12:11 pm, August 1, 2023
A used car dealer has admitted selling a ‘dangerous’ Mercedes-Benz he advertised as being in top condition.
Stourbridge-based Khizar Bukhari, director of SOR Motors Ltd trading as The Motor Store, said the Mercedes ML350 was in ‘mint condition’ when he advertised it via Auto Trader, said Dudley Council.
However, an independent vehicle expert called in by the council’s trading standards department said a ‘dangerous fault’ with the power steering would have made it ‘almost impossible to safely negotiate a bend’.
Wolverhampton Crown Court was told yesterday (Jul 31) that after buying the car, the female customer complained of rust on the bodywork and rainwater leaking in.
She was left stranded in a supermarket car park when a fault with the automatic gear system meant she was unable to move, and got in touch with the dealer to request a refund.
But Bukhari, also known as ‘Callum’, refused so the buyer contacted trading standards about him.
The expert concluded that ‘the vehicle was in a dangerous and unroadworthy condition’ when Bukhari sold it in October 2021.
Among other faults found by the expert, the handbrake system was ‘defective and inoperative’, the court was also told.
Bukhari, 32, of Birmingham Street, Stourbridge, admitted fraud, selling a dangerous vehicle and contravening the requirements of professional diligence.
He will be sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday, September 8.
No details were given regarding arrangements as to bail.
After the case, Cllr Ian Bevan, cabinet member responsible for trading standards at Dudley Council, said: ‘Dudley Trading Standards will not tolerate traders who evade their responsibilities and risk people’s lives by putting dangerous vehicles on the road.
‘Traders who expose consumers to risk of harm by selling unroadworthy vehicles will be investigated and are likely to face prosecution.’
SOR Motors’ accounts for up to April 30, 2022 are overdue and there is an active proposal to have the company struck off, Car Dealer has found.
Pictured at top is the Mercedes ML350 sold by Khizar Bukhari. Image credit: Dudley Council
