Guidance for Second-hand Car Dealers
The Office of Fair Trading has published new guidance for
second-hand car dealers setting out their legal obligations to
customers under consumer protection laws.
Download the new
guidance and an accompanying checklist.
The guidance has been issued following the publication in March
of the OFT's market study into the £24 billion second-hand car
market which found a number of problems in the sector. This study
found that consumers lose an estimated £85 million per year in
connection with fixing unresolved faults that are the dealer's
obligation to correct, issues around illegal clocking, dealers
pretending to be private sellers, the use of illegal disclaimers
and failures to disclose sufficient information about vehicles
prior to sale.
The new guidance and checklist is intended to help dealers
comply with two important pieces of consumer protection
legislation:
- the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008
which ban unfair commercial practices towards consumers, and
- the Sale of Goods Act 1979 which governs dealers' legal
obligations to consumers with regard to the quality, fitness and
description of the vehicle being sold, and consumers rights to
redress when something goes wrong .
The checklist highlights some of the practical steps dealers
should take to help ensure compliance including clear dos and
don'ts relating to pre-sale history and mileage checks, checking
the vehicle's mechanical condition, providing customers with
important information before the sale and dealing with complaints
and issues around faulty vehicles.