The Consumer Rights Act 2015 and Used Cars: A Guide for Dealers

Last updated 29 September 2026.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 decides what happens when a customer brings a used car back and says it is not right. It sets the standard every car you sell to the public must meet, and the order of remedies when it does not. This guide is written for dealers but answers the buyer’s questions too, and goes deeper on the Act than our overview of the legal requirements for running a used car dealership. If you bought a car and it has a problem, skip to your rights as a buyer.

This is general guidance based on the legislation and published Trading Standards, ombudsman and consumer guidance as of September 2026, not legal advice. It covers England, Scotland and Wales. If you have a live dispute, get advice from a solicitor or your local Trading Standards service.

What does the Consumer Rights Act 2015 say about used cars?

Every car you sell to a consumer must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described, and those rules apply to used cars just as they do to new ones. They are set out in sections 9, 10 and 11 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. You must also have the right to sell the car, which is why an outstanding finance agreement on a part exchange you have sold on becomes your problem (Business Companion: car traders and the Consumer Rights Act).

The Act applies to sales by a trader to a consumer. A consumer is an individual buying wholly or mainly outside their trade or business. If you claim a buyer was not a consumer, it is for you to prove it (Business Companion: selling and supplying goods).

Satisfactory quality: what it means for a used car

A car is of satisfactory quality if it meets the standard a reasonable person would consider satisfactory, taking account of its description, its price and all the other relevant circumstances. Quality covers fitness for the usual purposes, appearance and finish, freedom from minor defects, safety and durability (section 9).

For a used car, Trading Standards guidance lists age, value and price, history including mileage, make, intended use and description among the factors. A buyer should expect some wear and tear and a few scratches on an older car, but it still has to match its description and perform as a similar car of that age, mileage and model reasonably would. The guidance gives the example of a 10-year-old, 120,000-mile car sold for £3,500 whose clutch fails after four months: if clutches on that model typically need replacing after about eight years or 100,000 miles, that is likely to be fair wear and tear, not a breach (Business Companion).

A fresh MOT does not by itself make a car of satisfactory quality, and you are liable for faults present at the sale even if they only show up later, such as a worn handbrake cable that fails two months on.

Fit for purpose

The car must do what cars of that kind are normally used for. If the customer tells you they need it for something specific, such as towing a caravan of a stated weight, and you say it will do the job, it has to be reasonably fit for that purpose too (section 10). If you are not sure a car can do what the customer wants, say so, in writing.

As described

The car must match everything you say about it, whether that is in the advert, on the windscreen card, in a text or over the phone (section 11). “One owner” on a car that has had four, or “air conditioning” that does not work, is a breach of contract, and it may also be a misleading action under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.

What the customer cannot claim for

A customer cannot claim for fair wear and tear, for damage they caused, or for a fault you specifically pointed out before they bought the car. They also cannot claim for a defect that their own examination of the car ought to have revealed, which in practice mainly means obvious cosmetic damage like a dent (section 9(4)). Changing their mind is not a fault, unless the sale was at a distance.

The 30-day short-term right to reject

For 30 days a customer can reject a car that does not meet the standards above and get a full refund, with no deduction for use. The period starts the day after ownership (or, for hire purchase and conditional sale, possession) has passed to the customer and the car has been delivered (section 22).

If the customer asks for or agrees to a repair during those 30 days, the clock stops while the car is with you. When they get it back, they have the rest of the 30 days or seven days, whichever is longer, to decide whether the repair has worked. Trading Standards’ example: a fault on day 26, the car back on day 29, and the customer has until day 36 to reject (Business Companion).

Mileage does not reduce a short-term rejection: Trading Standards’ example is a motorhome rejected for a full refund after 5,000 miles in 21 days. In your favour, for a short-term rejection the customer has to show the fault was there at delivery. The six-month presumption below does not apply to it.

Repair or replacement, and the one-repair rule

After 30 days, or earlier if the customer prefers, the first remedy is a repair or a replacement car. You must provide it within a reasonable time, without significant inconvenience to the customer, and at your cost, including getting the car back to your workshop (section 23).

The customer can choose, unless their choice is impossible or disproportionate compared with the other. With used cars, finding a near-identical replacement is often very hard, so a quick repair is usually the proportionate answer.

You get one go. If one repair or one replacement does not fix the problem, the customer can move straight to a price reduction or the final right to reject (section 24(5)). They can agree to let you try again, but they do not have to. The remedy also fails if it takes an unreasonable time or causes significant inconvenience, which a courtesy car during a long repair can help avoid.

The six-month rule: who has to prove the fault?

If a fault appears within six months of delivery, the law presumes it was there when the car was delivered, and it is for you to prove otherwise (section 19(14)). This is the “reverse burden of proof”. It applies to claims for repair, replacement, price reduction and final rejection.

The presumption does not apply where it is incompatible with the nature of the goods or the fault, for example obvious signs of misuse. After six months, the customer has to prove the fault, or its underlying cause, was there at delivery. Where you and the customer cannot agree on the cause, Trading Standards suggest an independent inspection, ideally agreed by both of you in writing (Business Companion: selling and supplying goods).

This is where a dated inspection report, photos and job sheets earn their keep.

The final right to reject and deductions for use

If the repair or replacement fails, the customer chooses between keeping the car with a price reduction, which can be anything up to the full price, or rejecting it for a refund (section 24).

On a final rejection you can reduce the refund to reflect the use the customer has had. For most goods, no deduction is allowed in the first six months, but motor vehicles are an exception, so for cars a deduction is possible at any point after the 30-day window.

The Act does not say how to work it out. Trading Standards say it must reflect actual use, mainly mileage, and that refunding the car’s current part exchange or valuation-tool figure is not acceptable. The Chartered Trading Standards Institute suggests (but does not require) a method based on the car’s new price, a 12-year life and 12,000 miles a year. In one of its worked examples, a five-year-old car sold for £10,500, with a new list price of £22,200, gives a rate of 18.5p a mile, so 1,600 miles of use means a £296 deduction and a £10,204 refund (Business Companion: deduction for use calculations).

Refunds, collection and part exchanges

When a customer rejects a car, you must refund them without undue delay and within 14 days of agreeing they are entitled to it. The refund goes back by the same payment method unless the customer agrees otherwise, and you cannot charge a fee for it (section 20).

The customer only has to make the car available for you to collect, and you bear the reasonable cost of the return. If you want rejected cars brought back to your forecourt, make it a term of the contract and tell customers clearly before they buy. Even then, they may be able to claim costs such as recovery for a car that has broken down.

A refund can include giving back a part exchange. If you have already sold the part exchange, the customer cannot get it back under the Act, but they can claim damages for their loss instead (Business Companion). Our part exchange guide for car dealers covers the rest of the process.

How long can a customer claim?

In England and Wales, a customer can take legal action up to six years from buying the car. In Scotland it is five years from discovering the fault, with no claim possible more than ten years after the purchase (Business Companion).

That does not mean a used car has to last six years without a fault. It is the time limit for claiming about a fault present when the car was sold.

“Sold as seen”, “trade sale” and “sold as spares”

“Sold as seen” does not remove a consumer’s rights when a dealer sells to the public. A contract term that tries to exclude or restrict your liability for satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose or description is not binding on a consumer (section 31).

Trading Standards guidance says you cannot use “sold as seen”, “unroadworthy”, “trade sale only”, “no refund”, “spare or repair” or “sold as scrap” in consumer sales, even with “this does not affect your statutory rights” added, and that using them to mislead customers about their rights can be a misleading action under the DMCC Act. It also warns against “declarations” where the customer signs to say they examined the car and had every fault pointed out (Business Companion). For genuine business-to-business sales, see trade sales explained.

What does protect you is specific disclosure. A fault you specifically draw to the customer’s attention before the sale cannot later make the car unsatisfactory (section 9(4)). “Gearbox whines in third, priced accordingly”, written on the invoice and signed for, is worth far more than a blanket label.

A car genuinely sold for spares or repair must be clearly marked, should not be sold with an MOT or road tax, and should not be driven away. Selling an unroadworthy car for road use is a criminal offence (Business Companion: selling used vehicles).

Trade-to-trade sales

When you sell to another business, the Consumer Rights Act does not apply. The Sale of Goods Act 1979 still does. Between businesses, the quality and description terms can be excluded or restricted, but only so far as the term is reasonable (Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, section 6). A trade sale to a genuine motor trader is different from calling a retail sale a “trade sale”. Labelling a sale to a member of the public as trade does not turn them into a business buyer, and falsely presenting yourself as a private seller is a banned practice (Business Companion: selling used vehicles).

Online and distance sales: the 14-day right to cancel

If you sell a car at a distance, the customer can cancel within 14 days for any reason, even if nothing is wrong with it. This comes from the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, and it sits alongside the Consumer Rights Act, not instead of it.

Whether it is a distance sale depends on where the contract is made. Trading Standards give three examples: a car ordered, paid for and delivered with no visit is a distance sale; a car committed to online and then collected is still a distance sale; but a car reserved online, with the paperwork signed and paid for at the dealership, is an on-premises sale with no cooling-off period (Business Companion: car traders and the Consumer Contracts Regulations).

For a distance sale (Business Companion: distance sales):

• The 14 days start the day after the customer takes physical possession of the car.
• You must give the pre-contract information, including the cancellation right. If you do not, the cancellation period is extended by up to 12 months.
• You must refund everything paid, including the original delivery charge, within 14 days of getting the car back or of proof it has been sent back, whichever is earlier. If you offered to collect the car yourself, the 14 days run from the day the customer tells you they are cancelling (regulation 34).
• The customer only pays to return the car if you told them they would.
• You can deduct for any loss in value caused by handling the car beyond what is needed to establish its nature, characteristics and function, but only if you told the customer about their cancellation rights. No other cancellation or restocking fees are allowed.

Our electronic signatures let customers sign order forms and invoices on their phone, with a record of who opened and signed them.

Cars sold on finance

When a car is sold on hire purchase, PCP or conditional sale, the finance company is the supplier, so the customer’s Consumer Rights Act rights are against the finance company, not you. Your obligations are to the finance company under your agreement with them (Business Companion).

If the customer gives you a notice of rejection or cancellation, you must pass it to the finance company (sections 102 and 175 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974), and in practice you will usually coordinate the rejection. If the finance company does not put things right, the customer can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which asks for job sheets, pre-sale checklists, inspection reports, the advert and the invoice when deciding whether the car was of satisfactory quality (Financial Ombudsman Service: car finance).

If the customer paid any part of the price, even a deposit, by credit card, and the car cost more than £100 and no more than £30,000, they may also be able to claim against the card provider under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act (Citizens Advice: getting your money back if you paid by card). If you broke finance for the sale, you need the right FCA permission or an appointed representative arrangement that covers it, and our finance tools page explains how applications reach your lenders.

Dealer warranties vs statutory rights

A warranty you give or sell is on top of the customer’s legal rights, never instead of them. You cannot refuse a complaint because the warranty has expired or because the part is excluded from cover. What matters is whether the car was of satisfactory quality when you sold it (Business Companion).

Trading Standards’ example: a five-year-old £7,000 car with a 12-month warranty that excludes gearboxes. The gearbox fails at four months. Because that is inside six months, the fault is presumed to have been there at the sale, and the customer is entitled to a repair or replacement despite the exclusion.

A free warranty must be in plain English, say it does not affect the customer’s legal rights, and be available to read before the sale. For choosing and selling warranty products, see our guide to selling used car warranties.

Pre-sale checks and paperwork that protect you

The best defence against a rejection is a car that was properly checked and a written record that shows it. Trading Standards’ checklist for used car dealers recommends (Business Companion: practical checklist):

1. A pre-sale inspection by a qualified person, so the car is safe, roadworthy and of satisfactory quality. Do not rely on the MOT or service history alone.
2. History checks: stolen, outstanding finance, write-offs and accident damage, and previous business use such as rental, taxi or driving school. Our guide to Cat S and Cat N write-offs covers what to tell buyers.
3. Mileage checks against the DVSA MOT record and the car’s condition, with disclaimers only as a last resort.
4. Written disclosure before the sale of known faults, MOT advisories, write-off history and service or mileage discrepancies.
5. Finishing checks before you sell. Telling a customer results will follow after the sale does not remove your risk.
6. Keeping a full record of every check. Trading Standards or a customer may ask to see it.

Our free vehicle inspection checklist is a good starting point for the inspection itself.

How to handle a rejection, step by step

Respond quickly, work out which stage of the remedies you are at, and keep everything in writing. Traders have a legal duty to respond to complaints as quickly as possible and make their best efforts to resolve them (Business Companion).

1. Log the complaint with the date, the fault and the mileage.
2. Work out the timeline. Under 30 days from delivery (not counting time with you for repair), short-term rejection is available. Under six months, the fault is presumed to have been there at delivery.
3. Pull your records: inspection report, photos, advert, invoice and anything you disclosed in writing.
4. Inspect the car, or agree an independent inspection in writing if you disagree about the cause.
5. Check how it was paid for. If it is on hire purchase or PCP, tell the finance company straight away.
6. Offer the right remedy: a full refund in the first 30 days, a repair or replacement after that, and a price reduction or final rejection if your one repair has failed. You can also agree any other fair solution the customer freely accepts.
7. Refund within 14 days of agreeing, by the original payment method, and arrange collection.
8. Tell the customer about ADR if your own complaints process ends without agreement.

If you dispute the claim, explain why. Refusing to listen to complaints, or wrongly telling customers they have no rights, can itself breach the DMCC Act.

Alternative dispute resolution and The Motor Ombudsman

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) settles a dispute without going to court. If you have exhausted your complaints procedure, you must tell the customer whether an ADR scheme is available to them. If you belong to a scheme, you must cooperate with it (Business Companion).

The Motor Ombudsman is a certified ADR provider for businesses accredited to its Codes of Practice, including its Vehicle Sales Code for new and used cars. The customer must complain to the dealer first, and can go to the ombudsman after eight weeks or once the dealer has given a final response. Its service is free for consumers, and it assesses complaints against the Consumer Rights Act and its codes. It does not handle car finance claims, which go to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Accreditation is voluntary.

Common mistakes

Mistake	What the law says
Writing "sold as seen" or "trade sale" on a retail invoice	It does not bind a consumer, and can mislead them about their rights. Disclose specific faults instead.
Insisting on a second or third repair	You get one attempt. After that the customer chooses a price reduction or rejection.
Refunding the trade value on a rejection	A deduction must reflect the customer's actual use, not the car's current value.
Pointing to the warranty exclusions	A warranty adds to statutory rights. It never replaces them.
Telling a finance customer to deal with the lender alone	You must pass their rejection notice to the finance company.
No inspection record	Within six months you have to prove the fault was not there at delivery. Without records you have little to show.

Bought a used car from a dealer? Your rights as a buyer

If a used car you bought from a dealer has a fault, the rights above are yours. In short:

1. Tell the dealer promptly and in writing, saying what the fault is and what you want: rejection, repair or replacement. Keep copies of everything.
2. Within 30 days of getting the car, you can reject it for a full refund if it was faulty when you got it.
3. After 30 days, the dealer normally gets one chance to repair or replace it. If that fails, you can reject the car, with a deduction for the use you have had, or keep it with a price reduction.
4. On finance, your claim is against the finance company, but you can give your rejection notice to the dealer, who must pass it on.
5. If you cannot agree, ask the dealer whether they belong to an ADR scheme such as The Motor Ombudsman. Citizens Advice can also help.

Your rights are weaker if you bought privately. Which? explains that “buyer beware” applies to private sales, though the seller must still describe the car accurately and not misrepresent it (Which?: the car I bought has a problem).

How Haswent helps

Haswent keeps the records a rejection dispute turns on. Inspections let you run pre-delivery inspections and health checks from your own templates, with photos and a printable branded report. Each car’s record in stock management holds its body, interior, mechanical and tyre condition, service records and MotorCheck history reports. When you complete a deal, the sales invoice is raised for you, and electronic signatures let the customer sign the order form and invoice on their phone. If a customer does reject a car, the evidence is in one place.

Contact us for a demo.

Sources

• Consumer Rights Act 2015, Part 1, Chapter 2 (goods), including sections 9, 10, 11, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24 and 31
• Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013
• Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, section 6
• Business Companion (Trading Standards): car traders and consumer law, part 2, Consumer Rights Act
• Business Companion: car traders and consumer law, part 3, Consumer Contracts Regulations
• Business Companion: annex A, deduction for use calculations
• Business Companion: annex B, practical checklist
• Business Companion: selling and supplying goods
• Business Companion: selling used vehicles
• Business Companion: consumer contracts, distance sales
• Financial Ombudsman Service: car finance complaints
• Citizens Advice: getting your money back if you paid by card or PayPal
• The Motor Ombudsman: car complaints and dispute resolution
• Which?: the car I bought has a problem, what are my rights?

Frequently asked questions