I'd ask them to take the car back for what you paid them, and start researching the procedure at the County Court as a back up plan. Also go to Companies House website to find out the identities of the Directors, it's free and easy to do.

Edited by Avant on 17/08/2018 at 23:59

A day later I was stunned to hear that the car was found to have had next to no engine oil in it, that an exhaust mount was broken, the drivers seat was lose and two out of the three windscreen wipers were worn out. On closer inspection I saw that the previous 2017 MOT had highlighted two of these items but the one that Barn Cars Ltd sold with it was showing a clean bill of health!

Whilst your anger with the dealer that sold you the car is understandable, the only big deal in this is the lack of oil in the engine. Has it been confirmed that permanent damage has been done? Did you not take 30 seconds to check the oil level before you bought it?

The other items could be fixed with the £140 you have been given. The MOT only covers the condition of the car at the time of the test, and items such as windscreen wipers being "worn out" can be a matter of opinion. Depending on the price you paid (which you admit was over the odds), Trading Standards may well just politely point out to you that the car was 9 years old, and could reasonable be expected to have some wear and tear. Caveat Emptor!

Edited by Avant on 17/08/2018 at 23:59

I’m assuming here that the “hole the size of a golf ball” means there is just a hole dug in the carpet no doubt where a female owner has been wearing heels while driving? A common but very very minor issue on a near decade old car and not one the dealer has any need to compensate you for what so ever. You’d’ve Been shown the door had you returned with such a complaint to me so the fact they gave you £140 shows they’ve been keen to keep you happy. The worn wipers are again a minuscule worry on an old car and one which is easily rectified with a trip to your local motor factors with twenty quid in your pocket. Again no reason to scream from the rooftops. The lack of oil is a concern and one which shows they never carried out any prep work on the car. Was it only slightly down the dipstick or was there nothing showing at all? Why didn’t you check this before buying? Was it a cheap trade-in style purchase? How many miles has it done and how much did you pay? The thing about taking an old car like this in to a main dealer and asking them to look it over is that they will pick up every minor issue and blow it up like it’s the end of the world. You need to reign in your ideas if you’re going to run an old car like this on a realistic budget. I could take any near perfect ten year old car into any main dealer and they could quickly list a huge amount of work they’d advise you to do but again you cannot expect an old car to be fault free. I suspect (but could be wrong you are overreacting here. Is it possible that you are not used to driving an older SUV like the Vitara and have came from an ordinary hatchback and are simply surprised by the poor drive and lack of refinement? There’s good reason why Vitara’s tend to have a lot of short term ownership. People buy them, they hate the way they drive and they trade them in again for a normal hatchback again. I made good money with these in the 90’s especially with young ladies who loved the look of the original model but then hated the way the thing drove and ate petrol and were soon back looking to get out of it again.

Edited by Avant on 18/08/2018 at 00:00

"I'm a consultant.....This has been a learning curve but I think it is important that cowboys in the trade are named and shamed and I'm sure that majority of people would agree that this is progressive action."

I'm not sure what 'progressive action' is consultant-speak for, but what you've been doing is hardly progressive.

I wouldn't want to use a consultant who (a) doesn't trouble to read the 'naming and shaming' guidance at the top of the page, and (b) isn't aware that naming a dealer and making comments such as 'cowboy' could lead to legal action against both himself and ourselves.

It should be obvious to you why as moderator I have deleted the dealer's name, and very irritatingly have had to do it to the heading of each subsequent post.

Edited by Avant on 18/08/2018 at 00:05