'Lucky to be alive' - 11 horror stories from car buyers conned by Birmingham family

Car buyers from all around the country were swindled by a Birmingham family who sold dangerous and unroadworthy vehicles. Some of the customers were told by mechanics they were lucky to be alive after driving 'deathtraps' home.

Sajad Hamid, aged 46 and his partner Aisah Rashid, 37, were this month found guilty of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering for their involvement in the 'dishonest scheme', which ran between 2018 and 2021. Their son Mohammed Sajad, in his 20s, is already behind bars having been sentenced to two years and 11 months in 2023 after admitting the charges.

The family used fake names such as 'Adam' and 'James', as well as bogus businesses and addresses, as they uploaded misleading adverts to the likes of Facebook Marketplace, eBay, Gumtree and Auto Trader. Buyers quickly realised with horror they had not bought the 'stunning' motors they had been promised.

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In some cases they received completely different vehicles altogether. Below we have summarised the nightmare stories of customers conned by the family.

£3,000 Mini headache

In May 2018 a woman purchased a Mini after seeing it advertised on Auto Trader. She went to view it at the family's address in Vibart Road in Yardley and paid £2,900 in cash for it.

When she returned home the next day she noticed the car kept losing power and there were difficulties using the clutch. Her husband opened the bonnet to discover the airing pipe was broken and there was oil around the turbo.

A Mini dealership confirmed the vehicle needed a new clutch costing £3,000. The woman contacted the seller, who called himself 'Adam', but he was not interested in helping. Upon realising she had been conned she searched the defendants' phone number on websites and noticed a host of other vehicles for sale.

Structural damage as a result of a crash

In May 2019 a man paid more than £2,300 for a Toyota Avensis advertised as a 'bargain' on eBay. The customer then performed an online check which revealed it was a category S, meaning it had sustained structural damage as a result of a crash.

He tried to cancel the deal but the seller, again called 'Adam', delivered it anyway. The spare key provided was for another car and there was no spare tyre or owner's manual.

A further online check confirmed there was outstanding finance against the car. It transpired the service book provided was also a fake.

Window held together by a piece of wood

In July 2019 a lady bought a Skoda for more than £1,000 which had been advertised on Gumtree. It was supposedly in 'stunning condition' and in good working order.

She turned up at Vibart Road to find the air conditioning did not work, but Adam told her it was fine and it was just a hot day. As she drove away she noticed the front window did not work. She returned to the address and Adam told her it was just a fuse which she could get from Halfords.

Upon visiting the store a member of staff found the whole window mechanism was missing and the window was being held in place by a piece of wood. She demanded a refund but Adam refused, saying cars under £1,500 were 'sold as seen' and unroadworthy.

He sent her an advert for the vehicle stating it was being offered for spare parts, but it was actually for a different car than the one she purchased. The service book he provided was bogus and contained forged entries from a garage which had gone out of business 15 years earlier.

The lady had part-exchanged her own Skoda for £100 for the one she bought from Adam. She later noticed it advertised online with a number of false claims about it.

Timebomb on wheels

In March 2020 a man from Lancashire bought a Ford Ka from the family for £900. When he drove home he noticed the petrol tank was rusty and corroded.

He took it to a garage where a mechanic told him he was 'lucky to be alive' because the car could have 'blown up at any time'. The man was forced to walk home because of the dangerous state it was in.

There were multiple holes in the floor of the vehicle which had been covered with body filler. The cills under the doors were rotten and the fuel tank needed replacement. The buyer was told to scrap it.

He contacted the seller, this time calling himself 'James', who rejected his claims and stated cars for under £1,000 came with no warranty and were unroadworthy. The car had been described in the advert as an 'exemplary Ford Ka'. In reality it was a 'timebomb on wheels'.

'Oh well'

In November 2020 a woman paid over £5,200 for a Land Rover Discovery which was described as 'top spec' in the advert. But she received a different vehicle altogether.

When the customer messaged the buyer he replied 'oh well' and later told her it was 'sold as seen'. The Land Rover had a number of faults and when she took it to her local garage they refused to let her drive it home because it was a 'deathtrap'.

Used tissues

A man shelled out £11,000 for a Mercedes Benz described as being in 'absolute mint condition' by Adam who also claimed the back seats had never been sat in. But when it was delivered it was 'filthy' with damaged alloy wheels, scratched paintwork and tyres well below the legal tread depth.

Inside were used tissues and water bottles. The buyer contacted Adam who was abusive and then passed the phone to another man who threatened to take the customer to court. It transpired the Mercedes was not fit to pass an MoT.

'Fix it yourself'

A couple transferred more than £3,000 to the family for a supposedly 'stunning' Volvo estate only to be told it was no longer available. They were offered another Volvo for an extra £300 which turned out to have brakes in poor condition, faulty central locking and wheel nuts rusted to the hubs.

The couple demanded a refund but they were told to fix the problems themselves while their further attempts at contact were ignored.

'Tough luck'

In January 2021 a man paid £4,250 for a Land Rover Discovery but when he got home he noticed the main frame was severely corroded after trying to attach a trailer to it. He contacted the seller but was told 'tough luck'.

Staff at a garage told the man if he had attached a trailer it could have had 'catastrophic consequences', including serious injury to anyone inside, as well as other nearby road users. When he tried to contact the family he realised he had been given a bogus address.

41 faults

Another couple purchased a Land Rover Discovery for £4,250 in January 2021. After it was delivered they found it kept going into 'limp mode' which activates when the engine or transmission control detects faults.

Diagnostic tests at a local garage revealed the car had in fact got 41 faults. A number of expensive parts had to be replaced including the exhaust crossover pipe, while rust and corrosion to parts of the vehicle rendered it unroadworthy until repaired. The couple were given a fake address from the buyer and then had the phone put down on them when they called.

'What do you expect for £4,500?'

Also in January 2021 a man transferred £4,500 for a Land Rover Discovery advertised on Facebook Marketplace as 'stunning', with a full service history and MoT. The seller also told him it was 'immaculate inside and outside'.

The man's requests for more photographs of the car were ignored. The Land Rover was delivered to him in the dark but he could see with a torch that it was nothing like it had been described.

The buyer asked for a refund but the seller said 'what do you expect for £4,500?' before thanking him for his custom, putting the phone down and blocking his number.

'Wreck'

A woman paid £4,250 for an 'absolutely stunning' Land Rover Discovery from the family in early 2021 after seeing it on eBay. But after it was delivered she discovered it was a 'wreck'.

The hill descent control was faulty, the satellite navigation system did not work, the paintwork was marked, the leather seats were ripped, the interior was mouldy and damaged and the tyres were bald. One of the keys provided was for a different car.

The woman's attempts to contact the family were ignored. Hamid and Rashid are due to be sentenced on January 17 next year.