Barry G

Not the best

I bought a Ford Focus from these guys for my daughter’s birthday in Jan 2024. It was advertised as a CAT S insurance write off but had been repaired well and was a reasonable price and mileage for the year. On viewing, they struggled to unlock and start the car because they said it had been “stood for a while” and the battery was flat. Once it was finally unlocked and started it drove fine so I took them at their word and bought it. I gave the full asking price but was given a £50 discount for a new battery. I was also told they would forward the locking wheel nut key and tools for changing the spare wheel which were missing when I collected it. I was nervous but drove the 85 miles home without any punctures and had a new battery fitted the next day. Two new batteries and a full electrical diagnostic investigation by my local garage later, the car continued to have problems. My daughter’s birthday came and went; the tools for changing the wheel never arrived and if the car was left overnight the battery would drain and it would fail to unlock and start. Six weeks passed with the car undriveable and stuck in my garage until I had it towed to my local Ford dealer and had them look at it. It took them two weeks to diagnose and fix the problem (which was a parasitic drain in the cars security and immobiliser system). I’d been in contact with NT traders throughout. They originally told me if I returned the car they would “have a look at it” (which was impossible) so I told them that I would get Ford to fix it and forward the receipts. However, when I sent the receipts to them they argued that Ford’s bill was unreasonable and refused to refund me. I even offered to pay half the bill as a compromise and they still refused. I also paid to have the locking wheel nuts cut off and replaced and sourced the spare wheel tools from a local scrap yard myself and wasted countless hours of my own time trying to fix the situation. After a long exchange of emails and letters I finally took them to court in November that year. The judge found them guilty on 3 counts of breach of contract and ordered them to refund my costs with interest, plus my legal fees and hearing charges. Which they did. NT Traders are a budget car retailer. They buy crash damaged, MOT failures and insurance write offs for as little as possible and make as much profit as they can. There is nothing wrong with this but there are so many other budget retailers that do it better than them. Their customer service and after sales support is non-existent and their attitude towards the people who buy their vehicles is, from my experience, arrogant and bullish. If you are considering buying a car from them do your homework first and proceed with caution. If you are unlucky enough to end up in the same position as me go to the Gov.UK website and follow the process for making a claim to recover your money. The process is surprisingly simple and easy to follow. Going to court to get your money back may seem daunting but it’s actually very straight forward and the legal system is there to protect you as a consumer. For me, I won’t be doing business with NT Traders again or recommending them to friends and family.