SG: Family and dealer in car tussle

Mr David Peh, owner of Fivespeed Motor Trading, was approached by the Tan family duo of Tan Tiong Chuang, 46, and his nephew, Andrew, 28, for a loan to renew the COE of their decade old Mercedes-Benz SL350. As Tan Tiong Chuang was jobless at the time of the incident, they had plans to transfer the title to Andrew Tan. However, as they were unable to acquire the appropriate insurance coverage for the 28 year old to renew the COE of the car, they made the decision to temporarily transfer the title to the dealer to let him renew the car’s COE instead. The Tans trusted Mr Peh to transfer the title back to their name post-COE Malarky. However, that is not to be, for after repeated requests for over 3 months, Peh did not transfer the title back. It got so bad, that Peh went to the Tan’s condominium in Bukit Batok and had the car towed. Peh claims the Tans sold the SL to him in October for $30,000, before agreeing to buy back the car in November for $129,000. When all is said and done, the Tans had to pay $20,000 for the car. They only paid about 25% of that, and thus, Peh repossessed the car.  The case has morphed into a legal battle, with Peh suing the Tans for $81,400.