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19/03/2010
Second-hand car buyers are spending £85 million each year correcting faults which are rightfully the dealer's responsibility, says the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
The consumer and competition authority, which has published a report on the state of the UK's second-hand car dealer market, found that the overwhelming majority of faults appear in the first three months after purchase - suggesting that dealers were not selling the vehicles in a fit state.
And while a fifth of those buying a second-hand car find a fault, around 30% of this number is left to fund repairs themselves, costing them £425 on average, the OFT said.
The report follows news that complaints about second-hand cars topped the list of grievances received by Consumer Direct in 2009 for the fourth year in a row. The government-funded advice service took almost 72,000 calls about the £24 billion second-hand dealer market.
The OFT report found that practices like 'illegal clocking' - lowering the odometer so a car appears to have covered fewer miles - potentially costs consumers £580 million each year. In addition, one in four dealers do not provide sufficient information about vehicles to buyers, while "many" are failing to disclose the pre-sale mechanical checks they have carried out.
One in eleven dealers are also using an illegal 'sold as seen' disclaimer, meaning they disavow any responsibility for faults which come to light after the buyer has driven the car from the forecourt.
Despite this, the OFT said that current legislation is sufficient, although both dealers and buyers need to be more aware of the law.
Heather Clayton, senior director of the OFT's Consumer group, said: "Buying a second-hand car is an expensive purchase for many people.
"Many dealers provide high standards of service and comply fully with the law but there continues to be high numbers of complaints to Consumer Direct which are often due to dealers' refusing to deal with legitimate complaints or provide appropriate redress."
The OFT has published advice to the industry following the report, and says it will work with Trading Standards to take action against businesses which break the law.
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