A Carlow car trader has been fined €1,100, ordered to pay costs of €2,000 to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) and directed to pay €2,500 to a consumer whom the court previously found he had misled in the sale of a car.
At a hearing in Carlow District Court on Friday (July 1), Jordan Black was ordered by Judge Cephas Power to pay the fine, costs and compensation following his conviction for misleading a customer in relation to the sale of an Opel Insignia. Black had been convicted on charges as acting as a disguised trader (i.e., misrepresenting himself as a private seller) and of concealing the car's true mileage.
In December 2021, the court heard that the CCPC opened an investigation following a complaint from a consumer who had bought a car from Mr Black. The consumer had bought the car in question from a "private seller" advertising on the DoneDeal website and had paid €4,200 for the car, which was seven years old at the time. While driving home after buying the Opel, the consumer adjusted the odometer to display kilometres rather than miles, and discovered the actual mileage of the vehicle was 286,000km and not 178,000km, as he had been informed by Black.
During the investigation, the CCPC also became aware that, over a two-year period, Black had published 125 advertisements for cars on DoneDeal as a "private" seller, despite being an active motor trader.
Consumer protection
Black was found to have broken consumer protection law on two counts: in relation to omitting or concealing material information (in this case, the car's mileage) and falsely claiming or creating the impression that he was acting in a personal capacity when selling the car, a practice known as engaging in a disguised trader sale. If a consumer buys a car from a registered motor trader, they are covered by a set of consumer protection laws should something go wrong; if a consumer buys a car from a dealer whom they believe is a private seller, they may not believe they have any rights to exercise.
Commenting on the case, Úna Butler, Member of the CCPC said:
"As recognised by Judge Power in his sentencing, misleading a consumer about the history of a car is a serious offence. Mr Black's conviction is a reminder to all car traders that there are consequences if you mislead consumers about your trading status or if you provide false information about the history of a car."
"Over the past number of years, Brexit and Covid-19 have both contributed to significant increases in the cost of buying second-hand cars, creating circumstances where consumers may be even more vulnerable to the kind of misleading practices evident in this case. The CCPC will continue to use its powers to challenge and take enforcement action against traders found to be exploiting consumers, and urges consumers who may have been misled by a trader to report them to the CCPC.