Not upheld: quality of goods / satisfactory quality complaint against Black Horse Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr N purchased a used car (approximately 3 years old with 27,155 miles) through a hire purchase agreement with Black Horse Limited in July 2024. He raised multiple complaints about the car's quality shortly after purchase, including suspension issues, and later sought to reject the car. The car failed its MOT in July 2025 due to a coil spring fracture. An independent report concluded the suspension problem was likely developing at the time of sale due to progressive deterioration. The ombudsman found that although the suspension showed signs of wear, the car had passed its pre-sale MOT and the failure was due to wear and tear rather than an inherent fault, meaning the car was of satisfactory quality at the point of sale. Black Horse was ordered to pay for the repair costs, independent report, and inconvenience compensation.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman applied the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which requires goods to be of satisfactory quality. For a used car of approximately 3 years old with 27,155 miles, a reasonable person would expect some wear but also reasonable durability. Although the independent report indicated the coil spring was likely showing signs of wear at the time of sale, the car had passed its MOT just before sale, and the fault was not detected then. The ombudsman concluded the coil spring failure was due to progressive wear and tear rather than an inherent fault present at the point of sale. Therefore, the car was of satisfactory quality when supplied. Regarding the service history claim, there was insufficient certainty about what information was provided at sale to establish misrepresentation.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website