A car dealer in Dorset has been prosecuted for advertising and selling an unroadworthy vehicle.
Simon Bentley, 24, traded as Barrack Road Car Sales when he sold an unfit Mercedes Benz C180 for £6,500 in August 2013. Following an investigation by Dorset County Council’s trading standards, Mr Bentley was found to have advertised the car as only having had one previous owner when it in fact had three. He also did not disclose the fact that the anti-roll bar, part of the suspension system, had been removed after a previous accident.
Dishonest practices as demonstrated by Mr Bentley will not only land you in trouble when selling cars; it can also be a serious problem when obtaining a motor trade insurance quote. Fraudulently lying about business details to get a cheaper quote is illegal, while having criminal offences on your record – as Mr Bentley now will – is going to make it more difficult, or at least far more expensive, to get a traders insurance policy.
DorsetForYou.com reported that officers from Dorset County Council’s trading standards discovered that the Mercedes had actually been a category D write-off and was then not properly repaired.
Mr Bentley pleaded guilty to one offence of misleading advertising under the Consumer Protection Regulations at Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court earlier this month. He was fined £500 and ordered to pay compensation of £4,000, costs of £2,564.60 and a victim surcharge of £60.
