According to a recent investigation into
second-hand
cars, some 86% of
motoring issues occur within three months of buying, costing an
average of 465 pounds per buyer. The Office of Fair Trading
investigated the
second-hand car market and found that many of those who did
encounter problems had no luck sorting it out with the
dealer.
Of those that contacted their
dealer, just 47% managed to get the problem solved. The senior
director of infrastructure at the OFT, Heather Clayton, was
reported as commenting: The
second hand car market has consistently attracted a high number
of consumer complaints.
However, there are advantages to choosing a second-hand car. Steven
Baillie of Sainsbury’s
Loans was reported as saying: It can of course be
significantly cheaper to buy a second-hand car but
buyers and sellers could save even more
money if they do their homework.