Car Ownership

What can I do about corroding alloy wheels?

You may have corroding alloy wheels if they show signs of pitting, flaking, scratches or rust caused by a manufacturing defect or kerb damage.

If you are unhappy with the condition of your car’s alloy wheels, you may wish to contact the seller of your car to repair the issue under your sales contract in line with the Consumer Rights Act 2015, if it has been less than six years since you bought the vehicle.

Alternatively, you may wish to have it repaired by the manufacturer under the warranty, if the policy is still valid. In either case, you should contact the appropriate business by submitting a formal complaint in line with their dispute resolution procedure.

If you are unhappy with the final response from the business, or more than eight weeks has passed since raising the complaint with them, you may escalate the complaint to The Motor Ombudsman for further investigation.

Our adjudication outcome (i.e. whether it is in favour of the business or consumer), will be based on the cause of the fault. Therefore, if the evidence doesn’t show that the fault is caused by a manufacturing defect, or that it existed at the point of sale, we may not uphold your complaint.

In 2019, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) launched a free service for motorists. It allows vehicle owners to download and print copies of their vehicle’s MOT certificate. If you request the replacement certificate from the MOT test centre, they can charge up to £10.

To obtain the certificate online or at the test centre where your car was assessed, you will need your vehicle registration (your number plate) and your 11-digit reference (with no spaces) from the vehicle’s log book (also known as the V5C).

It is at the discretion as to how much a garage charges for an MOT or whether they choose to run any promotional offers. However, the maximum that you can be charged for a passenger car MOT is £54.85 (it is exempt from VAT).

You can find even more information on what you need to know about MOTs in our handy Getting to Know guide.

How do I submit a case to The Motor Ombudsman?

If you have a complaint about a business, for example following work you have had carried out on your vehicle, you need to ensure that you have given them a chance to resolve your issue first.

If you are unsure as to how to submit your complaint, it is worth asking the business for their complaints process to ensure that your concerns are going to the right place.

Explain what’s happened and let them know how you would like things to be put right, preferably in writing. The business then has eight weeks to give their final answer to your complaint but can respond at any point within this period.

If you’re not happy with the response from the business, or don’t receive one at all after waiting eight weeks, you can submit your case for us to look into. The business that you have a dispute with must be accredited to The Motor Ombudsman.

Accredited businesses are listed on this website as follows:

• Independent garages, bodyshops, repairers and franchise car dealerships accredited to the Service and Repair and / or the Vehicle Sales Codes are listed on our Garage Finder.
• Vehicle manufacturers (OEMs) accredited to the New Car Code can be found here.
• Vehicle warranty providers accredited to the Vehicle Warranty Products Code can be found here.

What is an NCAP rating?

The European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) is a five-star safety rating system for comparing cars, and helps consumers judge the crash-safety of different makes and models. It is an independent organisation that will generally buy cars anonymously from dealerships, and then test them in a laboratory.

The rating of the car is decided from tests that recreate real life accidents, which have caused serious injury or death. Cars which meet the minimum legal standard receive 0 stars. Cars with good test results and good safety equipment receive more stars (with the maximum being five). Overall, a car with a low rating is not unsafe, however its competitors offer a better level of protection.

Why didn’t I receive a safety recall notification for my vehicle?

Under the safety recall scheme run by the Driver and Vehicle and Standards Agency (DVSA), the manufacturer is required to send a letter to all affected customers informing them of the issue. The manufacturer will usually use the records from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to send a letter to the registered keeper of the car. Therefore, you may not receive a letter if the records held by the DVLA have not been updated.

However, you can use the Vehicle Safety Recalls checker on our website to check if there are any outstanding vehicle recalls based on your car’s Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).

Alternatively, you can use the DVSA website to check if there are any outstanding vehicle safety recalls on your car.

Does my car have a recall?

Recalls are overseen by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and you will need to get in touch with them about safety-related problems.

Alternatively, you can check if you have an outstanding recall on your vehicle by entering your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on The Motor Ombudsman’s Vehicle Safety Recall Database.

Does my car have any car recall or safety issues?

Recalls are overseen by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and you will need to get in touch with them about any safety-related problems.

You can check if you have an outstanding recall on your vehicle by entering your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on The Motor Ombudsman’s Vehicle Safety Recall Database.

If you think that the issue on your vehicle is safety-related, and there is currently no recall for it, you can log it with the DVSA here.

Car MPG not the same as advertised, what should I do?

Previously, cars were tested on a standardised regime called the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC). The purpose of the NEDC was to provide figures for comparison but it was not in any way indicative of the fuel consumption you could expect to achieve in real life – because the figures were obtained in highly controlled conditions and did not take into account factors such as weight in the vehicle, driving style and the use of additional features like air-conditioning. Unless the advertising was misleading, and did not include a disclaimer explaining that the figures would not represent real-world driving, it would be unlikely that a complaint about the fuel consumption figures would be upheld.

There has since been a new testing regime introduced called the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) which is aimed to produce figures which are more realistic – although it does need to be recognised that there will always be variables which can affect your fuel consumption in the real world so there will still be some difference between the advertised fuel consumption and the fuel consumption you achieve as the WLTP won’t be able to cater to all factors which can affect fuel economy.

Electric and hybrid cars go through the testing regimes so this advice would apply equally to them.

If you’re concerned about your fuel consumption or your range, you might want to speak with your seller or manufacturer as there could be a fault causing the problem – and this can then be investigated further.

My Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) keeps blocking, what can I do?

To reduce emissions, diesel cars are fitted with a Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) – something that filters and catches soot particles. Most DPFs will automatically clear as they’re used but on rare occasions, in specific circumstances, they may get blocked and require manual cleaning.

In normal use, a DPF cleans or regenerates itself by reaching a sufficient temperature to burn off the excess soot. Each vehicle will have a different regeneration cycle and you should be able to find information on this in your vehicle’s manual. Usually, it requires driving the vehicle on a motorway for a short period of time in order to produce enough heat for the regeneration to be successful.

If the vehicle is being used solely for short journeys or as a result of certain driving conditions, for example you only drive at low speeds, this regeneration cycle may not have the opportunity to complete and as a result the Diesel Particulate Filter will become blocked.

If your DPF has not regenerated due to your driving style not allowing it to regenerate, then this would not be considered a fault under the manufacturer’s warranty. However, it might be that if a diesel car is not suitable for you due to your use of the vehicle, you can raise a complaint against the seller.