New and Used Car Sales (10 Articles)
Back to Knowledge HubWhat do I do if I have bought a faulty vehicle?
You may wish to make a claim under your manufacturer’s warranty or by persuing the claim in accordance with your legal rights.
Claiming under the vehicle manufacturer’s warranty
If the fault with the vehicle is due to poor workmanship or parts used during the build process, you may be able to make a claim under your manufacturer’s warranty. To do this, you will need to follow the process as set out in the terms and conditions of your policy.
Making a claim using your consumer rights
If you wish to make a complaint about the fault under your consumer rights, then you have up to six years from when you bought the car to contact the seller to raise the issue.
If the fault was present at the point of sale, you may be able to make a claim against your seller. Please note that this protection does not include faults which a reasonable person would have identified at the point of sale.
In order to resolve the issue, you should firstly raise your concern with your seller directly, ideally by submitting a formal complaint to the business in line with their complaints procedures.
If you are unhappy with the final response of 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.
Does The Motor Ombudsman cover motorcycles?
Unfortunately, The Motor Ombudsman does not currently investigate complaints about motorcycles.
You may wish to contact The Motor Cycle Industry Association Ltd, or Citizens Advice h in order to resolve your dispute.
Does The Motor Ombudsman cover commercial vehicles?
If your complaint is about a vehicle which was bought in the name of a business, is now owned by a business, or is primarily used for business purposes, this unfortunately does not fall within our remit. This is because you are not classed as a private individual under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and we won’t be able to investigate a car purchase or service/repair complaint.
However, we can investigate complaints under your warranty agreement against your manufacturer or warranty provider.
As a business, it may also be useful to note that Trading Standards has developed a useful website called Business Companion which is aimed at helping small to medium enterprises understand their legal obligations. It provides free, impartial advice to traders through a range of basic and in depth guides. You can find more information here;
Do The Motor Ombudsman’s Codes of Practice apply to cars bought at auction?
Unfortunately, auctions and private sales are not within The Motor Ombudsman’s remit.
You may wish to contact Citizens Advice who will be able to help you understand your legal rights, and give you advice on the best course of action. You can call them on 0345 404 0506 or visit their website here.
We are sorry that we cannot help you on this occasion but please do get back in touch if you need anything further.
Can I return my car within 14 days of buying it?
Your ability to request a refund within 14 days will be affected by the method used to buy the car, and also whether the sale was made at a distance (e.g. over the phone or online), or whilst at physical premises (e.g. car dealership).
“Off-premises” / distance sale – The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, defines a distance sale to be a contract where the purchase of the goods is conducted “off-premises”, such as an online purchase. In an “off-premises”/distance sale, the customer has 14 days after delivery of the goods to cancel the order. If the business does not inform the consumer of their 14-day right to cancel, then the consumer will have up to 12 months after delivery of the goods to cancel the order. Additionally the consumer does not need to provide a reason for cancelling.
“On-premises” sale – If the car purchase is made on the premises of the business (e.g. an independent garage or car dealership), you will only be able to request a refund for the car if there is a problem with it. Under the Limitation Act 1980, s5, you have up to 6 years from the point of sale to make a claim for breach of the sales contract.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, if the vehicle is found to be defective, based on your first tier of rights, you may request within the first 30 days of purchase;
- The rejection of the vehicle in return for a full purchase refund; or
- For the trader to repair the vehicle; or
- For the trader to replace the car like-for-like.
However, if the vehicle is found to be defective outside the first 30 days of purchase, you may request:
- A rejection of the vehicle if the trader has exhausted their “one shot” at repair ( the seller would be entitled to make a reasonable deduction for your use of the vehicle);
- To keep the vehicle in its defective state, in exchange for an appropriate price reduction, if the trader has exhausted their one shot at repair; or
- To be awarded a like-for-like replacement vehicle.
Can I claim compensation?
Unlike a civil court, The Motor Ombudsman’s adjudication service does not award compensation for losses which are not easily quantifiable such as loss of earnings, inconvenience or stress.
If you have suffered a demonstrable financial loss due to the actions of an accredited business, we can instruct the business to refund the money – but we would not stipulate an amount of general compensation. We tend not to make financial awards for things that cannot be easily quantified as stated in our enquiry form under “Adjudication Terms of Use”.
What to do about a new car problem
If you have a new vehicle, which is still under warranty, and you have a fault, you have two options.
Warranty
You can pursue the fault under your warranty. The warranty will usually have terms and conditions, which set out each parties’ obligations. It will also set out the process on submitting a warranty claim, which normally involves booking your vehicle into a main dealer for a diagnostic (check). Following on from this, the main dealer will submit a warranty claim to the manufacturer. If the manufacturer accepts the fault to be a defect, they will authorise a free of charge repair. If they do not agree it is a defect, they will refuse your claim and explain the reasons why.
Your consumer rights
You can exercise your legal rights but you will need to contact the seller who sold you the car. If you discover your vehicle is of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described within the first 30 days, you can raise this with the seller and ask for your money back. You will be entitled to a full refund.
If you are outside of the first 30 days, the seller has one opportunity to repair or replace your vehicle. If you are reporting a fault within the first six month, it is presumed this fault was there at point of sale. The seller will need to prove otherwise. If outside of the first six months, you will need to prove this fault was there at point of sale.
The seller has only one opportunity to repair or replace and if this fails because the same fault persists or a new inherent fault has developed, you can ask for a price reduction, which means a partial refund but you keep your vehicle. Alternatively, you can ask for rejection, which is to return the vehicle and get your money back. Remember, the seller is entitled to deduct usage, which is usually the miles you have added to the vehicle.
What is the Consumer Rights Act, and how does it affect my vehicle purchase?
If you bought your car after 01 October 2015, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies. This means that, when you buy the vehicle, it has to be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described.
Within the first 30 days, if there’s a problem that means your car doesn’t meet these standards, it develops a serious fault or you find that it isn’t what was advertised to you, you can raise this with the seller and ask for your money back. In this instance, you will be entitled to a full refund.
If you report the problem outside of the first 30 days, you have to give the selling dealership or garage one opportunity to repair or replace your car, with repair normally being the best option.
If this fails because the same fault persists, or a new inherent fault has developed, you’ve then got two options: a price reduction, meaning you keep the vehicle and get back some of the money you paid for it or, to exercise your final right of rejection – where you will be entitled to a refund of what you paid for the car minus a deduction for any usage you’ve had. This is usually calculated by looking at how many miles you’ve added to the vehicle, and charging a certain amount of pence for each mile driven.
It’s worth bearing in mind that, if the issue occurs in the first six months after buying the car, it’s up to the selling dealership or garage to prove that it was of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described when they sold it to you. However, if you want to reject your car for a full refund within the first 30 days, or the problem happens six months or more after you bought the vehicle, you – the consumer, needs to be able to prove that the car was not of satisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described when you bought it. This will normally be through either a diagnosis from a garage or dealership, or an independent technical report. You can find more information about independent technical reports here.
If something does go wrong, the best thing to do is to let the business who sold you the vehicle know, and give them the chance to look into what’s happened. You can get in touch with the manufacturer if you like, but please remember that it isn’t the manufacturer who sold you the vehicle, so the Consumer Rights Act 2015 doesn’t apply to them in this situation. We’d always recommend contacting the selling dealership or garage and making sure they’re involved in the process of finding a resolution.
What are a consumer’s legal rights when buying a car?
If you bought your car after 01 October 2015, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 will apply. If you bought your car before 01 October 2015, then the Sale of Goods Act 1979 will apply.
Short-term right to reject
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, you have a short term right to reject your car if it is of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described. You can get a full refund. However, you should remember that this right is short-term and is only limited to 30 days from the date you bought your car.
There is no short-term right to reject under the Sale of Goods Act 1979.
Exercising your consumer rights
If you are now outside of the first 30 days, the seller has one opportunity only to repair or replace the faulty car. You will not be able to ask for rejection at this stage. This does not apply to cars purchased before 1 October 2015. The Sale of Goods Act allows the seller to either repair or replace the car within a reasonable period of time without causing significant inconvenience.
If you are complaining about a fault within the first six months of purchase, it is presumed this fault was there at the time of purchase. The seller will need to prove that this fault was not there at point of sale. If you are complaining about a fault outside of the first six months, you will need to prove that fault was there at point of sale.
If the seller is unable to repair the fault because the same fault persists or a new inherent fault has developed, or the replacement car has an inherent fault, then you can ask for your money back or a price reduction (partial refund) if you wish to keep the car.
Remember, for rejection outside of the first 30 days, the seller is entitled to deduct the mileage you have added onto the car.
Sold a faulty car, what can I do?
If you believe the seller has sold you a faulty car, you should contact the seller immediately. You have consumer rights for up to six years, which protects you against a faulty car. However, the law does not offer you a blanket protection. The law only protects you against a fault, which should not have developed on the car, given its age and mileage and the condition the car was in at point of sale. It is very important that you take your car back to the seller as your consumer rights rest with them.