Dodgy Trader - Any advice appreciated

twilighterror

Morning all
This is my first post and I'm after some advice.
In August, my partner who is a nurse had her car stripped of parts in a hospital car park during a night shift. They literally took the bumper, bonnet, catalytic converter and headlights. Consequently, we had to go through the insurance and she was paid out for the car.
In our rush to secure a replacement, we went to look at a number of cars mostly via the eBay motors platform. We found an Audi A3 being advertised by 'Aspect Autos' in Leamington. I contacted the seller who had a number of cars advertised and arranged to meet him. I viewed the car, took it for a test drive which went fine and then left a deposit happy in the knowledge I had resolved this issue for my partner who would now be able to get to work.
A few days later, having arranged all the necessaries, I went to collect the car. Driving it back from Leamington it suddenly lost drive (as if it was in neutral - the car is automatic). I tried to call [Removed by Forum Team] and his phone was off. An AA tow and a day later he returned a text message advising me to get the car fixed, it would only cost me £500.
I advised that it shouldn't cost me anything and that it was my right to return the car. Obviously no joy. I then found out the fault code relating to this fault had been cleared prior to me purchasing the car (fortunately this is all logged on the ECU). The eBay advert was also changed the day after I purchased the car to say it had a gearbox fault, again, fortunately, this change was logged and I can evidence this.
To cut a long story short, this individual is still selling cars...
Google -Aspect Autos Leamington
It transpires the location he sells them from is not his. I'm angry at myself because I should have checked more and known he was dodgy but the eBay motors account and number of cars made him seem legit.
I've contacted trading standards and it has been elevated so hopefully, something will come of that. EBay are not in the slightest bit interested, despite that fact that this highlights some serious flaws in their checks and balances.
I would like to pursue this in small claims court now but I need an address it seems for this individual to do this.
It is probably the case that I've lost the money but the thought of him duping other customers into purchasing dangerous cars really bothers me and I'm not prepared to just leave it.

mobileron

ebay trader VIEWING BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

PLEASE CALL FOR ANY ENQUIRIES
Warwickshire
CV31 2AG

See map

mobileron

He lives in Eagle st Leamington Spa,get onto social media and tell everyone your story,he will soon sort the issue then.

AdrianC

What age and price was the car?

Looking at his stock now, he's firmly at the bottom end of the market.
https://showroom.ebaymotorspro.co.uk/Aspect-Autos
11 ads, 1 x £5k, 1 x £3k, 1 x £2k, 4 x £1.5k, 1 x £1.3k, 3 x £1k.
Legal expectations at that end of the market are... minimal.

However, yes, you should have been able to get the AA to take the car straight back at him, leave it with the keys on his doorstep, then chase the cash refund.

Do you still have the car? If so, RETURN IT NOW. Then launch a small claim for the sale price.

The postcode on his ad is an urban, mostly pedestrianised, street. I presume that's not where he was when you viewed the car?

macman

How did you pay? Both the deposit, and the balance.

twilighterror

The address on the ad is a carpark rather than his actual address. That's where I got the car, which I know is stupid.
I want to take him to small claims, the car is with an independent specialist at the minute because we were struggling to both get to work and that's the sum total of the cash we had for a car. Paid by bank transfer and the bank have already said they can't do anything. 
Social media is a good idea, I've found him on Facebook

macman

Bank transfer, aargh. No comeback there at all then.
Are you paying money to a third party to fix the car? If so, you cannot expect to recover that from the vendor, you have to give him the opportunity to fix it first, unless you are rejecting it under CRA 2015.
It's not clear from your post whether you have done this or not. If you have, you have 6 months from date of purchase to reject it, so the clock is ticking (you haven't stated the actual purchase date). If you go the SCC route then you will be out of time for CRA 2015 rejection long before the case is heard. As AdrianC stated, you need to physically return the car and keys to his property, at your expense, whether it's driveable or not. Do this with a letter stating your reasons for rejection under CRA 2015. The longer you delay on this, the weaker your case.

twilighterror

Hi all

Thanks for the replies. Incidentally this was published yesterday
it won’t let me post links but google ‘car dodgy brakes pregnant woman’ and look at the Coventry Evening Telegraph article
 This is the same guy so he’s quite a fellow.

The good news, I should be able to use this to find out where he lives.
I bought the car on 21/9 so plenty of time. The car is with the specialist who has written a report of damage, I was considering getting him to fix it because frankly, Alan doesn’t respond to any messages. Surely if the trader ignores all messages there comes a point whereby you can get it fixed and invoice them?

To be honest I’m now more intrigued by the idea of returning the car to him. So I could, drop the car to his house, put the keys through the letterbox and then just text him and say I’ve rejected it, as is my right within 6 months and then demand a refund?

AdrianC

twilighterror said:

Surely if the trader ignores all messages there comes a point whereby you can get it fixed and invoice them?

Send all the invoices you like... but will he pay them...? Of course not. So what then?

Simple. Small claim.

If you want a refund, you need to return the car physically, then small claim for the car's value.

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/car-dodgy-brakes-pregnant-woman-19335214

ontheroad1970

twilighterror said:

Hi all

Thanks for the replies. Incidentally this was published yesterday
it won’t let me post links but google ‘car dodgy brakes pregnant woman’ and look at the Coventry Evening Telegraph article
 This is the same guy so he’s quite a fellow.

The good news, I should be able to use this to find out where he lives.
I bought the car on 21/9 so plenty of time. The car is with the specialist who has written a report of damage, I was considering getting him to fix it because frankly, Alan doesn’t respond to any messages. Surely if the trader ignores all messages there comes a point whereby you can get it fixed and invoice them?

To be honest I’m now more intrigued by the idea of returning the car to him. So I could, drop the car to his house, put the keys through the letterbox and then just text him and say I’ve rejected it, as is my right within 6 months and then demand a refund?

Not as long as 6 months.  About a month.

Monkey_B

Just on the issue of payment method; how should you pay for a car in this situation, if not by bank transfer? I understand from reading these pages that a lot of dealers won't take a credit card payment. Just wondered what alternatives there are?