Beware!!!!!!!!

I had a really bad experience buying a car from a second-hand car trader in Tidmarsh, RG8 8HG; the yard is next to a cattery in Tidmarsh. The address that I bought my car and had all my problems was Glade House Farm, Tidmarsh Lane, Tidmarsh, READING. RG8 8HG.

When I bought my car in August 2015 they were called ‘Berkshire Motor House’; they soon changed their name to ‘Berkshire Auto House’. They have since changed their name a couple of times since to something new.

I had the misfortune of stumbling across Berkshire Auto House from an advert in Autotrader. They advertise all their properties in Autotrader.

I bought a Peugeot 206 from them for £1100 in August 2015; I did a test drive and it seemed fine but I am a layman when it comes to cars and I noticed when driving it home that it struggled to accelerate properly when I put the accelerator down.

£150 admin fee for a refund!

Having researched the Sale of Goods Act 1979 the trader is obliged to fix or refund the car.  I called him immediately the next day to say that the car was faulty and requested a repair or a full refund. He said that he would have to charge me a £150 admin fee; I said that this wasn't reasonable and that he was obliged by the Sales of Goods Act to repair the car or refund me and that I shouldn't be the out of pocket over this, but he wouldn't budge.

False warranty claim in original advert

The original advert mentioned a '3 Months Parts Labour warranty', when I quizzed him about this he said that as I'd negotiated £100 off the original asking price for 2 tyres worn below the legal limit that the warranty was no longer valid; at no point did he mention this to me when I asked for some money off - so don't be fooled by the warranty in their adverts.

Refund offer withdrawn and offered only £500 for the car (original cost £1100)!

I decided that I might be able to get the car repaired for less than than £150 by a mechanic; however when inspected it transpires that the the problem is a faulty fuel pump with an estimated cost of £300 to repair. I decided I was prepared to lose out on £150 and called back to arrange the refund, however now they said that as I'd had the car for longer that they weren't prepared to refund me anymore and that all they could do was buy the car back from me for £500 (£600 less than I'd paid them a few days earlier) as it has depreciated in value. I couldn't believe what they were saying, I said that all I had done was drive the car back to my house and had a mechanic come and look at it; he didn't give a damn.

When I said that I'd be forced to take this further and that I would put it in writing he said the only letters he opened were court summons. He also said that he doesn't care if I take him to court as he still won't pay me.

At this point I didn't have many options; I said that if he didn't refund me the full amount that I would write a a blog of my experience advising people to avoid him; he said he didn't care as he just changes the name of his business so nobody would be able to trace him (so it's important that you check the address if you are proposing to buy from him (Farm house, Tidmarsh Lane, Tidmarsh. RG8 8HG)). Beware if you intend to buy from this person as they epitomise all the bad stories that you hear about second hand car salesmen!!

I'm really annoyed that I am out of pocket over this and that this guy has treated me in such a poor fashion, hopefully this blog will stop others from making the same mistake.

Please feel free to comment!