Not upheld: unsatisfactory quality of goods / defective vehicle complaint against CA AUTO FINANCE UK LTD

Decision detail

Summary

Miss S purchased a 7-year-old used car under a hire purchase agreement with CAAF in January 2023. After almost 3 years of ownership and 17,000 miles of driving, the car suffered a wet belt failure in November 2025, leading to engine damage. Miss S complained that the car was of unsatisfactory quality and sought a full refund of all payments. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding that Miss S provided no evidence the fault existed at the point of supply, and the car's passage of its MOT a week before failure, combined with the pre-supply health check showing no issues, indicated the fault developed during Miss S's ownership.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which implies that goods supplied under a hire purchase agreement must be of satisfactory quality. The ombudsman noted that Miss S bore the burden of providing evidence that the fault existed or was developing at the point of supply. Given that the car was 7 years old, had been used for almost 3 years, had driven 17,000 additional miles, passed its MOT a week before failure with no related advisories, and the dealership health check showed no issues, the ombudsman concluded it was unlikely the wet belt fault was present at supply. The ombudsman found no evidence to hold CAAF responsible for the failure.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website