My Car Check – the UK’s No.1 consumer vehicle data provider – has commented on two new pieces of legislation which come into force today, Thursday 1 October 2015: The Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the new ban on smoking in cars with under 18s.
The in-car smoking ban
Justin Powell, manager of My Car Check’s Glasgow call centre, said: “Most people agree that smoking with kids in the car is no longer socially acceptable. This new law makes it an offence to smoke in a vehicle with anyone under 18 present. The penalty is a £50 fine for both the driver and the smoker. The other thing to bear in mind about in-car smoking is the detrimental affect on the car’s saleability – ash marks, burns or cigarette odour will turn off many buyers and can easily knock 10% off the resale value.”
The Consumer Rights Act 2015
Justin Powell, manager of My Car Check’s Glasgow call centre, said: “The new Consumer Rights Act replaces the Sale of Goods Act. The most important implications for consumers buying from a bona fide motor trader are: 1) a period of 30 days in which to return faulty goods and obtain a full refund; 2) a right to one repair within the initial six months. These are very welcome consumer entitlements, but there’s a big problem: The vast majority of unscrupulous behaviour concerns vehicles offered privately, not by dealers. Establishing the identity of the seller is absolutely crucial. Check the V5C logbook. If you are buying from a private seller it will be a civil agreement between two parties, i.e. not covered by the Consumer Rights Act. Professional car dealers are heavily regulated and generally provide a great service. On the other hand, we hear horror stories time and again which start “…he’s not a motor trader, he just sells a few cars as a sideline”. The private used car market is plagued by vehicles which are not ‘as described’, from undeclared damage to still being on finance or even stolen. For the price of a few litres of fuel My Car Check can help you avoid an expensive used car mistake.”
My Car Check’s parent company, CDL Vehicle Information Services, performs over a million look-ups a day for companies including AutoExpress, CompareTheMarket, Go-Compare, Moneysupermarket, Swiftcover, Tesco Compare and WhatCar?.
It uses up-to-the-minute data from the police, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and all major finance houses.
To help UK consumers make the right choice, My Car Check can confirm in seconds whether your potential pride and joy has ever been scrapped, stolen or written-off, has any money owing on it, has had a plate or colour change and much more.
The ban on smoking inside a car with children inside is a very progressive step. Also the Consumer Rights Act 2015 will benefit a number of motorists. This needs to be advertised heavily through social media to make unscrupulous traders wary of any wrong doing.