A car bought by a Huddersfield man has been beset by a catalogue of problems.
Now 27-year-old Tayne Netherwood is seeking compensation for the stress he says he has been caused since buying the problem motor two years ago.
Mr Netherwood, of Netherton, said he bought the Smart car from Mercedes Wakefield in 2016 for about £13,500.
“Myself and my partner took the car for an extended 48-hour test drive as we were going to do a road trip in Switzerland,” he said
“A Smart car was a car available for hire, this then made me decide to buy the vehicle as it was fun to drive.”
After buying it, he noticed several optional features on the car he’d test driven that were not on his vehicle.
The dealership responded by giving him the option to change the colour of the car, which he did. The car was also fitted with free alloy locking wheel nuts, which don’t come as standard. Mr Netherwood also received £1,300 in compensation.
The car passed its first year service, but towards the end of last year, Mr Netherwood said he noticed a rattling noise.
Technicians at Mercedes Huddersfield were unable to find anything wrong – but the rattling persisted and Mr Netherwood booked the car back in at the end of January this year when once again technicians could not find a fault. It was back in again in March and then again for a further 10 days in April when the technicians again came up blank.
Mr Netherwood said he was told the noise seemed to be a peculiarity of the car, rather than being due to a fault.
After getting the car back again, Mr Netherwood said he noticed damage to the paintwork, a wing mirror and a chunk taken out of one of the alloys. The finance company he had been dealing with agreed for the car to be checked over by a DEKRA inspector to prove there was a fault.
Mr Netherwood booked the car into Mercedes Benz Leeds for one more chance to repair it – without success.
He said he believed the car had been faulty at the point of sale – saying Mercedes Benz had agreed that they did not do a further check on the vehicle following the colour change.
“I booked the car in at Leeds on June 4 for a second opinion on the faults,” he said. “When I picked it up again, there was more damage and they couldn’t find the fault. On the following day, the car was back in Mercedes Huddersfield for repairs to all the damage.
“When the car was returned at the end of the week on the Friday, the alloys had been repaired along with the passenger door, but the wing mirror still isn’t of satisfactory quality.
“This is just going on and on. I have also smelled burning, which I think is to do with the electrics – and the autostop light doesn’t work.
“The car is stuck on the drive. I’m not driving it. I have bought a brand new Mini to keep me mobile. Now I am paying for two cars.
“It has been extremely stressful and I wish now I’d never bought the car.”
Mr Netherwood said he intended to return the vehicle by terminating the contract early.
A spokesman for Mercedes Huddersfield said: “We are aware of the various allegations made by Mr Netherwood. He has referred his complaints to the Motor Ombudsman, the National Conciliation Service and the Financial Ombudsman Service.
“The various parties involved are engaged with those bodies and we do not feel it would be constructive to comment in detail whilst those processes are ongoing.”
