Car dealers to clean up their act - Introduction

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has pledged to clean up the second-hand car business, after it found that consumers weren’t being protected from unscrupulous traders.

Damning survey
One of its surveys revealed that almost a fifth of people buying a second-hand car had experienced problems with the vehicle after the sale, with 86% of these issues occurring within three months of delivery.

Of those customers who contacted the dealer, just under half said the problem was completely resolved, leaving more than 50% of all customers unsatisfied. Almost 30% said the problem had not been rectified at all. Those who paid to fix the problem handed over an average of £465, or £752 if they’d bought the car at auction.

For the past three years, used car complaints have topped the list of problems reported to Consumer Direct, the Government’s independent advice service. In 2008, this amounted to more than 68,000 complaints, ranging from simple cases of poor-quality goods through to garages deliberately misleading buyers in order to sell a car.

The OFT has long kept a close watch on the used car business and in mid-2009 began an investigation into buyers’ experiences, consulting What Car? as part of its research.