Evans Halshaw
Complaint 147727 Details

I called at your Worksop branch a while ago in my search of a 2006 Volvo C70 they did not have one but said they would have one in the group so I looked on line and found one in Preston.

Just 2 days ago I purchased that car from your Preston branch. Copy invoice enclosed.

I had made a 4 hour train journey with my wife at a cost of £63 to view / purchase this car as I had narrowed a list of 34 similar cars on offer in Auto Trader, Ebay plus other sites and media publications down to 2 yours and 1 in Bracknell Berkshire based on colour, trim, autobox and mileage, although a slightly higher price than most it looked well worth the expense of a visit.

We were collected by Steve Dickinson at the railway station and immediately put under pressure as he told us that he had another appointment at 2pm and it was already 1-45pm, it gave the feeling that everything had to be done quickly.

I had explained to Steve in an earlier conversation that just over 4 weeks ago I suffered a heart attack and required resuscitation and defibrillation so I would not be able to crawl under the car checking for oil leaks etc. and that I would not be able to collect the car for 10 days as that would be the date I would be allowed to drive again as you are not allowed to drive for 1 month following an MI VF arrest, he assured me that that would not be necessary as the cars are thoroughly checked and road tested before they are sold, this I found reassuring also taking into consideration his efforts to send me more photos, walk around the car telling me of any marks or faults and agreeing to have the wheels refurbished the scuffs in the paintwork touched up and the car valeted before collection swayed me in my decision to view to buy this car.

Throughout my conversation with Steve he was boasting about the company, we are the biggest second hand car dealers we have a reputation to maintain etc. etc. which is designed to instil confidence, and it did.

I checked the car over and I put my hand under the wheel arch to check for tread and realised they were approximately half worn which would give me at least a couple of years motoring as I only travel around 3-4k miles per year. I did notice a lot of mould around the window and side rubbers and particularly around both side mirrors, Steve immediately took the car away to have it removed but there must have been some confusion because when the car was returned most of the mildew was still there so he took it away again to be cleaned, this led me to believe that the car had been washed rather than valeted. I also pointed out that the drivers window did not close fully when closing the door and left a gap of a few millimetres in the corner, he took the car away but returned to say that nothing could be done. I remarked on the fact that strangely there were no Volvo mats in the car and no wear on the actual floor pan covering indicating they had recently been removed, I fully expected them to be in the boot as I know they are often removed for photographs. I purchased a set from my local Volvo dealer today at a cost of £80 again a cost you do not expect when buying a £8,000 car from a reputable dealer.

When I said I would have the car we did the paperwork I was not shown the Log book so I will not know until it is returned to me how many owners there have been, over the phone he told me “it’s a 2 owner car” so hopefully I will be the 3rd owner. I was not shown the MOT certificate as Steve was in a hurry to tax the car for me, I did agree to a 12 month warranty at £250 but I did not realise that another £50 would had bought me a second year.

I drove the car home and it was effortless very comfortable and when I arrived home I rang Steve to thank him.

The following morning I took my wife to the local shops and noticed a slight wheel wobble around 40mph, I decided to drive to Kwik Fit to have the wheel balance checked, the fitter called me out to look at the car and told me it would be pointless to have the wheels balanced as the inner edges of the tyres was worn away and needed replacing, suspecting a sales ploy I told him I had only purchased the car the previous day and that I would contact them first. I left there and decided to call at an MOT centre to have the tyres checked, I was astonished to be told the rear tyres were badly worn on the inner edges, and the front tyres were borderline legal.

I returned home and looked at the paperwork, I then discovered why I had not been shown the MOT, there was an advisory item listed… ALL FOUR TYRES LOW ON INNER EDGES. Had I seen this before purchase I would not have purchased the car, that would have applied to any advisory items listed because the concept of these items being listed is to tell you they are ready for replacement in the near future, and I would certainly not buy a car costing over £8,000 if there was already a list of work required to pay for namely 4 tyres before the next MOT. The car had already travelled over 500 miles since the MOT causing more wear than on the day of the inspection.

I was annoyed that I had been sold a car that had tyres in a suspect condition, even more infuriating was that I had a 2 hour total motorway journey to complete and fully expected to be flagged down by a police car during the journey anyway because on their number plate recognition system in their cars I would have flagged up as having no insurance and no road tax as it had been on your forecourt for many weeks, of course I had insured the car from that day and Steve put 12 months tax on my behalf. I believe the penalty for defective tyres is a £60 fine and 3 penalty points and carries a maximum fine of £2,500 per tyre, and rightly so.

I telephoned Steve to explain but could get no answer, another salesman asked if he could help but when I tried to explain the situation he was totally not interested in my opinion and I had the distinct feeling that, we have your money, you have the car, deal with it attitude, a very obnoxious man.

Steve did not return my call so I called the office number and explained to the receptionist who was very understanding and tried to get hold of a senior Manager, to no avail but she promised she would get someone to call me.

I received a call from Paul Simpson I explained the situation in full detail but all he had to offer was that the tyres had legal tread on the day of sale, I explained in great detail that the tread depth was not in question it was the worn edges / shoulders of the tyres unbelievably he said, “the edges of the tyre are not an MOT requirement” He commented that these words were not his but his tyre specialist. At this moment I can’t argue this point but surely there is a duty to ensure the tyres on the cars you sell are safe, would you have sold this car to me had the edges of the tyres been worn sufficient to be showing the cords, according to your expert it would not be part of the MOT, I would like to see him take a car for an MOT in that condition and get a pass.

Paul could see no further than the tyres having legal tread, and I do not have an argument there, but if a tyre has a bulge in the side wall or deep cuts or as in my case worn shoulders, and, worn sufficient to be advised in an MOT does he not realise these tyres can be dangerous and illegal.

Paul also referred to the car as one of our Runabouts, making it sound cheap and not worthy of good tyres, well it may be classed as a runabout in his world but I can assure you that in the real world £8134.00 is definitely not a runabout, not in the present climate with millions of second hand cars for sale, perhaps you should rename it, if I had known it was called a runabout I would have assumed it was going to be an unreliable trade in car and taken it off my list.

It is my intention to pay for an independent tyre report from another MOT station as today I have noticed some low tread areas and the tyre law states that the legal tread has to be on the total circumference of the tyre, and Steve told me that company policy on tyres was a minimum tread depth of 2.6mm and that should also mean on the total circumference of the tyre.

I think it is the correct decision for me to take advice from a major tyre centre and an independent MOT inspector rather than a car salesman who is not prepared to listen to reason and whose only concern is that in his opinion he sells cars as cheap as possible and there is no budget for new tyres.

I am not prepared to run the risk with these tyres and will replace the front 2 with like for like Pirelli tyres today at a cost of £95 each fitted. The rears I will be guided by the report. I will photograph the tyres and identification numbers prior to disposal, thankfully Steve sent me photo’s of each wheel and on my computer I can enlarge them and read their individual identification numbers.

It is my intention to take this safety issue as far as possible be it local or national media or courtroom as I am appalled with the way I have been treated within hours of buying the car. I shudder to think what I will have to go through under the warranty I have paid for should I have a mechanical or electrical breakdown.

I change my car every 1 or 2 years but the moral of this story for me is not to buy from dealers certainly not Evans Halshaw and never to take the word of a salesman. With hindsight I should have had an RAC inspection it costs £200 but would have saved me £400 in tyres, £80 for carpets and £63 in train fares.

In my list of 34 possible cars this is now by far the most expensive a fair price for this car model and year is around £7-7.5k.

Regards