A used-car dealer found to have misrepresented the mileage of a vehicle it sold last year had been ordered by the court to buy it back and compensate the buyer. But three months after the judgment, Performance Carz, which operates in Ubi Road 1, has not done so.

Now, buyer Y.C. Kua, a company director, is obtaining a writ to seize the dealer's assets. "It has been the most frustrating 18 months... Even now that the court has ruled that Performance Carz has indeed misrepresented and has made the award in my favour, the errant dealer is refusing to pay up," he said. "It makes you wonder if there ever will be a deterrent to stop unscrupulous second-hand car dealers from tampering with the odometer."