Used car buying is number one complaint

• Used cars are top complaint to Government
• Next worst is mobile phone service agreements
• Information used to assist Trading Standards

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It seems that the reputation of used car salesmen will remain tarnished, after they produced the number-one complaint to the Government's Consumer Direct helpline last year.

The public made 37,594 complaints about second-hand vehicles bought from independent dealers. This works out at 3.9% of the total number of complaints, and 13,000 more than the second-highest, mobile phone service agreements.

Consumer Direct aims to help and advise consumers about buying goods and services, and received 963,684 complaints on everything from second-hand cars to leather furniture.

The information Consumer Direct collects every year goes to help Trading Standards tackle companies who fail to look after their customers. For more information, visit consumerdirect.gov.uk.