Unroadworthy Vehicle

I bought a Saab 9-3 from Caralot Ltd in February 2013. Less than 24 hours later the car failed. The response from Caralot was not helpful. I contacted Caralot to reject the car as unsatisfactory and requested a refund for the full purchase price. The managing director refused to refund the money and threatened me with his legal team. I contacted Trading Standards and VOSA. VOSA examined the car and found the MOT to be questionable and declared the car dangerous to drive - the MOT was less than 48 hours old when I bought the car. VOSA began an investigation and advised me to report the matter to the police - the sale of an unroadworthy vehicle is a criminal offence. I made a Freedom of Information request to Derby City Council and discovered that Trading Standards were receiving many complaints about Caralot. In the meantime, VOSA issued a Roadworthiness Prohibition Notice which means the car cannot be driven or towed on public roads. The car has remained in my garage since then while Caralot refuse to refund the purchase price. I have also discovered that Caralot have County Court Judgments against them. I have now issued a claim in the County Court for recovery of the money. Caralot say: "The most enjoyable car buying experience you'll ever have." In the event, it is the worst nightmare of a car buying experience I have ever had. The Trading Standards, VOSA and Police investigations are ongoing. ..................... * * * Since I posted a Google Maps update on 15 May, Caralot's response has disappeared [been removed/deleted]. However, having copied their response in the interests of context and completeness, for those prospective car-buyers among you who would like to read what Caralot wrote, here it is: //Hi Paul. We sold you a car in good faith that was prepared by an independant MOT & service centre to ourselves. Sadly they missed an item which should have been an MOT failure. When you contacted our business to let us know about this unfortunate turn of events we offered for you to have the vehicle repaired at a garage local to yourself at our complete cost. This offer was refused. We then agreed to come and collect the vehicle and fix it but sadly again you refused to let the car be collected by our agent. Having discussed the case with our local trading standards officer who we have a close working relationship with we made the decision to buy back the car, even though our obligation to you was merely to repair the item. We paid for the car in full and collected it from you a while ago, we even paid you interest on the balance. There is no ongoing police investigation going on, we don't have issues with trading standards but a close working relationship with them and would urge anyone wanting to find out about our business to find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/caralot to see feedback from the thousands of satisfied customers we have dealt with over the last few years.// ............................... 15 May 2013 update - in response to Caralot reply: The reason why the local garage did not repair the vehicle is because the owner did not want to be associated with your company [Caralot]. The reason I did not allow your agent to drive the car away for repair is because VOSA had examined the vehicle and issued a Refusal of an MOT Test Certificate "with a warning that the vehicle is dangerous to drive". VOSA subsequently issued a Prohibition Notice which prohibited the vehicle from being driven or towed on public roads. I had rejected the vehicle, under the terms of the Sale of Goods Act 1979, as it was of unsatisfactory quality and had been misrepresented in your advertisement. As no response from you was forthcoming, I issued a claim against you [Caralot] in the County Court for recovery of the full purchase price. You [Caralot] did not buy back the vehicle but after receiving the Court summons, you refunded the full purchase price with interest, together with the Court fee as required by the Court. According to information received from Derby City Council, Trading Standards has received, and continues to receive, a high volume of complaints about your business practices. As far as I am aware, the Trading Standards investigation is ongoing. I would urge anyone wanting to "find out about Caralot's business" to disregard their Facebook page, take a look at the Register of County Court Judgments and contact Derby City Council with a Freedom of Information request.

Paul Taylor - 16/05/2013 | report this review