Cunning car dealers are exploiting loopholes in the law to drum up sales, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

Some dealers are bending the rules on drivers having to sell their current vehicle before getting another.

For they are taking the customer's car as a trade-in, registering it to a member of staff as a private sale then selling it off.

And some service station operators are turning part of their forecourt into used car lots, breaching strict rules on commercial used car sales.

At least two gas stations on the Island have cars with "For Sale'' stickers on their windshields.

This week, Transport Minister Wayne Furbert said he would be asking the Traffic Control Department to investigate the abuses.

He added: "If there is something wrong, we will try and do something about it. If anyone is breaching the law I would be very concerned and I would do my utmost to address that.

"The rules governing car sales are there for a reason and should be obeyed.'' Mr. Furbert admitted that he was not aware whether the dealers' actions were illegal, but vowed he would try and plug any loopholes in the current legislation.

But he added: "I don't believe people are allowed to have used cars for sale in front of their garages.'' A Royal Gazette reporter posing as a member of the public contacted Terceira's Service Station on Smiths' North Shore Road yesterday after cars for sale were spotted on the forecourt.

The reporter inquired about a used white Suzuki Fronte on display and an employee confirmed the car was for sale.

The gas station employee added: "The person you need to speak to is Mr.

Terceira, but he's not here right now.'' And he confirmed there were used cars available regularly at the gas station.

He said: "We always seem to have something here for sale.'' At the Shell Service Station in Southampton, an employee said there was a Subaru for sale but added it had been parked there by a customer.

He gave out two telephone numbers to contact if The Royal Gazette reporter was interested in buying.

Transport Control Director Donald Dane admitted there was nothing he could do about garages taking older cars as trade-ins.

He said: "All we require is that a car is transfer tested, licensed and insured in the new owner's name.

"If a dealer buys an old car, although they are not abiding by the letter of the law, if the person to whom they give the car doesn't have a car to their assessment number, there's nothing we can do about it.'' He added: "We can speak to them and say this is not what the law's all about, although we can't enforce it.'' Mr. Dane added that he would be having talks with senior TCD staff to see if there was any legal sanctions which could be taken against garages.

But he said that service station owners should not be selling used cars in forecourts and that action could be taken against the owners.

He added: "I can tell them they can't do that -- our traffic Policemen are responsible for matters like that and if there are any problems, we will send them in to make the position absolutely clear.''