A FATHER has raised issues with a second-hand car dealership he claims sold him a vehicle with a number of serious issues that went 'undetected' before he took delivery ­— leaving him out of pocket and without a car.

James Haigh, 35, passed his driving test in December, shortly after the birth of his first child and immediately started to search for his first car.

He found a 60-plate Seat Ibiza listed for sale at Motor Mania on Higher Audley Street, Blackburn.

Mr Haigh, from Leeds, bought the car for £3,750 and awaited delivery as the dealership conducted a pre-delivery health check.

It was while driving the car not long after delivery that Mr Haigh says he started to encounter problems.

He said: "I passed my driving test on December 1. I was really happy because my wife had just given birth and this was going to take a huge weight off our shoulders, being able to transport our baby in a car and not have to pay for taxis or bus fare to travel to and from work or the supermarket anymore, it was like a dream come true.

"A week after searching through hundreds of car adverts on Autotrader, I came across a little Seat Ibiza that was within our price range and the insurance was fairly cheap. I'd never bought a car before, but presumed that Autotrader was a reputable selling site, I'd seen my father buy cars off there in the past.

"I read the reviews of the dealership, called Motor Mania, on Autotrader and the majority seemed fairly decent. With Covid-19 all around us, I decided to have the vehicle delivered to my home address so as to limit contact with anyone and I felt happy knowing that I could return the vehicle within 30 days if any faults were discovered.

"I'd had the car for a few weeks when I started to notice the smell of fumes coming from the air vents, so I decided to have the car checked over at a local garage near my house.

"When I had the car checked, I was shocked to find that the mechanic had come across some really worrying faults. The exhaust pipe had been tampered with and the catalytic converter removed, one of the tyres was bald and the steering was pulling to the left and not to mention the car has an oil leak coming from the driveshaft."

Mr Haigh contacted Motor Mania and told them, as per the condition of sale and Consumer Rights Act 2015, he wanted to return the vehicle in exchange for a full refund.

He said: "I was basically ignored, the staff member kept telling me to get a quote for the repairs.

"Having been repeatedly ignored, I decided to contact the Citizens Advice Bureau, who helped me write letters to the dealership raising my concerns and reiterating my request to return the car.

"As expected, I've been pretty much ignored again other than an email that was a couple of sentences long which again asked me to obtain quotes for repairs.

"Instead of obtaining quotes for repairs, I took the vehicle to the manufacturer and had them carry out a diagnosis on the car.

"To my horror, Seat's health check raised even more issues including the vehicles brakes being corroded and the suspension snapped. The vehicle was diagnosed by Seat as unsafe to drive and not fit for the road."

He added: "It's a total disgrace."

Mr Haigh says he has remained "polite at all times" and just wants the issue to be resolved.

Motor Mania have advised him that their legal team will be in touch, but up to now no communication has been received.

The Lancashire Telegraph contacted Motor Mania who said they were aware of the issues James was having and had offered to put them right.

A spokesperson for the dealership said: "No car is bullet proof. We offered a warranty with the car so if it gets any problems along the way, we are more than happy to rectify them.

"We're happy to get his problems sorted. We have offered to sort out the car."