A CAR dealership has been fined £134,000 for failing to inform a customer that a vehicle’s ‘one previous owner’ was a car rental company.

Middlesbrough Council’s Trading Standards team took Evans Halshaw parent company Pendragon Motor Group to court after receiving a complaint from a member of the public.

The company was found guilty following a trial last month.

District Judge Helen Cousins, who heard the case at Teesside Magistrates Court, said: “It may be a matter for debate as to whether the number of previous owners of a motor vehicle is, in itself, information a consumer ‘needs’.

“However, in a case where an advertisement promoting the positive features of a vehicle which make it attractive to potential purchasers describes the vehicle as ‘one registered keeper’, it seems to me that the average consumer does indeed need to be properly informed about what that phrase means."

The court was told how in April 2017 the potential customer saw an advertisement for a vehicle said to have one registered keeper. He made further enquiries and paid a refundable fee of £200 for the car to be brought to a dealership nearer to his home.

When he went to see it, he found the condition to be unacceptable but he also discovered that the one registered keeper was in fact Enterprise Leasing Company.

As a result the buyer did not purchase the vehicle and his deposit was returned in full. He then complained to Middlesbrough Council’s Trading Standards due to the misleading information effectively wasting his time.

The company was also ordered to pay £9,360.47 costs.

Judith Hedgley, Middlesbrough Council’s head of public protection, said: “The law makes it quite clear, it requires customers to be given enough information about important matters in any purchase to enable them to make an informed decision whether to buy.

“This company has not changed its practices since our first prosecution in 2016 and therefore this outcome should not be a surprise to them.”

Speaking after the hearing, a Pendragon spokesperson said: “We are disappointed with this decision and surprised at the level of fine. We are a reputable retailer and consider very carefully our legal obligations. This is a complex area of law and having taken advice, we will be appealing.”