Steven P

An awful experience

I bought a car at this dealer at the end of August. The car test drove well and the timing belt had been changed (the dealer said) and so we went to collect it two days later. I paid by bank transfer (never do this) and the dealer gave me a receipt. He explained that he shared the business with his cousin, who was also in the office at the time of the transaction. Half an hour later, the car began to cough and splutter. I barely managed the drive home. Once there, it died completely. I contacted Chartridge Sports and Prestige and they said they would send a trailer to collect it. Which they did. Obviously this was reassuring; however, they have had the car ever since (it is near the end of October at the time of writing). I have exchanged over thirty text messages which at first were about repairs, and then after a month I asked for my money back. This was agreed but none has ever materialized. Not only that but when I went to the dealer premises, the owner - a man named Cam - told me that the man who had sold me the car did not work for him. When I showed the receipt on CS & P headed notepaper, he simply shrugged and said it was nothing to do with him. He also laughed at the threat of trading Standards, saying he had dealt with them many times and he didn't care about them. I would say this company is untrustworthy and out only to palm off cars to customers without any thought of the aftercare. You may be lucky and get a decent car, but in this case an independent mechanic's report showed that the timing belt had not been changed and there was evidence of flooding. The mechanic suggested the car had been an insurance write off abroad and imported. I have no doubt I was quite deliberately sold a dud car.