Salesman failed to say car a write-off

A second-hand car salesman from Shropshire has been ordered to pay nearly £4,000 after admitting not telling a customer that a vehicle he bought had been written off in a crash eight years earlier.

Stephen Green bought the Peugeot 205 for £1,495 from Adrian Slater after seeing an advertisement which said it 'drives well' and was cheap to run. But Shrewsbury Magistrates Court heard Slater failed to say it had been written off.

The court was also told Slater, 47, of Newport Road, Hinstock, near Market Drayton, failed to disclose an MOT advisory note, describing it as 'dangerous'.

Father-of-three Slater admitted selling an unroadworthy motor vehicle and engaging in commercial practice with a misleading omission when he appeared at court yesterday.

Mr Mike Davies, prosecuting for Shropshire Council trading standards, said Mr Green visited Slater's home to look at the car and returned two days later to pay for it.

He became suspicious when he got home and saw there were 89,000 miles on the clock, because he had seen a reading of 48,000 when he first inspected it.

An internet MOT check revealed the car had been written off and he contacted trading standards after Slater refused to pay him his cash back, Mr Davies said.

He said Mr Green would not have bought the car had he known its full history.

Mr Paul Nicholas, for Slater, said the car had been written off in 2004 following an accident with 12,000 miles on the clock.

"It has been driven for at least 30,000 miles over the last six or seven years," he said. "He had an MOT certificate which said it was roadworthy and attempted to sell it on that basis."

Slater was fined £1,500 and ordered to pay £2,165 costs and £15 surcharge.