Not upheld: misrepresentation regarding service history complaint against Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M complained that he was misled about the service history of a used car he financed through VWFS, claiming he was not told the car lacked service history. The dealership had not mentioned service history in the advertisement or during the sales process, and confirmed it does not advise on service history unless asked. The ombudsman found no misrepresentation by false statement of fact and concluded that the omission of service history was not material, unique, or something a customer could not reasonably be expected to know about. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found no false statement of fact as both parties agreed service history was not mentioned. Regarding misrepresentation by omission, the ombudsman concluded that the absence of service history was not material (as service history is a bonus feature, not standard), was not unique to this particular car (as it is standard practice not to mention missing service history), and was something a customer could reasonably be expected to ask about if it was important to their decision. The ombudsman noted that material omissions would be defects such as the car being written off or having structural damage.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website