Quarry Garage puts up £5,000 reward to catch test drive conman

Jun 5 2009 By Sam Casey

THIS con artist car customer went to a Huddersfield dealership for a test drive – and sped off without paying a penny.

Now Quarry Garage has stumped up a £5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the man who pinched the used VW Golf.

The reward is more than half the value of the two-litre, five-door hatchback, which had only 14,000 miles on the clock.

It was on the market for £8,495.

But dealership manager, Alan Hainsworth, said their desire to track the culprit down was not about the money.

He said: "It’s the principle of it. We mean business.

"We’re not about to let him get away with it.

"We got him on CCTV but the images are no good to us because we have no idea who he is, but someone must do.

"Everyone is in this credit crunch together.

"We’re all feeling the pinch and profit margins are being squeezed and squeezed.

"We have been here since 1975, we’re here to earn a living and we have to take a stand against people like this."

The thief, believed to be in his 30s, had called into the New Hey Road dealership in Mount on the evening of Tuesday, May 26.

He returned the following afternoon to ask if he could go for a spin.

But, when a member of staff gave him the keys, he jumped in the four-year-old motor and drove out of the forecourt into new Hey Road and drove off towards Huddersfield.