:00:00. > :00:14.You're watching X-Ray, the programme that fights for your rights.
:00:15. > :00:20.If you've been scammed or dealt a raw deal, we are on your side.
:00:21. > :00:23.Exposing the truth and tracking down the rogues and we won't take no for
:00:24. > :00:33.an answer. The roadside car dealer taking
:00:34. > :00:40.his customers for a ride. With this, it hasn't been
:00:41. > :00:42.in any sort of accident? We go undercover to expose
:00:43. > :00:48.the man selling write offs to The brand new house with
:00:49. > :00:58.a hidden problem. It's so upsetting because this
:00:59. > :01:01.should have been our family home. Rhod's been checking out ways to
:01:02. > :01:09.save cash Rachel's on the trail of a Cardiff
:01:10. > :01:20.car dealer who's eager to sell you a set of wheels but far less keen
:01:21. > :01:27.on customer rights. When it comes to sales patter,
:01:28. > :01:30.second-hand car dealers have some But sometimes,
:01:31. > :01:35.it's what they don't tell you that really counts, like accident
:01:36. > :01:40.history, is the car a write off? And what sort of service you can
:01:41. > :01:44.expect from them if things go wrong? One trader who likes to keep
:01:45. > :01:47.his customers in the dark, Catherine Morgan was tempted
:01:48. > :01:55.by one of his ads on Gumtree, I just got chatting to him and asked
:01:56. > :02:03.him if he did it as a one-off or He said his friend did them up,
:02:04. > :02:09.and he sold them on. She soon discovered that Dale
:02:10. > :02:11.doesn't bother with having No, the cars he sells are parked up
:02:12. > :02:16.right here, It was good.
:02:17. > :02:23.It felt like a really nice car. I met Dale
:02:24. > :02:26.and Dale was really personable. Really,
:02:27. > :02:31.I had a good feeling about it. Catherine handed over more than
:02:32. > :02:34.?2,000 but, within a fortnight, the car started making
:02:35. > :02:40.a high-pitched noise. The squeal was just so persistent
:02:41. > :02:44.and horrible, and I think I was also very nervous because the gear
:02:45. > :02:46.wasn't going into reverse, or you I was nervous that
:02:47. > :02:54.if I was driving at speed Catherine decided to check her car's
:02:55. > :03:00.history online and, to her horror, Something she says
:03:01. > :03:07.Dale Carr never mentioned. It's what's called a Category D
:03:08. > :03:10.write-off, meaning the insurance company decided it didn't make
:03:11. > :03:14.financial sense to repair it. She wrote to Dale Carr twice,
:03:15. > :03:20.demanding her money back, Now she's terrified her accident
:03:21. > :03:32.damaged-car could be dangerous. To find out just what state it's in,
:03:33. > :03:35.we called in expert vehicle inspector
:03:36. > :03:41.Gareth Rees to check it over. Right, Catherine, we have got some
:03:42. > :03:45.serious issues with this vehicle. Just
:03:46. > :03:49.behind you there we have a split chassis section and it's within 30cm
:03:50. > :03:54.of a load-bearing joint, so that's Here we can see serious distortion
:03:55. > :04:02.and an attempted repair. It's had severe impact damage
:04:03. > :04:04.and it's twisted And certainly back here we have got
:04:05. > :04:13.a suspension-retaining bolt, which is starting to cut
:04:14. > :04:15.into the sub-frame, the whole So that, in my opinion,
:04:16. > :04:23.in dangerous. Gareth's verdict is damning,
:04:24. > :04:29.so where does that leave Catherine? By using this car on the road, you
:04:30. > :04:33.are not only putting yourself at risk but other road users as well,
:04:34. > :04:36.so my advice to you is that you I didn't realise it
:04:37. > :04:40.was that dangerous. So not just a write-off
:04:41. > :04:47.but seriously dangerous. I think it's time to do
:04:48. > :04:51.some digging on Dale Carr. We find ten recent adverts online,
:04:52. > :04:54.from Dale Carr and his business All are described as private sales,
:04:55. > :05:03.which simply isn't true. When we checked, we were in
:05:04. > :05:06.for a shock because all ten of those Five are the least serious
:05:07. > :05:12.Category D write-offs, Four are Category C -
:05:13. > :05:18.repairing them would cost more than And one is
:05:19. > :05:23.a far more serious Category B. By law, it should have been scrapped
:05:24. > :05:29.or broken up for spare parts. It's sustained damage that would
:05:30. > :05:34.necessitate that the frame Later in the programme,
:05:35. > :05:41.we go undercover to see for ourselves exactly what
:05:42. > :05:46.Dale Carr tells his customers. Say with this,
:05:47. > :05:49.if something went wrong. I won't give no warranty on it but
:05:50. > :05:52.nothing's going to happen like that. And if you're thinking
:05:53. > :06:03.of buying a second-hand car, there are plenty of things you can
:06:04. > :06:06.do to check before you buy. For just a couple of pounds you can
:06:07. > :06:10.carry out an HPI check which will tell you if a car has been written
:06:11. > :06:14.off or if it has finance on it. And, last month,
:06:15. > :06:16.the Government launched a brand new All you have to do is enter
:06:17. > :06:22.a car make and registration number and you'll instantly see its MOT
:06:23. > :06:25.history and if it's ever failed You can also check
:06:26. > :06:34.the mileage to see if its genuine. So it could save you a lot
:06:35. > :06:36.of hassle. The website address is
:06:37. > :06:38.on the screen now. We'll also put the details
:06:39. > :06:44.on our website. The Carmarthenshire couple
:06:45. > :06:46.whose plans for a big family Ah!
:06:47. > :06:54.Wow! These are the two pipes that
:06:55. > :06:58.our actually in our garden. And if you need our help give us
:06:59. > :07:10.a call 03703 334 334. Now, when it comes to household
:07:11. > :07:13.expenses, you'd expect to fork out to heat your home or fill up
:07:14. > :07:19.your car but it seems lots of people are also feeling the pinch when it
:07:20. > :07:22.comes to using their printer. We set Rhod a challenge, to check
:07:23. > :07:33.out those costly cartridges. Crikey, better not forget that one
:07:34. > :07:36.but what can you get And she's already got
:07:37. > :07:47.the designer perfume. And, this year,
:07:48. > :07:50.I'm really pushing the boat out, Don't worry, I haven't suffered
:07:51. > :08:03.a technical malfunction. I'll re-think
:08:04. > :08:04.the anniversary present. Believe it or not, drop for drop,
:08:05. > :08:11.you're looking at ?150 a litre for Dom Perignon, ?960 a litre for
:08:12. > :08:18.Chanel No 5 but a whopping ?1,700 a litre for standard black ink from
:08:19. > :08:26.one of the leading manufacturers. Mum Bev Reed
:08:27. > :08:30.from Newport runs a chocolate making business and that means printing
:08:31. > :08:33.a lot of flyers and menus. How much would you say you spend
:08:34. > :08:37.on it? In a month, on cartridges, does one
:08:38. > :08:41.batch last you the whole month? It varies depending
:08:42. > :08:43.on how much printing I am doing. If I'm printing full colour then
:08:44. > :08:46.it's going to be like ?40 a month, So are printer inks just
:08:47. > :08:55.a licence to print money? We're going to test two of
:08:56. > :09:05.the most popular budget printers. A nifty little Canon Pixma,
:09:06. > :09:09.which costs ?25 and an Epson Both manufacturers recommend you
:09:10. > :09:20.only print with their pricey inks. To buy a new set of black
:09:21. > :09:23.and colour cartridges for the Canon, That's only ?4 cheaper than
:09:24. > :09:30.the printer! And to buy new Epson-branded
:09:31. > :09:32.cartridges, That's just ?8 less than
:09:33. > :09:40.the printer. But there is one way to
:09:41. > :09:45.save yourself some cash. You can buy remanufactured
:09:46. > :09:49.cartridges, recycled casings We bought a set for the Canon
:09:50. > :09:57.for ?13.95. And other companies make
:09:58. > :10:00.cheaper alternatives too. So we're trying some for the Epson
:10:01. > :10:04.which cost just ?5.51. Time to find out how many
:10:05. > :10:11.pages you get for your pound. Using the official industry test,
:10:12. > :10:15.we're going to compare branded and unbranded cartridges to see how
:10:16. > :10:18.long they last and While they whir away,
:10:19. > :10:26.I'm off to meet a man who knows Now buying branded ink,
:10:27. > :10:31.does that mean you actually get Yes, it does, in my opinion,
:10:32. > :10:38.but if it's printing everyday things like letters and reports and things
:10:39. > :10:40.like that, you're probably not going Some manufacturers warn that
:10:41. > :10:46.unbranded inks can damage your printer but, if that happened,
:10:47. > :10:49.it could almost be cheaper to When you're buying the printer,
:10:50. > :10:55.don't just take the headline cost of the machine itself but look at the
:10:56. > :10:59.cost of running it on the inks as well, how much the cartridges are
:11:00. > :11:02.and work out how much it is going to Both of our colour printers have
:11:03. > :11:09.been busy all day, Using
:11:10. > :11:16.the branded ink we got 185 pages. We only got 137 pages
:11:17. > :11:23.from the remanufactured cartridges. But because they're cheaper,
:11:24. > :11:25.the cost was still lower, Using the branded provider we got
:11:26. > :11:40.171 pages, making it 14p per sheet. But with the cheaper alternative we
:11:41. > :11:47.got a whopping 351 pages, But here's the real test -
:11:48. > :11:55.can we convince Bev to switch? I have got the result here
:11:56. > :11:58.of our test, now one of these has been printed
:11:59. > :12:01.using a branded ink cartridge, the Have a good little look,
:12:02. > :12:07.which is which? I would say that's the branded
:12:08. > :12:09.and that's the unbranded. Because the colour is
:12:10. > :12:14.a lot brighter on this one. Well,
:12:15. > :12:16.you have actually chosen the cheaper So looking at these results,
:12:17. > :12:24.could you be tempted now to go I certainly think so, looking
:12:25. > :12:31.on those results, definitely. We asked the companies why
:12:32. > :12:37.their cartridges cost so much. Canon told us they work hard to keep
:12:38. > :12:41.costs down and customers who print a lot can buy extra large inks with
:12:42. > :12:47.a higher yield. But Epson, whose ink worked out
:12:48. > :12:49.nine times more expensive than the Now, it's Bonfire night on Thursday
:12:50. > :13:02.and here in Bangor, and across Wales, people are
:13:03. > :13:04.stocking up on fireworks. Well, Geraint Hughes is from
:13:05. > :13:08.North Wales Fire service. The problem, Lucy, is this time of
:13:09. > :13:16.year people are obviously wanting to purchse fireworks for Bonfire night
:13:17. > :13:20.and out on the market there are cheap imported fireworks which don't
:13:21. > :13:22.meet the current standards and which can cause a risk to
:13:23. > :13:26.the people who use them. So how can you tell the difference
:13:27. > :13:29.between a genuine good-quality Well, I've got a couple
:13:30. > :13:35.of packets of genuine fireworks here, Lucy, you can see they are
:13:36. > :13:38.contained within a pack, one thing people can be looking at,
:13:39. > :13:41.they're buying them as a pack. Secondly, there should be
:13:42. > :13:44.instructions on the back of the firework, how to use it and the
:13:45. > :13:48.instructions are written in English. More importantly, there should be
:13:49. > :13:50.some indication that it meets the standard, in this instance it
:13:51. > :13:52.clearly displays the certification, the CE mark or the British Standard
:13:53. > :13:56.is displayed on the firework. And where are these fake
:13:57. > :14:01.fireworks being sold? Unfortunately, there is evidence
:14:02. > :14:05.that fake ones are being sold out of the backs of vans, for example,
:14:06. > :14:11.or you may have retailers opening up in the period leading up to bonfire
:14:12. > :14:14.night that sell fireworks and selling them cheaply,
:14:15. > :14:16.which should give a suggestion that And how dangerous
:14:17. > :14:21.can these fakes be? The risk, with a fake firework,
:14:22. > :14:24.is that firework could go off at any time and shower an
:14:25. > :14:29.individual with burning particles, it can lead to some serious
:14:30. > :14:32.injuries and potentially be fatal. If you have to have fireworks
:14:33. > :14:35.at home, ensure you buy from reputable dealer and ensure that you
:14:36. > :14:39.follow the advice on the box. And if you're concerned
:14:40. > :14:45.about fireworks you may have bought, or you've seen any dubious ones
:14:46. > :14:48.for sale, get in touch with your local Trading Standards
:14:49. > :14:51.department or Crimestoppers. Next,
:14:52. > :14:53.Rachel's been to Carmarthenshire where a new house had an unwelcome
:14:54. > :15:10.surprise for its owners. and when developer Haywood Homes
:15:11. > :15:12.built some smart new houses on the edge of town, Phil and Victoria
:15:13. > :15:15.Ashley were eager to look around. A lot of the estates that we know
:15:16. > :15:20.of are sort of crammed together, With three children,
:15:21. > :15:24.the Ashleys were looking for large At ?200,000, it was the most
:15:25. > :15:32.expensive house on the estate. The house is actually
:15:33. > :15:39.on such a large plot, obviously the It was, you know,
:15:40. > :15:43.the fact we could make the house bigger and, obviously,
:15:44. > :15:48.extend to the size of our family. What was the vision then
:15:49. > :15:51.for this massive plot? Well, long-term we would have had
:15:52. > :15:56.two rooms on the top and the bottom, They even discussed their dreams
:15:57. > :16:06.with the owner of Haywood Homes. We actually had
:16:07. > :16:08.a meeting here with Mr Haywood and explained our intentions for the
:16:09. > :16:14.future, why it was ideal for us and So he thought it would be
:16:15. > :16:20.a good idea? He said, fantastic,
:16:21. > :16:23.it would look stunning. But they had no idea that lurking
:16:24. > :16:30.beneath their lovely new home. It was a problem which only surfaced
:16:31. > :16:38.months after buying their house, when Haywood Homes sent Phil
:16:39. > :16:42.and Victoria a copy of their plans. It stated that there was pipes
:16:43. > :16:49.in the garden. Not just pipes,
:16:50. > :16:53.they were massive surface-water One of their neighbours took
:16:54. > :16:59.photos during the build, which These are the two pipes that
:17:00. > :17:06.are actually in our garden. They are that big that you
:17:07. > :17:13.could walk through them. There's another photograph
:17:14. > :17:14.and they're massive, Phil and Victoria were furious
:17:15. > :17:23.that the developers had never This is the information hand book
:17:24. > :17:31.that was supplied by Haywood Homes and, if we look through it,
:17:32. > :17:35.it asks about any adverse rights, easements or any cables wires or
:17:36. > :17:42.pipes and the answer is no. Yeah, in black and white it
:17:43. > :17:47.tells you there are none. And the big pipes meant
:17:48. > :18:00.another big problem. Phil and Victoria signed a deed of
:18:01. > :18:02.easement allowing the council to access the garden.
:18:03. > :18:05.The worst thing was, nothing could be built on top of them.
:18:06. > :18:08.It was the end of their dream to extend their home.
:18:09. > :18:09.Haywood Homes say the Ashley's only mentioned
:18:10. > :18:13.an extension after they bought the house but the couple dispute this.
:18:14. > :18:21.If we knew then that the pipes were there, we wouldn't
:18:22. > :18:25.When they complained, the developers said it was
:18:26. > :18:27.the couple's solicitor's fault for not conducting proper searches.
:18:28. > :18:35.I just hope they have the decency to try and resolve this.
:18:36. > :18:40.Because that's all we've wanted, we haven't wanted anything else.
:18:41. > :18:47.Feeling they were getting nowhere, the Ashleys took their case to
:18:48. > :18:53.The ombudsman ruled in the couple's favour.
:18:54. > :18:56.They agreed that, because Haywood Homes hadn't told them about the
:18:57. > :19:01.But the ruling wasn't legally binding and Haywood Homes have
:19:02. > :19:07.It's now been six years since the Ashleys bought
:19:08. > :19:10.their house and they're still not living in it because it's not big
:19:11. > :19:19.And they fear the giant pipes could make it almost impossible to sell.
:19:20. > :19:23.It's so upsetting because this should have been our family home.
:19:24. > :19:30.Well, Haywood Homes have told us the Ashleys' situation is 'regrettable'.
:19:31. > :19:34.They admit their information handbook was written three years
:19:35. > :19:38.before the couple bought their house and it hadn't been
:19:39. > :19:41.updated to show the drains, but say it also clearly states that
:19:42. > :19:49.They also say the couple didn't tell Mr Haywood about the plans for the
:19:50. > :19:55.Haywood Homes say plans showing the drains were on display
:19:56. > :19:59.at the site office, and the onus was on the couple and their solicitors
:20:00. > :20:06.The Ashleys insist they did do this though, and the legal
:20:07. > :20:12.As for compensation, Haywood Homes aren't offering any,
:20:13. > :20:15.they say they will help the Ashleys explore the option of building
:20:16. > :20:18.an extension on a different part of the house, but the couple say
:20:19. > :20:29.Now, back to our investigation into a dealer selling cars
:20:30. > :20:37.Dale Carr, yes that is his name, is a dealer who advertises cars online
:20:38. > :20:45.He doesn't have a forecourt or anything boring like that, instead
:20:46. > :20:51.he parks up his cars beside this lake in Cardiff, and invites people
:20:52. > :20:57.Catherine Morgan fell for his sales pitch, but he failed
:20:58. > :21:03.to tell her that her Nissan Micra had been badly damaged in a crash.
:21:04. > :21:06.I'm just angry more than anything, that he was potentially putting
:21:07. > :21:10.Mr Carr seems to specialise in selling write offs which,
:21:11. > :21:15.as a trader, he must disclose to his customers.
:21:16. > :21:20.Time to find out exactly what Dale Carr tells people about his cars.
:21:21. > :21:25.Our researchers call him up posing as customers.
:21:26. > :21:29.They ask him about the history of several cars we know are write
:21:30. > :21:35.So, our researchers arrange to meet him face to face
:21:36. > :21:43.In his adverts, Dale had claimed to be a private seller,
:21:44. > :21:47.but he soon admits he's a builder who sells cars as a sideline.
:21:48. > :21:53.And he parks them here because a garage would cost too much.
:21:54. > :22:09.One of the cars Dale is selling, this Ford Fiesta, is a category B
:22:10. > :22:13.write off and is showing up on checks as having been scrapped.
:22:14. > :22:30.But what would Dale tell our researchers about it?
:22:31. > :22:36.A few days before passing its MOT, the car had failed because of
:22:37. > :22:40.damage to its structure which had seriously affected its strength.
:22:41. > :22:47.We then asked Dale where we'd stand if anything went wrong with
:22:48. > :23:00.I won't give no warranty on it but nothing's going to happen like that.
:23:01. > :23:05.So, any problems with our accident damaged car, and we're on our own.
:23:06. > :23:07.A clear breach of the law for a dealer,
:23:08. > :23:13.He's a trader and there are obligations that flow
:23:14. > :23:18.from that, he's claiming he will not accept goods once they are sold,
:23:19. > :23:21.he is in clear breach of his obligations as imposed
:23:22. > :23:32.Dale then shows us a blue Fiesta, which we know is a less serious
:23:33. > :23:36.But when we ask about its accident history, he tells
:23:37. > :24:04.Not checking a vehicle's history before selling it is another
:24:05. > :24:10.He has a duty under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading
:24:11. > :24:14.Regulations to exercise professional diligence, each car that is being
:24:15. > :24:18.sold for use you would expect it to be safe and so some basic checks
:24:19. > :24:21.about the history of a vehicle would be entirely
:24:22. > :24:28.Our researcher then asks Dale whether he'll be getting any more
:24:29. > :24:48.I wonder if it could it be this one, which we saw on a recovery truck,
:24:49. > :24:54.Looks like more than a bit of wing mirror damage to me.
:24:55. > :24:56.Some of the laws Dale seems to be ignoring
:24:57. > :25:01.They are matters that can go to the Crown Court
:25:02. > :25:06.and are imprisonable up to a maximum sentence of two years..and
:25:07. > :25:10.also can be subject to an unlimited fine or both.
:25:11. > :25:13.We asked Dale Carr to explain his actions, but he didn't admit to
:25:14. > :25:19.He claimed there was a 'mix up' with the Category B Fiesta,
:25:20. > :25:22.but there was 'no harm done' as he's now taken it off the market.
:25:23. > :25:28.He also said his cars have new MOTs and are roadworthy.
:25:29. > :25:31.But Dale didn't explain why, even though he's a dealer,
:25:32. > :25:35.he fails to tell his customers they're buying write offs which they
:25:36. > :25:50.So we've been parked up outside Dale Carr's home all morning,
:25:51. > :25:55.we were hoping to catch him before he went out to work.
:25:56. > :25:58.There's been no sign of him up until now, so the decision is we're
:25:59. > :26:12.No sign of life because the curtains are closed.
:26:13. > :26:14.Hi there, is it possible to speak to Dale Carr?
:26:15. > :26:17.We've been here since pretty early and he's not left.
:26:18. > :26:23.Okay, so we understand that that is his home address, but the lady who
:26:24. > :26:27.answered the door, could be partner, is telling us he's not available to
:26:28. > :26:36.So no real answers there, but his cars are still for sale, though.
:26:37. > :26:40.He may not be prepared to tell you the true accident history
:26:41. > :26:49.This one was written off as a Category C in June.
:26:50. > :26:52.And this another Category C write off.
:26:53. > :27:03.Now you know exactly what you're getting when you buy from Dale Carr.
:27:04. > :27:09.And we get lots of complaints from people who've had about
:27:10. > :27:15.So straight after the programme, vehicle expert Gareth Rees will
:27:16. > :27:18.doing a live advice chat on the BBC Cymru Wales Facebook page,
:27:19. > :27:27.So if you want his advice on the dos and don'ts of buying a car, and the
:27:28. > :27:31.warning signs to look out for, send him a message before 8.30pm tonight.
:27:32. > :27:35.And remember, please don't mention any company names.
:27:36. > :27:42.And that's it for this week, but remember we're here to help you,
:27:43. > :27:59.Next week Beryl is a seasoned traveller but when she had to chair
:28:00. > :28:09.an airline with a complete stranger she was lost for words. They said,
:28:10. > :28:12.sorry, we've only got one bedroom. They said, sorry, we've only got one