Not upheld: goods not of satisfactory quality; right to reject goods complaint against BMW Financial Services (GB) Limited, trading as Alphera Financial Services

Decision detail

Summary

Mr M purchased a used car (over 5 years old with 31,650 miles) under a hire purchase agreement with Alphera Financial Services for £24,500 in January 2025. In June 2025, he complained of mechanical faults including engine management light issues and requested to reject the car. Alphera arranged repairs through the dealer (identifying a loose hose and fuel filler funnel seal issue) and refunded £495 for the repair period. Mr M refused to collect the car and escalated his complaint to the FOS. The ombudsman found the car was not of satisfactory quality but determined repair was an appropriate remedy, and Mr M did not have the right to reject the car. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman acknowledged the car was not of satisfactory quality given the mechanical faults that developed. However, the ombudsman found that repair was an appropriate remedy in the circumstances. The ombudsman noted that Mr M failed to provide evidence of the serious mechanical faults and repairs, and that it was reasonable to expect Mr M to have such evidence. The ombudsman found no evidence that the dealer's repairs had not dealt with the faults. The decision to not collect the car was Mr M's choice, and the ombudsman was not persuaded he had the right to reject the car at that time.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website