8:52 am, April 8, 2025
Trade Centre UK has launched an investigation after a Ford Fiesta it sold to an unsuspecting customer caught fire less than a week later.
The Coventry branch of the used car supermarket group sold the three-year-old supermini to Mohammed Khan earlier this year and the 23-year-old was initially happy with the vehicle.
However, within days things went dramatically wrong when the Fiesta refused to start.
Khan eventually managed to get the car going but was met with a ‘loud bang’ just minutes later and the car went up in flames.
The blaze was so bad that West Midlands Fire Service had to attend the scene to bring the flames billowing from the bonnet under control.
The Fiesta was left badly burnt with a completely smashed windscreen and it remains parked at the roadside, surrounded by fire tape, more almost three months on from the incident.
The owner claims that an engineer has since visited the stricken vehicle and ruled that the fire was ’caused by an electrical fault or problem with the engine’.
However, Trade Centre UK is said to have responded by saying the investigation was ‘insufficient’ and told Khan that another would be needed to ascertain the cause of the blaze.
To make matters worse, the Fiesta was actually a replacement for a Mercedes A-Class which Khan bought from the same branch of the Car Dealer Top 100 group, only for it to repeatedly go wrong.
The disgruntled customer now says he was not been offered a courtesy car and is facing losing his job as a business development manager as a result of not being on the road.
He told BirminghamLive: ‘Literally, within a week of getting the Ford Fiesta, the car set on fire. I told the dealership that I was having some issues with it and they said to bring it in.
‘Closer to the time, I was experiencing more issues. I was meant to take it down to them on Saturday, but I think it was on Friday that it broke down on me and wouldn’t start.
‘Because of where it was parked, I had to move it. I went back to see if I could start it and try to move it, just so I wasn’t blocking anyone in or anything.
‘I managed to start it. I probably drove a minute or two around the corner and down a couple of roads, and then I heard a loud bang.
‘I parked up and the car went up in flames.’
He added: ‘I have been off work for a long time, and my cars have been in the garage because I haven’t had a car.
‘I almost lost my job because of that. I told the dealership many times, but they wouldn’t even give me a courtesy car.
‘It’s just terrible. Because I don’t have a car, I will literally lose my job.
‘They, my employers, said they can’t do anything if I haven’t got a car.’
Responding to Khan’s claims, Trade Centre UK said it was working with the customer to find a solution.
A spokesman for the group said: ‘The Trade Centre UK sells cars to thousands of happy customers each month.
‘Occasionally, incidents can occur, and our team is working with Mr Mohammed Khan to resolve the matter for him.’
Meanwhile, in a spokesperson for West Midlands Fire Service confirmed that it had attended the fire and said that no one was injured.
The force said: ‘We were alerted at 6.37pm on January 17 to a fire on Douglas Road, Handsworth.
‘Firefighters in breathing apparatus used a hose reel to extinguish a fire in a car’s engine. It also affected some of the driver’s compartment.
‘No one was hurt, and duty of care was left with the owner.’
