Potential ‘Death Trap’ Car Led to Large Fine for Rugby Garage
In a bid to protect purchasers of budget cars, an investigation into unroadworthy vehicles has led to the successful prosecution of a Rugby car dealer, Warwickshire County Council’s Trading Standards Service has announced.
Robin Guest (49) trading as Guest Manor Cars and Storage, Rugby Road Withybrook, Rugby has been ordered to pay a total of £5860 in fines and costs after he pleaded guilty to three offences at Nuneaton Magistrates Court on Monday 10th January 2011.
As part of a project looking at the safety of budget cars, Warwickshire Trading Standards Officers approached Mr Guest after he advertised a Rover 214 car on the internet earlier this year. The car was advertised as having an MOT and tax and was later described as being ‘sold as seen and tried, no warranty given or implied’.
Officers purchased the car and then transported it to another location where it was tested by Vehicle Operator Services Agency (VOSA) staff. They discovered a catalogue of problems which made the vehicle unroadworthy and a danger to drive.
Two faults made the vehicle dangerous and unsafe to drive. The driver’s seat moved when seated in it, such that proper control could be lost under normal driving conditions and the car also had a brake fluid leak that could have led to the complete loss of the braking system.
Warwickshire County Councillor Richard Hobbs, Portfolio Holder to Community Protection said:
“These are financially very difficult times and when people have less money to spend they, and I include many young drivers, will be looking to the second hand car market.
It is crucial therefore that people wanting to buy a used car, whatever its price, should have confidence that the vehicle they are purchasing is roadworthy and safe to drive. Unroadworthy vehicles put at risk the lives of all road users.
Warwickshire Trading Standards Service will continue to take action to prevent the sale of potentially dangerous and unroadworthy vehicles, helping to ensure consumers aren’t deceived into buying cars that could be worthless and potentially lethal to drive. "
Together with the two faults already described, seven further faults were identified which would have led to the vehicle failing its MOT:
The offside front seat belt would not release under pressure.
The windscreen washer provided insufficient washer fluid.
The nearside windscreen wiper did not clean the screen effectively.
The offside windscreen wiper did not clean the screen effectively.
The nearside front position lamp was not working.
The offside front position lamp was not working.
The nearside rear tyre had a tread depth of 0.4mm which is below the legal requirement of 1.6mm
In mitigation, Mr Guest explained that since the investigation he had altered his practices and now arranged for cars taken in part exchange to be MOTed and defects put right before being offered for sale.
At Nuneaton Magistrates Court on Monday 10th January 2011, Mr Guest pleaded guilty to three offences relating to the sale of an unroadworthy vehicle, misleading the buyer by selling the vehicle as ‘sold as seen’ (it is illegal for traders to do this as it restricts a consumers statutory rights) and failing to include information about who owned the business in business documents including invoices.