SLB Cars Ltd

S L B Cars Ltd

Camm Street
Crewe, Cheshire
CW2 7DN, United Kingdom

SLB Cars Ltd sold a death trap which is in such an unfit state its not safe to be on the road and could have killed someone!! This is the opinion of the MOT examiner after testing the car.

slbcars@yahoo.com

Update 28/8/08

Trading Standards have now got a court date of October 15th and are taking SLB Cars to court on criminal charges. In the mean time SLB tried to pull a fast one demanding the car back from us. Trading Standards hold the log book so we wouldn't let them have it. Trading Standards having heard that are worried that they may try to resell the car so are seeking a destruction order on the car to stop them doing anything with it



Trading Standards are now taking the car in to confirm the MOT examiners report by their own expert. If he agrees then its highly like SLB Cars will face criminal charges for selling a car in such a dangerous state. SLB made little comment today they tried to wriggle out of it by saying it wasnt taken back to them to fix the Locks as if it was they would have checked it over. Clearly this wont wash as they had already sold the car a month earlier in the dangerous state

The second MOT examiner said I have never seen a car in such a dangerous condition its a miracle no one has been killed this rot has not happened recently but it has been there for over a year. SLB Cars must have know they were selling a death trap.

A third MOT examiner said the rot was on critical part of the car and as such would effect the steering and the handling of the car which makes it a lethal car. The rear pin bearing was in a very bad state and the wheel could seize or worse at any moment. Even the lights were illegal both front and rear lights had the wrong bulbs or no reflectors on them. I have never seen a more dangerous car for a long time its like a shed on wheels and the danger is it could fail on the motorway and cause a massive multi car pile up.

The rust and other faults are long standing and have not appeared in a couple of months so the car was both illegal and a death trap when sold by SLB Cars Ltd. He was shocked to find so many dangerous and illegal part on the car and would expect any retailer to spot these faults before the sold it. Some are very clear like illegal lights and the CAT removed. You can click on the full MOT report below to see just how dangerous this car is. Do you really want to buy a car from this garage if so we recommend you get a AA report or a MOT to see if its safe to drive.

When Trading Standards got involved they found that over 40,000 mile had gone missing from the car as in 2005 the car was MOTed and showed a mileage of 117,000 but when bought it only had 82,000 on the clock so were have the rest of the miles gone?

I bought a Citroen Saxo vtr from SLB Cars Ltd Camm St Crewe CW2 7DN on 1/03/08 a cost of £1300 which was paid for by a trade in of £400 and credit card. The salesman agreed to give the car a service fix the Arial and fix the door locks as the central locking wasn’t working and the boot was locked and couldn’t be opened. He put this in writing on the sales receipt.


I picked the car up 5days later and none of the jobs had been done I expected it to all be fixed and ready to go. I took it in the next day and they had it all afternoon. They fixed the Arial and the radio but could not fix the central locking even after fitting a new unit to the drivers door. If you put the key in the near side door the car tried to lock but after fitting the part it was dead. They left the car with no inside lights and clock not working as they had blown the main F8 fuse.


I took it back on Wednesday and they had it all day Wednesday and Thursday when I got it back the radio didn’t work the alarm was left dangling so the passenger caught it with their feet. The central locking and the boot still hadn’t been fixed. This means the car isn’t fit for its purpose as I can not go shopping as I cant open the boot, in the event of a flat tyre I cant change it as the tools are in the boot. When they open the boot trying to fix it there was a very thick red exposed wire flapping about which I believe could be live and therefore a fire risk. The service still hasn’t been done

Wednesday the 19th and the car was once again taken in for 8 days every day I ring up and they say it will be done soon ring back later. When I ring back later they say they have just gone to the scrap yard to get some bits for it the implications being that the parts are from scrap cars and therefore not new parts. I don't expect my car to be repaired with old bits from a scrap yard which may break at any moment. I bought the car in good faith with a guarantee and would expect any part that are needed to be brand new car part bought from a scrap yard are form scrap cars and as such the parts may only last a few weeks or could go on for years. They said the problem has been that the first mechanic had blown all the door activators and also the main central locking unit. What is most frustrating is ringing up sometimes 4 time a day only to be told it will be done tomorrow, the idea of customer service is you ring the customer and keep them updated not for the customer to waste money ringing you.

They did lend us a 4*4 to use but as my son or wife found it to big to drive it was useless the fact that the tax disc was 12 months out of date and therefore breaking the law failing to display a road fund licence. The mechanic told us he hadn't been working on it all the time as he had been doing other jobs MORE IMPORTANT THAN OURS so over the days he may only have worked on it for an hour a day leaving us without a car. Having Arthritis this means I have been unable to get out and do things like shopping.

So the big day arrived after not seeing the car for 8 days it was finally fixed so I went to collect it. The first thing I noticed was a strange smell like polish, I thought they must of cleaned it for me but as there was muck everywhere that wasn't it. I then noticed the lights hanging down from the roof which had not been put back. A short drive and I noticed there was no sound from the rear speakers and the fancy break light strip wasn't working either. I reached home and got out to check the speakers in the boot before I got to open the boot the central locking slammed shut leaving me locked out with the engine still running and the keys in the car. We had to call out an expert to get us back in the car.

Having got the car open we then looked in the boot and was shocked to find it covered in blood, had it been used to carry a dead body? We soon realized the blood was pouring from my wife's hand as a result of cutting it badly on glass that was everywhere. Things now made sense as the expert pointed out the rear window had been replaced due to it being smashed and the smell was sealer used to put the window in. SLB Cars hadn't told us they had smashed the window and they hadn't bothered to clean up the broken glass which was everywhere. The rear brake lights wires were totally missing so we could see why it didn't work, it had worked fine when it went in. The speakers wires were floating about and had been disconnected for some reason. We closed the boot and locked it with the key only to find it didn't lock it took ten mins of locking and unlocking in order to get it to work. If you unlock the car boot the central locking doesn't unlock any other door. Having had it in the garage for so long we cant understand why the garage wouldn't check that every door operates the central locking correctly. The jack which was supposed to be in the boot is missing so if we get a flat tyre we are stuffed.



We rang SLB Cars and asked to speak to someone in charge and told them what had happened they said they would investigate and get back to us in an hour, needless to say we are still waiting. Since we have bough the car the garage have had it longer than we had they have had it for over 10 1/2 days during that time we have been paying insurance on the car and not being able to use it. When we did have the car it wasn't fit for its purpose as we couldn't go shopping in it as the boot didn't open. Our 1 month warranty is now nearly up and we have not had time to try the car properly yet. We have a car with what may be old dodgy parts in it from a scrap yard with a rear window which isn't properly sealed no rear brake light and a boot that locks sometimes the rear window wiper doesn't clean anything and is useless. As my son and myself use it for work to carry £10,00 of computer equipment about to customers sites locking of the boot is essential for the insurance.

What we would expect a reasonable deal to now do.

As every time it goes into their own garage they take weeks to fix it and break more things than they fix. We would expect them to pay for a main dealer to fix the car to Citroens standards and replace the parts from the scrap yard with new ones after all when we bought it the boot and passenger central locking worked and it WAS THEIR MECHANIC WHO BLEW THE PARTS so we shouldn't have to pay for their mistakes. We would expect the alarm to be ripped out and replaced with a new one that work 100%. We would expect a courtesy car similar to ours while this is done and to satisfy us that the car is now safe a full 12 months MOT and compensation for lose of the car while we have had it in their garage. The other alternative is to refund some of our money so we can take it to another garage to get it repaired.

We pass no comment on SLB cars we have presented our readers with the facts only and its up to the reader to decided if this is the sort of garage they want to buy a car from. We have reported SLB Cars to Trading Standards and various consumer help lines and are waiting for developments. Let us have your comments or tell us your experiences with this company.



We spoke to the company who say its their policy to replace car repairs with part from the scrap yard as they are replacing old part on a second hand car with OLD PARTS customers should be aware of this if they take their cars in under guarantee. A new part would be guaranteed but a part from a scrap yard wouldn't be guaranteed safe. SLB claim there is a 3 month guarantee on part from the scrap yard were as a OEM part may have 12 months, They offered to repair the car but as they have had it over 18 days and not managed to be able to repair it the credit card company said its reasonable to now insist on an independent garage to do the repairs. As the car was bought via credit card they are now taking out a dispute with them. SLB claim there isnt a fault with central locking and the alarm locking you out with the engine running its a anti hijack device and they say Audi and BMW have this same feature. We spoke to a Audi employ who had work for them for many years and they say this is rubbish no Audi will lock the doors if the engine is running and leave you locked out. They did have that fault on one car and the customer was given a brand new car and the faulty one was sent to Germany for testing. We spoke to alarm specialist who are VSIB registered and they both say the central locking is fault and the alarm wants ripping out and a new one fitting the possible cause is the unit may have been damage when they blew the CLU as its connected to the alarm. These people are specialist and Home Office approved installers they estimate the cost to be £300.

We have had problems with the fuse blowing which has been traced to SLB Cars leaving bare wires when they smashed the rear window and pulled out the working brake light. The result is when the bare wire from the break light touched earth and you put your foot on the brake it shorted straight to earth. We have found that the alarm doesn't work any more since they messed with the central locking which will effect our insurance.

SLB cars did offer to take the car in and fix it again but as every time it goes in it comes out with something else broke we declined Visa believe under the circumstances that and independent garage should carry out any repair work as SLB have had over 18 days to fix the problem and clearly shown they cant fix it. We are waiting for them to supply us with a new brake light for the one they smashed.

Update

When we bought the car we specifically asked would it pass the MOT with the noisy exhaust on it SLB answered yes, we asked had it been modified and they said no. We now find the car has been decated so it wont pass its MOT and the insurance is invalid because its been modified. Decating gives an extra 10 BHP