20% of used car buyers in the UK 'have vehicle problems'

As many as 20 per cent of consumers who buy used cars from dealers end up having a problem with the vehicle, a report by the Office of Fair Trading said today.

Almost 70 per cent of these problems come to light within the first month, the report said.

Nearly 30 per cent of those who contacted their dealer said they never did get the problem rectified.

These unsatisfied consumers spent £425 each, or around £85 million a year in total, fixing unresolved faults that were the dealer's obligation to correct, the OFT said.

The report said consumers could be overpaying to the tune of around £580 million a year as a result of illegal "clocking" - adjusting the car to show a false mileage.

Of consumers surveyed for the report, 27 per cent found used car dealers very unhelpful and 11 per cent rated them fairly unhelpful.

The report also found that some dealers could be in breach of the law by pretending to be private sellers to evade their obligations to consumers, often to unload unsafe or clocked cars, which the OFT reckons account for more than £40 million of second-hand car sales a year.

The survey also found that around nine per cent of dealers rely on illegal disclaimers about the car's history and condition.

The report included findings from 600 mystery shoppers who visited dealers. In 30 per cent of cases these mystery shoppers were not shown a vehicle's history.

Overall, the OFT found 25 per cent of dealers failed to supply sufficient information about the vehicle they were selling, with many failing to disclose what mechanical and other pre-sale checks had been carried out.

The OFT study had been prompted by the consistently high number of complaints to the OFT-operated Consumer Direct advice service about used cars.

Last year saw a rise of five per cent in complaints about second-hand car sales.

The OFT said today that it believed current legislation was sufficient to cover the £24 billion second-hand car market but that more needed to be done to ensure dealers were aware of the law and consumers were aware of their rights.

OFT consumer group senior director Heather Clayton said today: "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."

She went on: "We are issuing OFT's guidance to the industry and expect all second-hand car dealers to be aware of their legal obligations. Along with our trading standards partners, we will take action against those dealers who continue to ignore the law."

AA president Edmund King said the report reminded people to "use their heads not their hearts when dealing with the used-car market".