70% of used cars have problems in first month – Report

As many as 20% of consumers who buy used cars from dealers end up having a problem with the vehicle, a report by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has said.

Almost 70% of these problems come to light within the first month, the report said.

Nearly 30% of those who contacted their dealer said they never did get the problem rectified.

These unsatisfied consumers spent £425 each, or around £85 million a year in total, fixing unresolved faults that were the dealer’s obligation to correct, the OFT said.

The report said consumers could be overpaying to the tune of around £580 million a year as a result of illegal “clocking” – adjusting the car to show a false mileage.

Of consumers surveyed for the report, 27% found used car dealers very unhelpful and 11% rated them fairly unhelpful.

The report also found that some dealers could be in breach of the law by pretending to be private sellers to evade their obligations to consumers, often to unload unsafe or clocked cars, which the OFT reckons account for more than £40 million of second-hand car sales a year.

The survey also found that around 9% of dealers rely on illegal disclaimers about the car’s history and condition.

The report included findings from 600 mystery shoppers who visited dealers. In 30% of cases these mystery shoppers were not shown a vehicle’s history.

Overall, the OFT found 25% of dealers failed to supply sufficient information about the vehicle they were selling, with many failing to disclose what mechanical and other pre-sale checks had been carried out.

Source: Press Association