Car dealers cleared of misleading mileage charge

Two directors of a Dublin car dealership have been cleared of a misleading mileage charge.

Colin Molloy of Curragh Hall Road, Tyrrelstown, Dublin, and Robert Molloy (above) of Cappaghmore in Clondalkin, Dublin, had pleaded not guilty to breaching the Consumer Protection Act by misleading a buyer about the mileage of a 2003 Audi A6.

It was alleged false information and mileage was provided on the car’s history at the N3 Autolink premises on the Ratoath Road, Hollystown, Dublin.

The prosecution at Dublin District Court was brought by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.

The court heard the car had been imported from Britain and where its latest MOT records, in 2012, showed it had 213,000 miles on the clock.

The court was told a couple bought the car at the defendants' premises in 2013 and the mileage then read 93,000. They paid €6,000 along with trading in their Toyota Avensis. The low mileage for a car that age was the reason they bought it, Judge John O'Neill heard.

Defence counsel Martin Dully objected to the admissibility of the evidence the prosecution relied on and which was obtained from UK authorities.

Judge O’Neill dismissed the case against both defendants.