An Aberdeen businessman has hit out at the treatment he has received from Peter Vardy after buying his dream car from them in December 2022.
Tiph Gibson, 31, who owns HSS Property Services, bought a second-hand Land Rover Discovery Sport from the Aberdeen branch of Peter Vardy for just over £21,500.
However, his new vehicle was beset with problems from early on and it ended up being in the garage for three months, despite it only being scheduled to be in the Lang Stracht branch of the dealership for “a day or two”.
Mr Gibson was told that a new filter was needed, which then turned into a new engine, however the showroom and garage subsequently closed.
A regular user of Peter Vardy through getting MOTs and services for his business vans and other vehicles, he estimates he has spent an additional £9,000 at the firm since buying the Land Rover.
He describes the treatment he has received at the hands of the car dealership as being a “nightmare” and “depressing”, with the businessman feeling he is helpless to do anything.
Mr Gibson, who lives in the Summerhill area of Aberdeen, threatened to take Peter Vardy to Trading Standards over his treatment and their reaction was to price a new engine, despite the vehicle still being under warranty.
Tiph’s timeline of problems
- December 2022: Bought car.
- October 2023: Told new filter needed at start of October and booked in for October 10 and 11, where he was told it needed a new engine.
- October 10, 2023 to January 29, 2024: Car in garage for more than three months.
- December 2023: Mr Gibson threatened Peter Vardy with Trading Standards.
- January 2024: Offered “compensation” by dealership.
- February 2024: In garage throughout the month.
- April 10, 2024: The car was diagnosed with yet another fault.
- June 10, 2024: Scheduled in to be repaired.
When it was taken into the garage due to having a warning light, he was told that it would be in for two days, however it was in for four months in total.
‘They never fixed it’
He told The P&J: “I got it back at the end of January then, within a day it had to go back. It was in and out throughout February, they never fixed it and said they’d be in touch “next week”, that never came and they closed the branch over that weekend.”
As a resolution to this, Peter Vardy offered Mr Gibson some fuel and to clean the car as a compensation.
However, his ordeal continued, as he explains: “I then had to wait six weeks for Land Rover to look at it.
“Now, I have to pay to have the car fixed, despite the issue having been there, with confirmation from the service manager, since they replaced the engine.”
Since this happened, he has informed both the Motor Ombudsman and Trading Standards of his situation.
The Land Rover is scheduled to get the new engine’s filter replaced on June 10 at Peter Vardy’s Land Rover dealership on Wellington Road, however, Mr Gibson says he is expected to pay half to get it fixed, something he says is “just a heap of rubbish”.
He says that it has come to this as the garage failed to replace individual parts that was causing the vehicle trouble, while it took him two weeks to get a date confirmed for the work to happen.
‘Goodwill’ gesture
Mr Gibson added: “They’ve said it’s not their fault, despite it happening within two weeks of me getting the car in February.
“I am having to pick up half of that repair cost and as a “goodwill” they’re paying the other half.”
A spokeswoman for Peter Vardy said: “We don’t comment on individual customers’ cases.”
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