Karl B

Robbed of over £40,000 Avoid at all cost

Where do I start! In May 2023 I paid £175,000 for a Porshe 911 Turbo cabriolet. I drove the car away and was super excited as I'd never owned anything like this before. My wife and I set off on a European road trip a few days later and loved it. On my return I expected the V5C to be in my post box, but this is where 15 months of anguish and frustration began. Instead of a new logbook in my name there was a letter from NOVA (the department of HMRC who deal with vehicle import duty). Despite having the car HPI checked prior to buying (showing no export marker), it turned out that the car had been taken abroad for 10 months but the paperwork hadn't been correctly completed when brought back into the UK. This meant an application to NOVA had to be made, followed by an application for a new logbook. The letter stated that the car wasn't permitted/illegal to be driven on the road until the whole thing was resolved and a logbook issued. I forwarded to letter to Kris at TMT Motors and he said he'd deal with the applications and sort everything asap. Fast forward 12 torturous months, dozens of calls, emails, WhatsApp messages, and two failed NOVA applications later (because they were completed by TMT Motors incorrectly), and I took matters into my own hands. I employed a solicitor to complete the forms and jump through the hoops with NOVA and the DVLA. Now nearly 16 months after buying a £175,000 car I finally have a V5C and can take the car out of storage and drive it on the road. The car has no doubt lost over £40,000 since I bought it and I'm absolutely furious. TMT treat their customers with utter contempt, and Baqua who I believe is the owner hasn't communicated with me once with an apology or any offer of compensation. I asked to speak to him on several occasions about returning the car and was fobbed off. Customer service doesn't get any worse and I'd urge anyone reading to avoid TMT Motors at all costs. As a side note, I believe the whole 'export then bring back into the country' thing to be a VAT dodge and am in the process of reporting to HMRC.