Not upheld: unsatisfactory quality of goods; refund of payments for faulty hire purchase vehicle complaint against Advantage Finance Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr J purchased a used car under a hire purchase agreement with Advantage Finance Limited in February 2024 for £25,056.79 plus a £6,638.39 deposit. From June 2024, the car developed an engine fault causing juddering and vibration. Despite multiple repair attempts over more than a year, the fault persisted, and Advantage eventually agreed to allow Mr J to reject the car. Mr J complained that Advantage should refund all his monthly payments and return him to his pre-agreement position, arguing he had no choice but to continue using the faulty car due to delays in repairs. The ombudsman did not uphold the complaint, finding it fair that Mr J pay for his use of the car (approximately 15,000 miles driven) and that Advantage's remedies of refunding the deposit, unwinding the agreement, and paying £250 compensation were appropriate.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman accepted that the car was faulty and not of satisfactory quality under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. However, the key issue was the appropriate remedy. The ombudsman determined that while Mr J was inconvenienced by the fault and the delays in repairs, he did use the car for approximately 15,000 miles over eleven months. Therefore, it was fair and reasonable that he pay for this usage. The ombudsman considered that Mr J was not being punished but rather paying for actual use of the car. The ombudsman found that Advantage's remedies (refunding the deposit, unwinding the agreement, crediting the account from January 2025, removing adverse credit file entries, and paying £250 compensation) were appropriate and put Mr J back into the position he would have been in before entering the agreement.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website