Not upheld: satisfactory quality of goods supplied; customer service failure regarding voluntary termination advice complaint against Oodle Financial Services Limited (trading as Oodle Car Finance)

Decision detail

Summary

Mr A purchased a used car via hire purchase with Oodle Car Finance in January 2024 for £8,789. The seven-year-old car with 68,500 miles had passed an MOT test before supply. Mr A reported various issues between March 2024 and March 2025, and an independent inspection in April 2025 concluded these issues were not present or developing at point of sale. Mr A voluntarily terminated the agreement in June 2025 after his payment arrangement request was declined. Oodle Car Finance later acknowledged providing incorrect advice about voluntary termination liability and paid £100 compensation. The ombudsman found no evidence the car lacked satisfactory quality at supply and considered the compensation fair, declining to uphold the complaint.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the satisfactory quality test under consumer law, considering the car's age, mileage, price, and durability. The car had passed an MOT test before supply and was driven 23,500 miles before issues emerged, which would not have been possible if it lacked satisfactory quality at supply. The independent inspection report explicitly stated issues were not present or developing at point of sale. The ombudsman found no evidence of unfair pressure regarding voluntary termination and considered the £100 compensation for incorrect advice to be fair and reasonable.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website