. does that sound safe to drive?

spiro

hartcjhart wrote: »

sorry but you bought a 'cheapie' car and the HG has gone thats life

Not if they can prove he is a trader. The days of 'sold as seen' have long gone. Given the car was only bought 3 weeks before the seller would have responsibility.

The only way dealers (told 1st hand by several dealers) can sell bangers with no comeback is to sell them as 'for spares or repair' and advertise that they need to be towed/trailler away.

Tam89

I have proof he is trading. Just difficult finding a full name and address :-/ I bought a 'cheapie' car beause that's all I could afford and I had only recently passed my driving test didn't want to buy something expensive.

colino

"I have proof he is trading". Sorry, no you don't. You cannot even link evidentially your own purchase to him. No doubt TS have a file on him that they are unwilling to share with you, but for all the best will in the world, connections to a burn phone online is not going to stack up in court.
Do you have a witness to anything? Is there something in the ad., the car or the paperwork that links back to him? Get digging, because a driveway dealer with no more than a made up name and a floating mobile is going to be difficult to pin down.
Best of luck.

Tam89

He has an eBay account which has feedback from selling cars and there are cars on autotrader where he is selling cars with a company name. The pictures of the cars shows the background of the place I bought the car other buyers have confirmed they bought there car from this address too.

I had two friends come with me to see the car they had more knowledge about cars than I did. One of my friends went with the trader to local post office to tax car he said he will use his details as it would be easier and quicker because it was late and the post office would be closing soon. Is there any way I could trace details from tax disc?

The mot was done two days before I bought the car which was done by a local mot garage.

Typing his mobile onto google came up with alot of information.

-Cars on autrotrader with company name
-I found company address which led to another company with same address an electrical shop. The contact name was a name similar to what I know him by.
- Searched his name on google and it came up with he was a sales assistant at another electrical shop.
- Did a search on Electrical Shop and on the website it says it buys, sells and part exchange electricals.
- There is an ebay account that is now closed now which was for buy, sell and part exhange electricals with the name I know him by and mobile number.

blue_haddock

Tam89 wrote: »

It was only 2 days before I bought the car the mot was done?

A head gasket is not part of the MOT and they can go at any time.

Out of interest what vehicle is it?


Someone else who bought a car from this man days after took it to their local garage and told them that the following needed doing.
Front brake pads
Front brake discs
Radiator fan
Complete exhaust system
Timing belt
Water pump
Anti-freeze
Dash light bulbs
Rear brake need cleaning and adjusting
One tyre is no good.. does that sound safe to drive?


Whats the betting they took it to kwik fit and that is what they told them it needed.

Tam89

If I knew there was a problem with the water pump the head gasket wouldnt of gone?
It was a 2002 vauxhall corsa 1.2 sxi

Im not sure what garage they went to but they are not the only person who have had problems with their car from this trader. One person I emailed said there car broke down after 13miles.

From the log book could I get his details? He sent it off for me. I signed my bit as new registered keeper and im sure there was something he signed.