Northampton used car dealership closes down with just 15 cars left on the forecourt

SJN Motors in Harlestone Road, Duston, officially closed at 11.30am today (Wednesday) with 15 cars left unsold on the forecourt.

Staff from Business Recovery and Insolvency are currently at the dealership, which sits on four acres of land, working with representatives of the company.

"This has been a difficult year for us, along with the rest of retail, and we found out our site was being knocked down to become a school, I believe," a spokesman for the owners, who took over in 2013, said.

"We were unable to secure another site.

"We were going to stay but we were advised there was a deal to knock it down."

The spokesman added the company had known about the closure for the past three weeks at which point SJN staff stopped selling the in-house warranty.

People who had previously agreed to the warranty have been told that it is now void.

The spokesman said those people may be able to submit a claim to BRI (Business Recovery and Insolvency) if needed.

"Some people will lose out on a warranty but most people will be looked after," he said.

A customer, who purchased a vehicle from SJN earlier this year, said she had been forced to return the car numerous times to the garage with ongoing issues.

The car was still in the hands of the garage, which had taken it in again to be fixed, when the customer spotted rumours circulating on social media that SJN garage was closing.

She visited the garage this morning and was told they were closing today.

The customer, who did not want to be named, said: "The girl on the desk said they are having to tell customers their warranty is void and they can't do any work on it.

"She said they were supposed to close in November, then it was October, then the end of the week and then found out it was today."