Revealed: One in five drivers have problems with cars bought from used car dealers
USED car dealers are living up to their Arthur Daley image by selling faulty motors, according to watchdogs.
Up to one in five people who buy a secondhand vehicle from them end up having problems.
Amost 70 per cent of these issues come to light within the first month, an Office of Fair Trading report said. And, like the dodgy character in 1980s TV show Minder, dealers don't want to know.
Nearly 30 per cent of those who contacted their dealer said they never got the problem rectified.
These unsatisfied consumers spent £425 each - £85million a year - fixing unresolved faults that were the dealer's obligation to correct.
OFT consumer group senior director Heather Clayton said: "Buying a secondhand 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 our Consumer Direct, which are often due to dealers refusing to sort out legitimate complaints."
The report said consumers could be overpaying to the tune of around £580million a year as a result of illegal "clocking" - adjusting the car to show a false mileage.
The report also found some dealers could be breaking the law by pretending to be private sellers to evade their obligations to buyers, often to unload unsafe or clocked cars. OFT reckons this account for more than £40million of secondhand car sales a year.
The report included findings from 600 mystery shoppers.
The OFT said they believed current legislation was sufficient to cover the secondhand car market but said more needed to be done to ensure dealers were aware of the law and buyers were aware of their rights.
Clayton added: "Along with our trading standards partners, we will take action against those dealers who continue to ignore the law."
