Britain’s ‘unluckiest driver’ wastes £20k on dodgy vehicles by making one mistake

Britain’s most unfortunate car buyer has issued a warning about using Facebook Marketplace after shelling out nearly £20,000 on seven vehicles in just nine months.

Osman Malik, 45, found himself having to purchase a new car almost every month this year after falling victim to scams twice and ending up with a series of unreliable cars. The pharmacist unwittingly bought a Mini with cloned plates, while one Honda broke down on the motorway within hours and another barely lasted a week.

He has so far splashed out £16,750 in just nine months due to a streak of bad luck that saw him buying a series of faulty cars. The father-of-two is now advising second-hand car buyers to steer clear of Facebook Marketplace, which he likens to “the Wild West”.

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Osman, from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, said: “I don’t think most people own eight cars in their lifetime, let alone in a few months. It’s partly down to me being scammed online and partly me being stupid – but I’ve certainly had some rotten luck along the way.”

Osman’s string of bad luck started when his reliable Honda Accord was written off in a car accident last December. He began scouring Facebook Marketplace and Autotrader for a dependable replacement before settling on a VW Golf for £2,000.

However, he later discovered the roof lining was dramatically sagging and required urgent repair, so he traded it in for a Land Rover Freelander in January. But, just two weeks later, the car broke down. A mechanic discovered sand in the oil sump and it had to be scrapped.

Osman then shelled out £1,300 for a VW Passat in February, only to find it had a cracked windscreen, side panel damage and warning lights all over the dashboard. A buyer purchased the car despite its known faults, enabling Osman to buy a Mini One for £1,000 in April.

But three weeks later, he was stunned to receive a bus lane fine from Manchester, even though he was at home in bed at the time. The plates had been cloned and put onto a similar colour mini, but Osman successfully appealed when he pointed out his had a different colour roof.

Fearing further trouble, Osman sold his Mini and bought a BMW 1 series for £1,000. He then discovered it needed bodywork repairs and a £500 key replacement, so he sold that and bought another Honda Accord for £850 in August.

But he was forced to scrap that too after it broke down on the motorway just hours after buying it. He has now settled for a Citroen DS4, which he paid £9,000 on finance for after finally listening to his wife Maria and going direct to a car dealer.

“Basically, don’t use marketplace for buying cars, it’s like the Wild West,” he warned.

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