A LOCAL car dealer must pay over £17,000 in fines after he sold a car to a 22-year-old man that was described as a ‘death trap’.
William Frederick Howlin of Motec Autos, pleaded guilty to charges of being a trader who engaged in commercial practice which is a misleading action containing false information, producing an unsafe product on the market and fraud by false representation.
Magistrates at Haverfordwest Law Court on Wednesday (Jan 30) heard how William Howlin appeared before the court for offering up for sale ‘dangerous vehicles’, and attempted to ‘limit consumer rights’ when doing so by erecting ‘sold as seen’ signs around the forecourt.
Magistrates were told that in February last year, 22-year-old Glenn Alcock, who looks ‘much younger’ than his age, attended Motec Autos to look at an Audi with his mum. He took the Audi for a test drive and noticed that the engine light was on and there was a knocking sound, but was assured by Howlin that it would be sorted.
Mr Alcock worked as IT Technician at this newspaper until last year.
Mr Alcock proceeded to purchase the car, but continued to experience problems with it. He got back in touch with Howlin at Motec and said he wanted a partial refund or £500 for the part to fix the car, however Howlin refused, and said he was welcome to view other cars they had in stock.
Mr Alcock had seen a Mazda MX5 on the forecourt, and when he showed interest in it, he said Howlin tried to ‘put him off’ buying the Mazda, telling him the boot would be too small to fit his drum kit inside. However, the court heard that Mr Alcock liked the car, and wanted to purchase it.
Magistrates were told by Pembrokeshire County Council’s prosecutor, that Mr Alcock researched Mazda MX5s online, and found that there was a common rust problem with this particular make and model of car.
When he asked Howlin about any rust damage, he informed Mr Alcock that there was some surface rust, but it was fine. He claimed to have done the MOT on the car himself and there were no advisories.
Further down the line, Mr Alcock was informed by an employee that the Mazda MX5 he had purchased had been returned by a previous owner 12 months before. Following this, he took the car to Howarth Motors to be checked over.
He received a call from the garage asking him to come in to speak to them in person, where he was told that the car was ‘too dangerous to drive away’.
Mr Alcock called the Citizens Advice Bureau, who contacted Trading Standards. Mr Alcock was then refunded.
The court heard that there was so much corrosion on the underside of the car that when it was tapped with a screwdriver the rust ‘disintegrated’. Howarth Motors said that it was the ‘worst mechanical condition they had seen that had passed its MOT’.
Jenny Tree from Pembrokeshire County Council looked into previous MOT certificates for the Mazda MX5, and found that there had been advisories in the past regarding the rust. In May 2017, the car was bought by a man who purchased the car for £1,195. He said that he wanted to have it serviced, but didn’t get around to doing it until the August.
When he had it serviced, he was told that not to drive the car because it was a ‘death trap’, and a towing truck had to be arranged to transport it back. Mark Hicks of Motec offered him a refund and took the car back.
Ms Tree contacted Dave Ford, the person who had conducted the service on the car in August 2017. He said he was ‘horrified’ at the ‘heavy corrosion’ on the car’s wishbone, which had it come into contact with a curb would have ‘snapped’.
The court also heard that the calipers were only working on one piston as the others had seized.
The Mazda was examined by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), who said the defects were so severe that it should not have passed its MOT. Howlin said the car must have ‘hit something’ which had come off to reveal the damage, however, the VSA had noticed an underseal had been applied over the rust. Howlin then turned to accuse Howarth Motors, saying it must have been ‘hammered’ by them, but there was ‘no evidence’ of this.
The offside rear suspension components were dangerous and not roadworthy, and the Mazda was, all in all, ‘a danger to the user and other road users’.
The court heard that the underseal on the bottom of the car had been applied in what looked like an ‘attempt to camouflage’ the extent of the corrosion. The car was also noted during a brake test to be weighing in at 900kg, which is a ‘low weight’ for the make and model for the car.
When documents were reviewed, it was found that in July 2017, the automated brake test showed it weighed 1.182kg, which is the expected weight. This was described as an ‘anomaly’.
An inspection was carried out at Motec Autos by the DVSA, who were met by Mark Hicks. The court heard that Hicks seemed ‘agitated’ that they were around the back of the premises, and said that the only vehicles that were up for sale were the cars situated at the front. However, the DVSA noted that there were prices in the windows, and therefore they must be up for sale.
Six cars were selected at random for inspection, three of which were unworthy of being on the road, in particular a Vauxhall Corsa.
Pembrokeshire County Council’s prosecutor told the court that car dealerships are heavily complained about to trade centres and 26% of complaints are related to the safety of the cars.
Howlin’s defence solicitor, Mark Owen, said: “Howlin pleaded guilty on the first occasion and the case was adjourned to today two weeks ago. From the point back in May the intent was to deal with the issues constructively.
“When we first attended an interview, it’s clear that what is an important aspect of MOTs is that they are of gold standard. There are levels to MOTs that you can rely on them, but it’s not always the case. It’s not what you would expect it to be – it’s more the bare minimum.
“That was part of our argument. What became clear was this vehicle had been identified as having defects, and Howlin failed to take proper action. We have to accept information conveyed that it wasn’t good enough, and certain actions were taken immediately.
“The issues were erased with the young man, and he was refunded and an apology was given.”
Mr Owen added that the garage is a ‘heavy regulated’ part of the industry, and said: “What he may have done 30 years ago he can’t do today. He is not known to the court before, and he does have a good reputation in this area.
“His knowledge has served him well, but changes have occurred with regulations and he has failed to keep up with them. You can see from the paperwork he did take certain actions.
“He left other parties to deal with day to day sales, and there are questions of how things are passed through.”
Mr Owen continued: “The offences are accepted, the most serious being the Mazda MX5. 12 months before it had been returned and it wasn’t safe.
“This is an isolated incident. For over 38 years he has been in the trade without indication of flaw or serious problems. He wasn’t keeping up with professional developments and was failing to recognise the world had changed. It happens in farming sometimes. He is not a dodgy dealer. he wants to contribute to the community.
“He only feels remorse and shame. He will suffer reputational damage, however good his reputation has been in the past. His reputation will be damaged because he needs to build up trust again.”
Mr Owen finished, saying: “It’s going to take a great deal of time to put it right.”
Magistrates imposed fines, prosecution costs and victim surcharge of £6145 in total against William Howlin, and a further £11,215 against Motec Autos – £17,360 all together, which he must pay £500 per month for each offence.
He was also given a community order, with the requirement of completing 150 hours of unpaid work.
