Second-hand Cars - How to complain

Problems with a second hand car bought from a dealer:

What should you do if the second hand car you’ve bought is not as described, is not of satisfactory quality or fit for the purpose?

1. Contact the dealer

Contact the dealer about the problem as soon as possible and do one of the following.

If you bought the car a short time ago, say less than three to four weeks, say that you are rejecting the car and want a full refund. Once you have rejected the item you must stop using it.

If you can’t or don’t want to reject the car, write to the manager or owner of the dealer saying that, under the Sale of Goods Act they are in breach of contract and you want them to pay for any repairs.

If you paid for the second hand car on your credit card (or with another type of credit, such as a loan) your credit provider is jointly liable for any breach of contract (as long as the car did not cost more than £30,000).

If the car dealer won’t help, contact the credit company to say either that you are rejecting the second hand car, or that you want to claim for repairs. If the card company or credit provider won’t help, you can take your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

2. Write again
If the dealer refuses to accept liability and do what you've asked, write again giving them a final chance to resolve the matter. Tell them that, if they do not act, you will be taking your claim further. This could be either:

- Referring the problem to your credit provider if you used credit to buy the second hand car, or
- Send a ‘letter before action’, explaining that you will take legal action for breach of contract if it doesn’t act.

3.Take it further

If the dealer still doesn't sort out your problem, you can either:

- Take up the matter with your credit provider, or
- Start court proceedings

If the value of the second hand car, or of the repairs you want done, is below a certain amount (£5,000 in England and Wales or £3,000 in Scotland or Northern Ireland), you can use the small claims court.

If your claim is for more than this amount, you'll have to use the full court, which is more complicated and could be costly.

Check your and policies to see if they include legal expenses cover, which might pay for your legal costs to take action in the full court.

Problems with a second hand car bought from a private seller:

Head back to the seller

Go back to the seller as soon as you discover the problem, and say that you're rejecting the second hand car and want your money back.

If it’s too late (or you don’t want to) reject the second hand car, ask them to pay for whatever is needed for the car to meet the description they gave. For example, if they told you that it had four new car tyres and you discover that two of them are very worn, then you claim for the cost of two new car tyres.

4. Give them a final chance

If they refuse to do what you ask, give them a final chance to act, and tell them that you will take the case to the small claims court unless they meet your request.

5. Take the matter to a small claims court

If they still don’t pay up, take the matter to small claims court if the amount you're claiming is below the limits for small claims (£5,000 in England and Wales, £750 in Scotland and £2,000 in Northern Ireland).