David Mwachukwu Ilukwe has agreed to trade fairly after complaints were made to Trading Standards
A second hand car dealer has been told he must trade fairly - or face possible jail time.
A number of complaints were made to Trading Standards regarding Exhall-based Prestige Auto Lounge and, as a result, the company’s director David Nwachukwu Ilukwe was brought before Coventry County Court.
He appeared at the court on Thursday. September 29. where he signed an undertaking to trade fairly on behalf of himself and the two companies of which he is a director - Prestige Autohaus Ltd and Prestige Motoring World Ltd (trading as Coventry Car Mart, Coventry Auto Lounge and Prestige Auto Lounge).
He also agreed to publish the undertaking on his website and to send all his staff on a training course approved by Warwickshire Trading Standards.
A breach of the undertaking is a contempt of court and could lead to a prison sentence for Ilukwe and a fine for the companies.
The undertaking states that Ilukwe and the two companies must not:- deny consumers their statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015
- sell vehicles in an unroadworthy condition
- falsely describe vehicles as having full service histories when they do not
- make false statements as to the specification of a motor vehicle
- fail to respond in a timely fashion to telephone calls, emails or other correspondence from consumers regarding faulty vehicles.
Trading Standards say they will continue to monitor the business and its director to ensure they comply with the terms of the undertaking.
Warwickshire county councillor John Horner, portfolio holder for community safety, said: “Trading Standards receives more complaints about faulty vehicles than about anything else and is constantly working with car dealers to help them comply with the law.
“However, there are cases where advice and support is not heeded and enforcement action has to be taken to protect consumers.
“Trading Standards will continue to monitor this business to ensure that it is complying with the law and will not hesitate to take action if they breach the undertaking.”
There you go, he's given his word as a second-hand car dealer. You can't get much more reassurance than that!
