Ashbourne garage fined over 'clocked" car

An Ashbourne car dealership was fined €500 and ordered to pay costs of €729 for a clocked speedometer on one of its cars, in a prosecution taken by the National Consumer Agency last week. Feltrim Motors Ltd, Coolfore, Ashbourne, was convicted of the offence of offering for sale a vehicle for sale with an altered odometer reading on 23rd October 2008 at Dunshaughlin Court. The decision to prosecute was made following an investigation by the National Consumer Agency (NCA). Denis McGuinness, an officer of the NCA, told the court that, in May 2008, the agency received a complaint about the mileage on a 2003-registered Volkswagen Passat car, which was a UK import. The person who purchased the car discovered certain irregularities. He went back to Feltrim Motors and got another car in its place. As a result, the NCA procured evidence in the UK which showed that when the car was serviced on 20th December 2005, the mileage reading was 102,894. Evidence was produced in court that Feltrim Motors sold the car to three separate buyers between April 2006 and July 2007. Each of the three owners returned the car when they became aware that they had not been given the correct background history of the car. The NCA had evidence that the car was sold with 36,500 miles on the clock in April 2006. The buyer returned the car and obtained a full refund when he learned that the car had clocked up in excess of 100,000 miles in the UK by December 2005. Evidence was also produced that a second owner, who purchased the car in August 2006 with a mileage reading of 57,000, returned the car and was also compensated when he discovered that he had been misled in relation to the mileage history. The car was sold for a third time in July 2007 with a mileage reading of 73,000 and was returned to the dealer in May 2008 for another model, when the purchaser learned of the car"s prior history. Denis McGuinness said he went onto Feltrim"s website on 23rd October 2008, he saw the car which had been sold three times for sale with reduced mileage. He called to the premises on the same day. The vehicle was outside the front door, with a 'for sale" sign on it. A salesman confirmed it was for sale, and that it had mileage of 88,674 miles. Witness then met Martin O"Keeffe who confirmed that he was the managing director of Feltrim. Witness said he received a document regarding the three separate sales, but nothing indicating where it was purchased or what mileage was on it when it was purchased. Martin O"Keeffe told the court that the vehicle was not for sale or on Feltrim"s website when Denis McGuinness attended the premises. O"Keeffe said he was guilty but at the time he did not know that the car had been clocked. He told the court that the vehicle was taken off the website after this. He added that the car was now sold and had 125,000 miles on it. It was sold for €4,800 and was returned to its supplier, who rectified the problem. 'All I can do is apologise to the court and the National Consumer Agency,' Martin O"Keeffe said. 'What about the unfortunate people who purchased the car?' Judge Fitzpatrick enquired. The defendant said that all monies were returned to them in full. Commenting afterwards on the outcome of the case, Ann Fitzgerald, chief executive of the National Consumer Agency, said that the agency, since its establishment in May 2007, had prioritised the need to tackle the issue of selling or offering for sale clocked cars for sale. 'These practices are prohibited by the Consumer Protection Act 2007. Misleading consumers about the mileage not alone causes serious financial loss to the purchaser, but it also has the potential of putting the buyer and other road-users at risk. The more wear and tear, the higher the risk of breakdown or accident,' she said. According to the Consumer Agency CEO, this is the second successful prosecution taken by the agency against car dealers who had misled consumers by selling or offering clocked cars for sale. It has also obtained undertakings from four car dealers to cease the practice of selling clocked cars or offering clocked cars for sale and to compensate the purchasers who were misled by the practice. Ms Fitzgerald added: 'We intend to continue to use the various enforcement tools available to us under the Consumer Protection Act 2007 in our drive to stop the serious and misleading practice of selling clocked cars to unsuspecting buyers.' She also called on consumers to be vigilant and not to buy on impulse. She urged prospective car-buyers to refer to the booklet on buying a car which the NCA has published, and which may be accessed on www.consumerconnect.ie 'This gives detailed advice. I would urge all car-buyers to act on this advice and check the prior history of second-hand cars before purchase.'