Council clampdown on rogue car dealerships

Nov 1 2007 by Gary Marsh, Cynon Valley Leader

DODGY car traders are being targeted by Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s trading standards officers.

The local authority says its aim is to protect the public from buying faulty motors from “sneaky salesmen”.

Joined by Vehicle and Operator Services Agency officers, they have carried out a number of inspections on independent and used car garages in the area.

The survey was organised to test the road-worthiness of the cars for sale on garage forecourts and to check the accuracy of traders’ descriptions of the vehicles.

Throughout the inspection, tyres continued to be the major area of defects, with traders in general still apparently unwilling to replace defective tyres until a vehicle is sold.

A spokesman for RCT Council said: “Not only were tyres under the legal tread limit of 1.6mm in depth, these cars were actually available to test drive, putting potential buyers, pedestrians and other road users at serious risk.”

Lack of visibility from tinted windows and defective wiper blades were other problems found on the cars inspected.

The results from the seven premises and 33 vehicles inspected are as follows:

Six of the premises committed at least one offence, 13 vehicles were considered dangerous and of the six test-drives undertaken, three were issued with a suspension notice for illegal tyres.

Eight immediate prohibitions were issued, along with five suspensions.

Council cabinet member Paul Cannon, who is also joint chairman of the Community Safety Partnership, said: “Inspections like this remain an integral function of enforcement within the authority.

“We will continue to be very proactive on this as it is important to ensure the safety of the cars on Rhondda Cynon Taff’s roads.”