10:00 am, December 23, 2024
With 2024 drawing to a close, we at Car Dealer HQ have been looking back at another successful year of traffic across our platforms.
The last 12 months have seen the Car Dealer Podcast go from strength to strength – with our first ever live show taking place in September, and our YouTube channel has been drawing in record numbers, thanks in a large part to our AI Car Dealership Project series.
Here on the website, we have welcomed readers from as far afield as Kiribati, Burkina Faso and American Samoa but what have our loyal readers been looking at this year?
To mark the end of 2024 we have been looking back at the last 12 months to find our ten most-read stories.
This is what we found…
10. Former Kia dealer that switched to selling used cars collapses into administration
Written by: James Baggott
Page views: 54,277
Last month, we brought you the sad news that Marsh Holdings Limited collapsed into administration after ditching its Kia franchise in a bid to cut costs.
The firm ditched the South Korean brand after raising fears over the costs involved in updating its brand identity and instead re-started life as a used car dealership.
It also held franchises for motorcycle brands Harley Davidson in Plymouth and Southampton, Triumph in Plymouth and Yamaha in Exeter but was unable to make the change of approach work and Westcotts Business Recovery in Exeter were appointed as administrators in November.
The story clearly touched a nerve with the motor trade and it was read by almost 55,000 of you to take tenth position, despite only being published on November 20.
9. Used car dealer wins legal fight against customer who exploited distance-selling loophole
Written by: John Bowman
Page views: 55,967
In September Car Dealer reported how Williams Group Maidstone, trading as PCBS Sales, won a lengthy legal battle against Duncan Edward Humber, who was trying to exploit a legal loophole to claim a full refund on a car he had owned for a year.
The firm sold Humber the Tesla Model X in September 2022 with the buyer asking to sign the purchase agreement of £81,975 remotely, the day before collecting the vehicle. However, things got ugly when he later claimed that this had made the deal a ‘distance purchase’ and that he hadn’t been made aware of his rights under Consumer Contracts Regulations.
The car was at that point estimated to be worth about £55,000, meaning the dealership would lose out to the tune of almost £27,000 and the issue ended up in court, where it was heard that Humber had successfully pulled off the same trick previously. On this occasion however, Judge Paul Brooks dismissed Humber’s case, labelling his actions as ‘disingenuous’.
The verdict, was seen as something of a landmark decision on the side of the motor trade and it certainly got your attention, with over 55,000 views on our website.
8. Whistleblowers claim Jaguar Land Rover dealership ramps at ‘serious risk of collapse’
Written by: James Baggott
Page views: 57,820
There are a few topics which really get the Car Dealer audience animated and one of them would appear to be Jaguar Land Rover.
The first of two JLR-related stories in our Top 10, this one saw whistleblowers from within Lookers come forward to tell Car Dealer that 24 out of 26 ramps at Jaguar Land Rover West London were corroded so badly they believe they ‘pose a risk to staff’.
Documents seen by Car Dealer showed a maintenance contractor was forced to pump out thousands of litres of water from the workshop in October, which had caused ‘substantial damage’ to the devices used to lift three-tonne Range Rovers daily.
Lookers told Car Dealer it was ‘already aware of the issues’ and they were joined by almost 58,000 others, who got to know all about the problems via the Car Dealer website.
7. Police have recovered used car stolen from TV star Mike Brewer’s dealership
Written by: James Baggott
Page views: 60,253
Another popular subject on the Car Dealer website is Mr Wheeler Dealer himself, Mike Brewer. Another topic to clinch two spots in our Top 10, the Used Car Awards host found himself in the headlines in August, when a car was stolen from his One Automotive dealership as part of a credit card scam.
A criminal used a stolen card and ID to pay for a used Volkswagen Golf GTD in two separate payments over the phone and then sent a courier to pick it up at Brewer’s dealership.
Brewer and his team did not know anything was up until Barclays contacted the business to say the card had been fraudulently used and they were going to reverse the chargers – leaving Brewer without the money, or the car.
The situation left Brewer vowing to quit remote sales for good but the story did at least have a good ending for the TV star, when the Golf was later recovered by Police. The saga gripped the Car Dealer audience, with over 60,000 reading this story.
6. Jaguar Land Rover customer left £30,000 out of pocket as a result of devastating dealership flood
Written by: Jack Williams
Page views: 63,101
Another JLR story now and this one triggered quite the reaction from readers. We were inundated with similar stories from disgruntled customers when we revealed how a flood at the firm’s Inchcape Derby dealership had destroyed dozens of cars.
This story featured Karen Chambers, who was faced being left out of pocket to the tune of £25,000 to £30,000 when her Range Rover was wrecked.
Another customer, Kevin Caley, explained how his whose five-year-old Jaguar I-PACE actually been on a ramp – and clear of the water – when the dealership flooded. He was told by Inchcape that car ‘wasn’t worth repairing’ as the battery, which was on the floor, did flood.
The story was read more than 63,000 times this year, meaning it narrowly misses out on a place in our top five.
5. Video: I bought a used car from Wheeler Dealers star Mike Brewer
Written by: James Baggott
Page views: 65,571
Back to TV’s Mike Brewer now and our very own James Baggott buying a used car from the man himself in a special video posted on our YouTube channel.
Despite usually using Motorway and Carwow to buy used stock for the Clever Car Collection, James leaped at the chance when he got a call from Mike offering him the Hyundai i30 diesel, which he had taken in as a part exchange.
As he was already on his way back from visiting Auto Trader in Manchester so the quick pit stop at One Automotive, in the Midlands, was well worth the journey.
The full experience was captured in James’ video diary, viewed 16,000 times on YouTube, with over 65,000 reading all about it on the Car Dealer website.
4. Small family-run car dealership suddenly closes down with liquidators set to be appointed
Written by: Jack Williams
Page views: 77,280
It’s been a tough year for small businesses this year so it is perhaps unsurprising to see so many reading this story.
Earlier this month we brought you the news that doors to Swanson Motor Company had suddenly slammed shut with a message confirming the closure on the firm’s website.
The Newton Abbot-based Ford specialist told customers that it has been forced to close ‘due to unforeseen circumstances’ apologised ‘for any inconvenience’.
The firm has since appointed insolvency practitioners and over 77,000 visitors to the Car Dealer website read all about the initial closure.
Small family-run car dealership suddenly closes down with liquidators set to be appointed https://t.co/OvfbvZg9de
— Car Dealer Mag (@CarDealerMag) December 4, 2024
3. Used car dealer admits selling ‘dangerous and unroadworthy’ Ford Mondeo
Written by: John Bowman
Page views: 79,905
Back in June we reported on the case of Ali Mohammed, director of Dynamic Car Sales in Dudley, who, along with his business, found himself hauled up in court, following a trading standards investigation.
Mohammed admitted to selling a ‘dangerous and unroadworthy’ Ford Mondeo for £2,576, despite knowing it was riddled with severe corrosion that could have caused the rear suspension to collapse at any moment.
The customer only discovered how dangerous the car was six months after the deal was completed and Mohammed and his company were fined, ordered to pay compensation and prosecution costs.
The court also ordered that the Mondeo be scrapped, which will have been reassuring news to the near-80,000 of you who took the time to read just how dangerous a car it was.
2. MG named the most unreliable used car brand as top 10 worst manufacturers revealed
Written by: Jack Williams
Page views: 112,012
This story comes up every year and on every occasion the traffic it generates on the Car Dealer website is off the charts.
The What Car? Reliability Survey shows exactly what every brand’s models are like to live with and this year it was MG which came off worst with an overall score of 76.9%.
Many MG owners complained that their cars suffered a high number of faults and repairs were slow, with some also citing high repair bills. Joining the Chinese outfit in the top 10 were the likes of Alfa Romeo (84.1%), Vauxhall (84.7%) and Nissan (87.9%).
If bosses at MG were hoping that the news would slide under the radar, they were sorely mistaken with this becoming the first story on our list to break the 100,000 barrier.
MG named the most unreliable used car brand as top 10 worst manufacturers are revealed by @whatcar https://t.co/TyMnL7ulK2
— Car Dealer Mag (@CarDealerMag) September 26, 2024
1. Police arrest three people in major fraud probe into family-run motorhome dealership
Written by: John Bowman
Page views: 124,358
So here we have it – our most read story for the year. Back in May, we brought you the news that three people had been arrested as part of a major fraud and money laundering investigation involving Steve Mann Caravans in Harrogate.
North Yorkshire Police detained a 65-year-old man, a 38-year-old man, and a 62-year-old woman on April 30, following allegations involving around 50 victims linked to the caravan dealership.
The firm was later wound up, having apparently ceased trading when the news broke of the fraud investigation.
Clearly, you lovely lot were very interested in this one as it raked in almost 125,000 views to become our most-read story of 2024!
*All information correct as of December 17, 2024
