Exhall Car Dealer Must Now Trade Fairly Or Face Prison

Exhall Car Dealer Must Now Trade Fairly or Face Prison

Second hand car dealer David Nwachukwu Ilukwe, Director of Exhall based Prestige Auto Lounge has given an undertaking to Coventry County Court to trade fairly or face a possible jail sentence for contempt of court.

Warwickshire County Council Trading Standards brought the action after receiving a number of consumer complaints about the business.

Warwickshire County Councillor John Horner, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety said: “Warwickshire Trading Standards receives more complaints about faulty vehicles than about anything else and is constantly working with car dealers to help them comply with the law. However, there are cases where advice and support is not heeded and enforcement action has to be taken to protect consumers.”

“Trading Standards will continue to monitor this business to ensure that it is complying with the law and will not hesitate to take action if they breach the undertaking.”

At Coventry County Court on Thursday 29th September 2016, David Nwachukwu Ilukwe signed an undertaking to trade fairly, under the Enterprise Act 2002, on behalf of himself and the two companies of which he is a director, Prestige Autohaus Ltd and Prestige Motoring World Ltd (trading as Coventry Car Mart, Coventry Auto Lounge and Prestige Auto Lounge). He also undertook to publish the undertaking on his website and to send all his staff on a training course approved by Warwickshire Trading Standards.

The undertaking states that David Nwachukwu Ilukwe and the companies (Prestige Autohaus Ltd and Prestige Motoring World Ltd) must not:

 Deny consumer’s their statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015

 Sell vehicles in an unroadworthy condition

 Falsely describe vehicles as having full service histories when they do not

 Make false statements as to the specification of a motor vehicle

 Fail to respond (in a timely fashion) to telephone calls, emails or other correspondence from consumers regarding faulty vehicles.

Warwickshire Trading Standards will continue to monitor the business and its director to ensure they comply with the terms of the undertaking. A breach of the undertaking is contempt of court and could lead to a prison sentence for the director and a fine for the companies.

Consumers with complaints about this, or any other business, are urged to contact Warwickshire Trading Standards via the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 03454 04 05 06. Consumers will receive helpful advice on how they can resolve their consumer problem and Trading Standards will use the intelligence gathered to enable them to investigate breaches of the law and better target traders with the highest number of complaints.

Looking for a second hand car? Now your mobile phone can now protect you!

Did you know that your mobile phone is now one of your best tools for protecting yourself against buying a ‘dodgy’ vehicle?

The Government has recently begun to allow consumers to look up a car’s MOT history and tax status, free of charge on a new Government website. Consumer’s only need to know the vehicle’s registration number and make to access this information on their smart phone, something they can do on the garage forecourt! An MOT history will enable the consumer to see how often the vehicle passed or failed its MOT and the reasons for any failures, helping them to get an idea of the condition of the vehicle. They will also be able to check the mileage accuracy.

Visit:

 https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk and

 https://www.gov.uk/browse/driving/mot-insurance

 https://www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/

There are also commercial websites that will tell you, without charge, if the vehicle has been stolen or imported. For a few pounds you can get further information including whether there is any outstanding finance on the car or if the vehicle has ever been written off or scrapped.

Warwickshire County Councillor Philip Johnson, Chair of the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee added: “There is now a huge amount of free and low cost information on vehicles for sale, available to consumers at the touch of a button. I strongly urge consumers shopping for their next second hand vehicle to research both the car and the garage before they buy!”

For further information:

Simon Cripwell, Trading Standards Officer: 01926 738987 or 07771 97 55 70.