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Car Dealer Fined 1,200 Euro for Car Clocking

Car Dealer Fined 1,200 Euro for Car Clocking

Posted by Shane Teskey on 8 February 2012 in Featured

Last December the National Consumer Agency released news of a conviction they had secured against a Galway trader for the sale of a clocked car.

At the time the NCA sought and was granted an adjournment to enable the defendant Mr. Tabachuk to repay €4,000 to the consumer which has since been done.

In a sitting of Galway Distric Court yesterday Judge Mary Fahy described the act of clocking as ‘a serious offense which merited a large fine’. Mr. Tabachuk was fined €1,200 (the maximum allowable at district court level) and ordered that the €4,000 originally paid for the car be returned to the buyer.

Commenting on today’s proceedings the Chief Executive of the National Consumer Agency, Ann Fitzgerald said, “The NCA takes the practice of clocking and the sale of clocked cars very seriously as it deceives consumers and can cause serious financial loss to them. The granting of the compensation order is very significant as it requires Mr Tabachuk to return the money paid by the consumer when they purchased the vehicle. This sends the message to traders that misleading practices such as this will be robustly dealt with by the Agency.

Charges Dropped?

Originally there were two charges brought against the accused but state solicitor Willie Kennedy who prosecuted the case said the State was only proceeding on one of the summons yesterday.

The official press release from the NCA states that;

“Mr Tabachuk was convicted of breaches of the Consumer Protection Act 2007: misleading a consumer by providing false information in relation to a vehicle’s prior history, namely a false mileage reading on the vehicle’s odometer, and also providing an NCT Cert with the false mileage reading on it.”

As previously highlighted by Motorcheck on the RTE News, car clocking remains a serious problem for Irish and UK car buyers. Our Irish National Mileage Register now has over 4.6 million car readings and continues to help Irish consumers identify a clocked car before going through with a purchase but there’s no doubt that tougher legislation will also help to stamp out the practice.

In the News

Here’s a copy of the RTE News Report broadcast last night.

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About the author

Managing Director at Motorcheck.ie and Benchmark Fleet Services Ltd.

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