Clocked car case prompts warning to all dealers
Herefordshire Council has issued a stern warning to unscrupulous car dealers who sell “clocked” cars.
The warning comes after Hereford taxi driver and part time car dealer Stuart Bryan of Portfield Street, Hereford, was fined £350 and ordered to pay £200 costs and £1,200 compensation after being convicted of selling a Subaru Impreza with a false mileage reading in Hereford during 2005.
On Tuesday, October 24, Hereford Magistrates heard the case, which was brought by Herefordshire Council’s Trading Standards Service.
Mr Bryan had advertised the Impreza on Auto Trader online and described it as having covered 82,000 miles with a full Subaru Service History when in fact it had travelled in excess of 150,000 miles and the service history had been altered.
The purchaser of the Impreza was subsequently forced to sell it a £1,200 loss.
The court was told that Mr Bryan has failed to carry out sufficient checks to verify accuracy of the mileage.
Mr Bryan changed his plea on the day of the trial and pleaded guilty to the offences.
The court was told he had been naïve and that he had bought the car in good faith and was unaware of the false mileage.
Speaking after the hearing Herefordshire Council’s Principal Trading Standards Officer Tim Thorne issued a stern warning to all the county’s car traders:
He said: “Dealers who fail to take precautions against selling ‘clocked’ cars are liable to find themselves in court. his is one in a long line of cases in recent years and clearly a minority of traders are still not getting the message.
“In this case a simple Experian or HPI type check would easily have established the falsity of the mileage reading, yet it was not done. We take such negligence very seriously since both consumers and legitimate dealers are severely disadvantaged by traders who deal in clocked cars.”
