Who do I complain to about a used car?

Who handles a complaint about a used car sale?

The Motor Ombudsman handles disputes about a vehicle sale. It is a separate scheme from the one that handles complaints about how a purchase was paid for, so a question about the car itself and a question about the payment arrangement go to different places.

Before any scheme is involved, the ordinary route is the seller: the business that sold the car is the business the law places the obligations on.

What does the law say a used car has to be?

The Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9, requires goods to be of satisfactory quality. A used car is judged as a used car — age and mileage are part of what "satisfactory" means for that particular vehicle, not something separate from it.

Two other rules sit alongside it. Section 31 of the same Act says a trader cannot exclude or restrict liability for goods being of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. Part 4 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 prohibits unfair commercial practices, including misleading omissions — things left out that would have changed the picture.

There is more on the description point in used car not as described.

What happens if a fault appears in the first six months?

Section 19(14) of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 presumes that a fault found in the first six months was present at delivery, unless the trader proves otherwise. The practical effect is that the burden of showing the car was fine when it was handed over sits with the seller during that period, not with the buyer.

After six months that presumption no longer applies, and the position reverses. Used car fault in the first six months goes through it in more detail.

How long does the short-term right to reject last?

Section 22 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives a short-term right to reject lasting 30 days from delivery. Where that right applies, it is a right to reject the goods — it is not a change-of-mind window and it is not the same thing as a refund policy.

Can you return a used car to the dealer sets out how that sits against the other routes.

What if a repair does not fix the fault?

Section 24(10)(b) of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 provides that after one failed repair or replacement, the consumer may reject. A deduction for use may apply after the first six months, so the amount involved is not necessarily the whole of what was paid.

The condition matters: the right arises after a repair or replacement has been attempted and has not succeeded, rather than at the first sign of a fault.

Does "sold as seen" change any of this?

No. Section 31 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 means a trader cannot exclude or restrict liability for goods being of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described, so the phrase "sold as seen" does not remove those rights from a consumer buying from a dealer.

That is covered on its own page: can a dealer sell a car "sold as seen".

Is a return different when the car was bought online?

Yes. Regulations 29 to 35 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give a distance or off-premises contract a 14-day cancellation right, which is a separate thing from a fault.

A car bought from ONECARS online and delivered is a distance sale, so there are fourteen days from delivery to change your mind and return it. See can I return a car I bought online.

Does a warranty replace these rights?

No — a warranty sits on top of the Act rather than in place of it. Every ONECARS car comes with a free three-month warranty on the engine and gearbox, up to 2,500 miles, with repairs done by ONEFIX on the same site, and longer paid cover is available.

The difference between the two is set out in is a used car warranty the same as your legal rights and what our warranty covers.

What makes a question about a car easier to settle?

A written record of the car as it was sold. Anyone can check a vehicle's MOT history free on GOV.UK using its registration number — each test's result, the advisories and failures, and the mileage recorded at the time (how to check a used car's MOT history).

Keeping the paperwork that came with the car does the same job from the other side: what paperwork should come with a used car.

What does ONECARS do before a car is handed over?

Every ONECARS car is checked on 34 points by ONEFIX, our own workshop on the same site at Plas Acton, Wrexham, and the list of those 34 points is published at how we check our cars. A car with work outstanding from its check is not handed to its buyer until ONEFIX has put it right — that rule sits in the ONECARS system rather than in a sales promise.

Every car page carries the car's photographs, its full spec and its MOT history from the DVSA, test by test, with the mileage recorded at each test. This 2012 Vauxhall Astra 1.7 Club Ecoflex at £1,295 is a fair example of that record. And once a car is sold, ONEFIX next door services, repairs and MOTs it, so the workshop that checked it is the workshop that looks after it.

Everything on our forecourt is prepared the same way. We are at Plas Acton Garage, 282 Chester Road, Wrexham LL12 8DU, with a second forecourt at Ruyton near Shrewsbury. To talk something through, get in touch or ring the office on 01978 356983.