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OPC Porsche Bolton made to pay, about time.

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Cunno

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http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/14217700.display/

Porsche-loving pensioner duped out of £170,000 dream car wins £35,000 claim against dealership

Bolton's Porsche dealership

Published Wednesday 20 January 2016 / News

A PORSCHE-loving pensioner who was duped out of his £170,000 dream car by a lying motor dealership has triumphed in a landmark fight for damages.

Avid Porsche enthusiast, Kevin Hughes, 67, set his heart on owning a limited edition Porsche 911 GT3 RS4 and sacrificed part of his pension to get one.

He knew that the extremely rare 2011 model would be the last four-litre Porsche 911 ever made and that there would be "a race" amongst petrolheads to get hold of one.

Mr Hughes paid a £10,000 deposit to Porsche Centre Bolton in March 2011 to ensure he would be "fist in the queue" if the dealership took delivery of one of the cars.


Fewer than 30 of them were sent to the UK and Mr Hughes was bitterly disappointed when a salesman told him that none of them had made it to Bolton.

"This was untrue", a top judge said today, as the dealership had received one of the cars but had sold it to another customer behind Mr Hughes's back.

When Mr Hughes, who runs a classic car repair shop in Chorley, discovered the truth he took the dealership's parent company, Pendragon Sabre Ltd, to court.

And today, three of the country's most senior judges ruled the company must pay for its behaviour and awarded Mr Hughes £35,000 damages.

Pendragon must also cover the huge legal costs of the case and its final bill will run well into six figures.

Mr Justice Cranston said the buyer who drove away in Mr Hughes's "dream car" had paid his deposit later and should have been behind him in the queue.

Mr Hughes had been led to believe that it would be a case of "first come first served" after rushing to the car showroom to make the £10,000 down payment.

He was told he was "in a great position" to get one of the cars and was justly furious when he was pipped to the post.

The salesman told him in an email: "I can confirm that you will get the first one from Porsche Centre Bolton if we get one, which I am very confident that we will".

Mr Hughes waited patiently for weeks after paying his deposit before the salesman emailed him with the bad news that Porsche had not allocated any of the cars to Bolton.

The judge said: "(The salesman) and Pendragon subsequently accepted that this was untrue.

"Pendragon had been allocated a 911 GT3 RS4 model, but it had been supplied to another customer".

The judge, sitting with Lord Justice Richards and Lady Justice Macur, said it was "as plain as a pikestaff" that there was a binding contract between Mr Hughes and the dealership.

It was not just "an agreement to agree" and, by paying the deposit, Mr Hughes had done far more than merely "express an interest", he added.

Having won the race to pay his deposit, Mr Hughes was assured that he would be first in line and the dealership was in breach of contract, he ruled.

Mr Hughes was awarded £35,000 damages - the difference between what he would probably have paid for one of the cars, £135,000, and its value to a collector, £170,000.

Pendragon Sabre was ordered to pay £50,000 towards Mr Hughes' legal costs straight away, although the final bill is likely to be substantially higher.

The company will also have to pay its own legal team.
 

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Fair play to Kevin for standing his ground on this but scant consolation though!
 
Shocking behaviour from OPC Bolton.

:judge:

Banged to rights!!
 
:judge: Serves the dealership right. :thumb:
 
Excellant, delighted that justice has been served...well in part I suppose.
The article values the 4.0L at 170k...that's out for a rhd car by 230k. I'm
glad though, that the buyers 10k deposit was recognised as a binding contract
by the :judge:
 
Shameful story but one I suspect has been repeated before and will be again in the future. I suspect many OPC's are guilty of favouritism as opposed to first come, first served........
 
That's part of the Stratstone group same as Wilmslow. Very sad to hear but I'm not at all surprised it goes on.
 
Let's hope potential customers vote with their feet and shop elsewhere, causing further financial penalty for this dishonesty. I for one abhor dishonest salespeople.
Even though Kevin was compensated, there is no doubt OPC Bolton's actions caused him a huge loss in investment value.
 
nick w said:
Excellant, delighted that justice has been served...well in part I suppose.
The article values the 4.0L at 170k...that's out for a rhd car by 230k. I'm
glad though, that the buyers 10k deposit was recognised as a binding contract
by the :judge:

Absolutely, just done some wheels for one sold at £400k. Thats a pension and a half they own him.
 
I'd love to know who 'greased the skids' to encourage OPC Bolton to lie. Another 'super car' dealer locally that sells to the kind of people who'll pay a premium to jump the queue?
 
Jcx said:
I'd love to know who 'greased the skids' to encourage OPC Bolton to lie. Another 'super car' dealer locally that sells to the kind of people who'll pay a premium to jump the queue?

Probably. The word pikestaff caught my attention...
 
Chris W said:
Jcx said:
I'd love to know who 'greased the skids' to encourage OPC Bolton to lie. Another 'super car' dealer locally that sells to the kind of people who'll pay a premium to jump the queue?

Probably. The word pikestaff caught my attention...

Strange choice...
 
I've never been impressed by Stratstone (Pendragon Sabre).
Stratstone OPC is also Wilmslow as already pointed out. I believe that Nottingham and Sutton Coldfield are also Stratstone - someone can correct me if I'm incorrect.

Shameful behaviour by OPC Bolton. Not good news for Stratstone.
Reputation. Takes years to develop, but demolished in an instant!
 
Chris W said:
nick w said:
Excellant, delighted that justice has been served...well in part I suppose.
The article values the 4.0L at 170k...that's out for a rhd car by 230k. I'm
glad though, that the buyers 10k deposit was recognised as a binding contract
by the :judge:

Absolutely, just done some wheels for one sold at £400k. Thats a pension and a half they own him.

I've read the judgement, and the damages were as per guidance in the SGA 1979, and calculated on the difference between the assumed list price the claimant would have paid (£135k) and the market value at the time of expected delivery (based on the cost of a near equivalent vehicle - £170k). I'm surprised this went to appeal, personally I would have thought it was clear a collateral contract existed based on the emails between the claimant and dealership, varying the main T&Cs. (The main Terms said there was no obligation to fulfil orders based on sequence placed, but the emails between claimant and salesman said the opposite- you've paid first so you'll get the first car we get). I think it was these emails, along with paying the £10k deposit which helped win the case. Without the emails, all that existed was a £10k deposit along with the main Terms which said the opposite to what had been promised by the salesman, as above, and I don't believe that would have been enough to win the case

Good on him for going all the way to court to get something back for being treated like a nobody by the dealership. They should have done the right thing in the first place, by delivering the car as agreed and not lying to cover up their devious behaviour

So to state the obvious, it really does pay to get everything a salesman promises in writing....
 
.... Oh, and always read the T&Cs no matter how long and boring they always inevitably make them ...
 
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