‘Reckless’ car dealer ordered to pay £53,000 for misleading consumers

Dealership hid dashboard warning lights, failed to disclose correct mileage and that a vehicle had been in an accident

‘Reckless’ car dealer ordered to pay £53,000 for misleading consumers
MotorHub in Damside, Keighley. Image: Google Street View.

A used car dealer in Bradford has been ordered to pay £53,567 after admitting six breaches of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations.

The National Trading Standards Regional Investigation Team, based at City of York Council, investigated Motorsure Ltd, which trades at Damside as Motorhub, after customers who bought vehicles from the dealer between August 2017 and May 2018 complained that they had been misled.

Complaints included selling vehicles with covered or disconnected dashboard warning lights to conceal faults, failing to disclose that recorded mileages were incorrect, not declaring that a vehicle had been damaged in an accident and failing to disclose that a vehicle had been used as a taxi.

Aggressive staff

Motorhub staff were also found to be intimidating, aggressive and used threatening behaviour when complaints were made, and relied on ‘no warranty’ claims to refuse to make refunds or carry out repairs when legally obliged to do so.

The company pleaded guilty to the offences at York Magistrates’ Court last December.

The sentence was passed on Tuesday at Leeds Magistrates’ Court, where the dealership was fined £10,000 for each offence, reduced to £6,600 for pleading guilty, and ordered to pay £13,797.95 prosecution costs plus a victim surcharge of £170.

District Judge Susan Bouch said: “I find the culpability to be reckless.

“There is harm from both the financial loss to each individual and distress and inconvenience caused to all.”

“Misled consumers into buying faulty products”

Lord Toby Harris, chairman of National Trading Standards, said: “The defendants misled consumers into buying faulty products, leaving people out of pocket.

“More importantly, Motorhub’s practices posed genuine safety risks to individuals and families by knowingly permitting dangerous cars on the roads.”

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