Owner-driver fights over faulty tractor
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• A Halifax.based owner-driver is threatening to sue the dealer who sold him a £22,500 used tractor which developed faults within days and was off the road for weeks with mechanical faults.
Driver Alan Hans wants 135,000 compensation from the unit's vendor, Abbey Hill Truck Centre in Yeovil, for lost earnings and the loss of his business, after his unit was in their workshops for two weeks.
A spokesman for Abbey Hill says his firm offered to pay for the hire of a replacement tractor unit when it became apparent that the repairs would take longer than the agreed time. He says Hans declined the offer as his mother was ill but Hans denies this offer was ever made.
Hans says that when he bought the G-registration Iveco TurboStar the cab heater was not working and it overheated on hills. He had already contracted to take a load to Spain and says Abbey Hill promised to give it a full service when he returned.
On the way down Hans says the truck was overheating and he was forced to stop in Burgos, northern Spain, for two days while the local dealer tried to rectify the problem.
When Hans returned to England he took the tractor back to Abbey Hill who stripped it down for repair.
Two weeks later the truck was returned and, according to Hans, was still not running correctly. Hans says he lost contracts to deliver fruit from Spain and was still paying insurance premiums and trailer hire of £260 per week.
The company is investigating the case; if it is found to have acted unfairly it will be prepared to pay compensation.