{"id":76491,"date":"2026-01-05T15:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T15:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-the-consumer-rights-act\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T09:07:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T09:07:38","slug":"what-is-the-consumer-rights-act","status":"publish","type":"knowledge","link":"https:\/\/www.themotorombudsman.org\/knowledge\/what-is-the-consumer-rights-act\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Consumer Rights Act, and how does it affect my vehicle purchase?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is the Consumer Rights Act, and how does it affect my vehicle purchase?<\/h3>\n

If you bought your car after 01 October 2015<\/strong><\/span>, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies. This means that, when you buy the vehicle, it has to be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described.<\/p>\n

Within the first<\/strong> 30 days<\/strong><\/span>, if there\u2019s a problem that means your car doesn\u2019t meet these standards, it develops a serious fault or you find that it isn\u2019t what was advertised to you, you can raise this with the seller and ask for your money back. In this instance, you will be entitled to a full refund.<\/p>\n

If you report the problem outside of the first 30 days, you have to give the selling dealership or garage one opportunity to repair or replace your car, with repair normally being the best option.<\/p>\n

If this fails because the same fault persists, or a new inherent fault has developed, you\u2019ve then got two options: a price reduction – meaning you keep the vehicle and get back some of the money you paid for it or, to exercise your final right of rejection – where you will be entitled to a refund of what you paid for the car minus a deduction for any usage you\u2019ve had. This is usually calculated by looking at how many miles you\u2019ve added to the vehicle, and charging a certain amount of pence for each mile driven.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth bearing in mind that, if the issue occurs in the first six months<\/strong><\/span> after buying the car, it\u2019s up to the selling dealership or garage to prove that it was of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described when they sold it to you. However, if you want to reject your car for a full refund within the first 30 days, or the problem happens six months or more after you bought the vehicle, you \u2013 the consumer, needs to be able to prove that the car was not of satisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described when you bought it. This will normally be through either a diagnosis from a garage or dealership, or an independent technical report. You can find further information about independent technical reports here<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

If something does go wrong, the best thing to do is to let the business who sold you the vehicle know, and give them the chance to look into what\u2019s happened. You can get in touch with the manufacturer if you like, but please remember that it isn\u2019t the manufacturer who sold you the vehicle, so the Consumer Rights Act 2015 doesn\u2019t apply to them in this situation, it is the business you actually bought the vehicle from. We would always recommend contacting the selling dealership or garage and making sure they\u2019re involved in the process of finding a resolution.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":79059,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"knowledge-base-category":[616],"class_list":["post-76491","knowledge","type-knowledge","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","knowledge-base-category-new-and-used-car-sales"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is the Consumer Rights Act, and how does it affect my vehicle purchase? - The Motor Ombudsman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you bought your car after 01 October 2015, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies. 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