The Devils in the Details

Old-fashioned tricks, such as pressure selling or exploiting a customers emotions, are also covered, and a number of tactics have been banned. These include dealers pretending to be private sellers, and the ploy of 'baiting'. This involves advertising a car at a low price to tempt buyers, with the sole aim of selling them a more expensive model when they make an enquiry.

The issue of professional diligence is also of concern to the OFT and parts of the CPRs deal with the steps that dealers are required to carry out to avoid committing an offence. This includes pre-sales checks items such as vehicle history, service history and a mileage check (including disclosing mileage discrepancies). Dealers cant simply rely on a valid MoT certificate and service history as an indication of a cars roadworthiness, so pre-sale mechanical inspections will become a necessity.

The way a car is described will also have a bearing. If a car is sold as in very good condition, and it starts overheating after four months, it is unlikely to have been in very good condition when sold.