25 February 2018

Retailer Richard Hardie, has been on the receiving end of ‘guidance’ from Newcastle City Council’s trading standards officers, following a customer compliant over a nearly-new car’s previous owner history.

The buyers claim they believed it was an ex-demo car and were not told the Jeep Cherokee had three previous owners, something they discovered once they received the log book.

The buyers have now received a full refund and the car is on sale again at £16,500. The buyer also alleged the car had also broken down within days of purchase.

A council spokesman said: “We received a complaint from a consumer via Citizens Advice. The consumer had a grievance with a car she had purchased, which related to alleged false advertising in relation to the number of previous owners. We have worked with both the consumer and trader to rectify this problem, visiting and providing guidance to the trader on a number of occasions. We received confirmation on January 30 that a full refund had been issued, we have also now issued a written warning to the trader.”

Speaking to the Chronicle, Richard Hardie director, Nick Hardie, said: “We were advised on how to advertise the vehicle with the correct owners which we have now done. However, we have certainly not been issued a written warning.” He said the car – which had also been returned by a previous owner – was brand new when it first came to the dealership. Richard Hardie has branches in Sunderland, Durham, Ashington and Newcastle and holds franchises for Peugeot, Fiat, Abarth, Alfa Romeo and Jeep.

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Tags: Jeep, Richard Hardie