I have contacted Consumer Direct how seem to have now taken over from Trading Standards, they were unable to help other than saying I should proceed through the small claims court. This is fine but I have no job, sold my car to buy this one and have a disabled son who I now cannot see as he isn't allowed on public transport. Going through the courts I'm unlikely to see my money for a very long time.

ok, I will keep this brief. Last month I purchased a car form a homed based motor dealer. I have the green tear off slip, the MOT certificate and a receipt. The day after buying the car (first time driving in daylight down a hill) the car was producing huge amounts of blue smoke. I returned the car to the dealer for an inspection - he was having his mechanic check the car and agree an amount to put towards repairs. The car contained a new hifi unit, the tax disk I had purchased and a full tank of fuel as well as a few bits in the boot. 3 days later and the dealer said he couldn't find anything wrong and was going away for a few days and would take the car to see how it drove (250 mile round trip on my fuel) He then said that it was producing some smoke. He then said my best bet was to auction the car or that he could find a buyer for me through the trade as he couldn't afford to give me a refund. Things went on for 2 more weeks with him disappearing for 10 days in business. I asked him to return the car and he said he had found a buyer. I asked him to give me details and then the next thing is he has sold the car and accepted a cheque - he was supposed to find a buyer to buy the car from me as I still have all the paperwork. Online MOT database shows that engine was producing blue smoke at last MOT - he stated that he had checked all cars on this database before selling so he was clearly aware of the engine problem. A check with DVLA says that the he sold the car to another party the day that he dropped it off with him for an inspection. To date he has offered no refund, refused to return the car or my property. The police say he hasn't committed a crime and that if he wanted to sell may car to someone else then he can do that. I asked them to clarify this and according to them even if you just take your car to a dealer for a service and they sell it there are no criminal charges that can be bought - only civil. One last thing - DVLA told me that if the V5C that the dealer retained (which we filled in together) had been amended to show another owner then the person who was originally on the document would have to be contacted before a new V5C can be sent out - this didn't happen. This suggests that the dealer had another copy of the V5C. Anyone got any ideas?? The dealer refuses to take my calls, has sold at least another 6 cars since mine, all of similar value but refused to offer one as a replacement. He says I can take him to court and he'll pay me a pound a week.