Dealer advertising "Full Service History" when there isn't one!

weejangus

Hi All,

So, I recently traded in my trusty Ford at the end of January and got next to nothing for it as the MOT was due in April and I had no service history for it. The car was sent to Auction within a couple of days and I actually saw it online selling for a few hundred quid more than I traded it for. Seemed fair when you consider the auction fees and cost to clean the car, that few hundred quid wouldn't have gone far.

Fast forward to this week. I have now seen my old car for sale on Autotrader. It's at a Used Car dealership approx 160 miles away! Funnily enough, it's being advertised as excellent condition, lady owner and FULL SERVICE HISTORY.

Now, lets ignore the fact that I've been called a lady when I'm a bloke, the car certainly does not have a Full Service History. I bought it with 85K miles and it was last serviced at 68K miles. I then traded it in with 115K miles. I never once had it officially serviced (I say officially as I actually did maintain the car myself. No stamps in the service book, no receipts kept, and not exactly in keeping with recommended service intervals).

So as far as this Used Car dealership are aware, the car hasn't been serviced for 47K miles (between 68K and 115K).

Can something be done to prevent this dealer from misrepresenting their cars and fabricating the service history? I have looked at the other cars they have for sale. All but one have a Full service history! I'd doubt any of them actually do.

I have contacted Trading Standards and they don't seem to care about it.

J

Tilt

weejangus wrote: »

Hi All,

So, I recently traded in my trusty Ford at the end of January and got next to nothing for it as the MOT was due in April and I had no service history for it. The car was sent to Auction within a couple of days and I actually saw it online selling for a few hundred quid more than I traded it for. Seemed fair when you consider the auction fees and cost to clean the car, that few hundred quid wouldn't have gone far.

Fast forward to this week. I have now seen my old car for sale on Autotrader. It's at a Used Car dealership approx 160 miles away! Funnily enough, it's being advertised as excellent condition, lady owner and FULL SERVICE HISTORY.

Now, lets ignore the fact that I've been called a lady when I'm a bloke, the car certainly does not have a Full Service History. I bought it with 85K miles and it was last serviced at 68K miles. I then traded it in with 115K miles. I never once had it officially serviced (I say officially as I actually did maintain the car myself. No stamps in the service book, no receipts kept, and not exactly in keeping with recommended service intervals).

So as far as this Used Car dealership are aware, the car hasn't been serviced for 47K miles (between 68K and 115K).

Can something be done to prevent this dealer from misrepresenting their cars and fabricating the service history? I have looked at the other cars they have for sale. All but one have a Full service history! I'd doubt any of them actually do.

I have contacted Trading Standards and they don't seem to care about it.

J

This is why it happens because rogue dealers know that TS are next to useless.

If it was me, I would contact (in writing/email) the TS local to the dealer giving all the details and then send a copy to the BBC Watchdog programme.

Not a lot else you can do.

OddballJamie

Name and shame. Hopefully people will search for the garage name before purchase and find how crooked they are.

Also have a look of review sites to see if they are featured.

Also worth a quick call to them as a prospective customer just incase they have the work experience kid updating the listings.

Retrogamer

Perhaps when the garage obtained the car it has changed hands some more.
I.e the previous owner between OP and garage may have been a woman and this woman may have provided the garage fake FSH when trading it in.

Maybe, maybe not.

JimmyTheWig

Other than Trading Standards I can't imagine if anyone else would be interested. I guess the only good news is that it doesn't affect you directly.

You could contact the new dealer and let them know their error. It might be that the car was sold to them under false pretences.

hollie.weimeraner

What are the chances of seeing a trade in appear on a used car sales site 160 miles away. Millions to one chance I reckon.

Newbie poster draw your own conclusions

OddballJamie

hollie.weimeraner wrote: »

What are the chances of seeing a trade in appear on a used car sales site 160 miles away. Millions to one chance I reckon.

Newbie poster draw your own conclusions

I've seen 2 of my previous trade ins appear on autotrader, one was about fifty miles away and the other was other end of the country.
I knew the age, mileage, spec and colour so it wasn't difficult to find them.

I've never won more that £70 on the lottery and I've played that more than twice so I would think the odds are a lot lower of seeing a car you previously owned for sale.

weejangus

hollie.weimeraner wrote: »

What are the chances of seeing a trade in appear on a used car sales site 160 miles away. Millions to one chance I reckon.

Newbie poster draw your own conclusions

No offence Hollie but it's post's like yours that likely put many people off joining these forums. Maybe I'm mis-understanding what you're getting at but my interpretation is that you are either calling me a liar or a troll?

We all have to start somewhere, even you were a newbie once. Feel free to check out my other posts, you will see that I have started one other topic regarding the BMW that I just purchased (hence the trade in of the Ford). I have also contributed to other posts by providing useful advice and information based on my knowledge. On you go, have a look, I'll wait for you to check.....

..... Okay, now I will address your concern. As a bit of a car fanatic, I was curious to find out what would become of the car that had carried me for about 30,000 miles. I therefore CHECKED local auction sites to see if I could find it. I did. I then saw how much it sold for. Afterwards, I decided to see if I could see it for sale anywhere (assuming that a dealer had likely purchased it from the auction). How on earth would I locate the car in the whole of the UK??? Oh yeah, I also knew the make, model, age, colour, fuel type, and mileage of the car. Turns out Autotrader allow you to filter your searches on that kinda thing. Suddenly it doesn't seem that unlikley that I would find my old car - be it 5 miles away or 500 miles away.

Getting back on topic, thanks for all the genuinely helpful replies. I have followed up with an email to Trading Standards and I will also drop the Dealership a message to advise of the "error".

Oh, FYI, the car is at H A Motors Ltd in Blackburn. It is a dark grey Ford Focus, Reg PX07 YDK. Fairly new dealership and looks to have replaced a dealership named Harrison Motors Ltd at the end of last year.

I appreciate that it doesn't really affect me now that I no longer own the car but I hate the thought that a dealer is getting away with making false service histories and the consumer is handing over hard earned cash for a car that's being incorrectly described.

OddballJamie

Purely out of interest, what did you get on trade in for it?

weejangus

OddballJamie wrote: »

Purely out of interest, what did you get on trade in for it?

£1200 Trade in, sold at auction for £1500.

OddballJamie

weejangus wrote: »

£1200 Trade in, sold at auction for £1500.

Looks a decent motor, the better diesel engine too. The 1.6/2.0 are made from fromage frais.

By any chance was the owner before you a lady?