Not upheld: Goods and services under S75 complaint against Toyota Financial Services (UK) PLC trading as Redline Financial Services

Decision detail

Summary

Mr W purchased a six-year-old used car with 67,800 miles under a hire purchase agreement with Redline Financial in June 2023 for £32,874. In July 2025, approximately two years and 30,000 miles later, the engine failed catastrophically and the vehicle became undriveable. Mr W complained that the car was of unsatisfactory quality, but Redline Financial rejected the complaint citing the vehicle's age and mileage. The ombudsman found that while an engine fault clearly existed, there was insufficient evidence to prove it was present at the point of supply rather than resulting from wear and tear, particularly given the vehicle's high total mileage of nearly 100,000 miles and successful operation for two years post-purchase. The complaint was not upheld.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which implies that goods must be of satisfactory quality at the point of supply. Since the fault was identified after six months, the burden was on Mr W to prove the fault was present at supply. While a fault clearly existed, the ombudsman found insufficient evidence linking it to a defect present at supply rather than wear and tear. The vehicle had successfully completed approximately 30,000 miles over two years after purchase, and by failure had reached nearly 100,000 total miles, suggesting reasonable durability. The absence of a confirmed diagnosis identifying the underlying cause, combined with the extended period between purchase and failure, made it unreasonable to conclude the defect was present at supply.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website