MOTORISTS have been warned to be extra vigilant when buying cars and vans in North Ayrshire.

North Ayrshire Council’s Trading Standards team held an investigation into vehicles being sold from garages across the region and were left shocked by the levels of un-roadworthy vehicles for sale –with 75 per cent of all garages inspected being found to have cars for sale that were not fit for the road.

Among the problems were bald tyres and missing suspension components and the garages were served with prohibition notices – which stops them selling the un-roadworthy cars.

The probe was launched by NAC and partners Police Scotland and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, they inspected cars and commercial vehicles for sale on forecourts.

Councillor Alex Gallagher, Cabinet Member for Economy, said: “This is great work from our Trading Standards team. Preventing un-roadworthy cars from arriving on the road saves lives.

“Car buyers need to understand that as soon as the car is on the road, they are legally responsible for its roadworthiness. When you buy a house a Home Report is legally required. So when you a pay for the car, which is probably your second biggest single investment, does it not make sense to have that car inspected by a reputable independent engineer?

“We will continue to try and ensure all cars for sale in North Ayrshire meet at least the minimum safety requirements for an MOT. At present 75% of garages inspected did not meet that standard.

“The message to the public is pretty clear – be vigilant. And to the garages themselves, please take your responsibilities seriously. We will ramp up the inspections and in future consider prosecuting.

This exercise follows a Trading Standards concern, based on Complaints received (1 in 6 of all complaints received by Trading Standards in Scotland relate to problems with used cars), that some dealerships are not preparing or inspecting cars that are for sale on forecourts.

Instead they wait till the buyer raises an issue, and then only resolve that issue. Very few buyers raise any issue.

Councillor Gallagher added: “Many consumers fail to even look for safety faults, expecting that all cars on forecourts has been fully inspected and prepared. The law used to require a pre-inspection form, detailing defects, to be displayed on every vehicle. Sadly that law is no longer in force.”