£220 Profit On Car Sold For £480

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29956, 18 October 1962, Page 18

£220 Profit On Car Sold For £480

(New Zealand Press Association) NEW PLYMOUTH, October 17. A New Plymouth car salesman whc purchased a car for £260 and sold it for £4BO told the Magistrate’s Court at New Plymouth today that he considered the £220 profit “fair enough.” Giving evidence before Mr A. W. Yortt, S.M., was Paul Francis Uhlenberg, an employee of Fitzroy Car Sales and Wreckers, Ltd.

The Magistrate reserved his decision in a claim against the company by Bruce Rex Mills, who alleged a car he purchased from the firm was fraudulently misrepresented. Mr J. P. Quilliam appeared for Mills and Mr J. R. P. Hora for the firm. John Honnor said he sold the car to the firm for £260 No money was spent on the motor for more than 70,000 miles.

Honnor said he took the money after the manager of the firm, Larry John Koorey, said work would be done on the motor before it was resold. Mills, in evidence, said the price for the car was £450 when he first visited the yard on June 5. He said he wanted a “trouble-free" vehicle and was assured “big money” had been spent on the car. Later Uhlenberg said £5OO was the price of the vehicle, and it was finally agreed that witness would purchase the vehicle for £475. A certified mechanic tested the vehicle and Mills asked Uhlenberg to have some repairs done to it. He paid £lOO deposit and the next day paid a further £3BO cash as the balance. He signed the contract without reading it. Within two months the car needed a valve grind and other mechanical work. Repairs amounted to £35. “Not Keen To Buy” Uhlenberg told Mr Quilliam he knew the vehicle was purchased for only £260. He considered the re-sale price of £4BO “fair enough.” “If that is so why didn't Honnor get a bit more?” the Magistrate asked. “He wanted to sell, and we weren’t particular whether we purchased,” Uhlenberg said.

Uhlenberg denied telling Mills "big money” had been spent on the car or that it had recently had a valve grind. He said Mills' evidence was incorrect. Shown a carbon copy of the contract note, Uhlenberg was unable to say how particulars differed from those on the original copy handed to Mills. The carbon showed Uhlenberg's name and address in carbon print and the price of the car, while the copy of the note handed to Mills had neither. He was unable to explain how the price on the note reached only £470 when the actual price for the vehicle was £4BO.

The Magistrate said it appeared the copy had been altered when it was known a case was to proceed against the company. “The alteration to the carbon copy raises a question of doubt about the matter and also the question of credibility,” the Magistrate told Mr Horn. Koorey told the Magistrate it appeared the docket could have been altered after the sale of the vehicleHe denied any conversation with Mills about “big money” spent on the car when Mills made the purchase. He said he offered to pv half the cost, £6, towards « valve grind when Mills told him this was needed on the vehicle seven weeks after it had been purchased. A booklet tendered by Koorey showed that the January average price for a vehicle, similar to the am brought by Mills, was more than Mills had paid. Koorey agreed with Mr Quilliam that this was the average price all over the North Island.

He said the only reason he managed to buy the oar originally for £260 was because no work had been done on the motor.