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I’ve warned about this before but since the tightening of Data Protection rules with GDPR it’s worth mentioning again. It all started a few years ago when the wife of a well-known football player part exchanged her car for a new one. When she sold the car she didn’t think of clearing down the information stored in her in-car telephone book.

The dealer who bought the car as a part exchange realised that he could access the telephone numbers and seeing that there were many mobile numbers of A-list celebrities he offered them to a National newspaper. When it came to light what had happened, after journalists were contacting the celebrities, a court case ensued. The dealer argued that as he bought the car he also bought the data stored in the car. The onus was on the previous owner to remove anything that wasn’t included as she would have done with any personal effects.

Data protection rules were not so tough at the time but even so the dealer was seen to be breaking data protection regulations and was fined. Since then, of course, the amount of data stored on your car has increased. Addresses, places you have visited along with telephone numbers and in some cases driving style. You may think that most of this information is pretty benign but it may not be.

If you own company cars or you are a company car driver there is an onus on the employer to ensure that they protect driver’s personal data. There is a now a company that will cleanse ex-fleet cars and remove all data but they only deal with company cars. If you are concerned about your data stored in your car you can always remove it yourself or ask your local dealer to remove it for you before you return it at the end of your lease or PCP or part exchange it.

If the car is part exchanged the dealer is responsible for ensuring that the data is removed before selling it on. With fines of up to 2% of global annual turnover this could end up having a major effect on employers and/or dealers. By Graham Hill

Citizens Advice have warned about unreasonable behaviour by bailiffs. According to CAB 850,000 consumers have had a bad experience with a bailiff, from forced entry to near illegal threatening behaviour. Charities have called on the Government to take action and regulate the industry.

When it comes to cars, some lenders will use bailiffs to recover cars that are still on a finance agreement. Far too often ‘Innocent Buyers’ are forced into handing over keys when in fact they legally own the car. If you buy a car from someone and it turns out to be on HP, provided you’ve asked if the car is on finance and the owner has told you that it isn’t then you are the legal owner of the car (doesn’t apply to contract hire).

You don’t have to check that the car is on HPI because there is no legal obligation on lenders to record their finance agreements on there in the first place. Some bailiffs will turn up with a copy of the agreement showing that the finance company that has appointed them still owns the car. They will explain that you should contact the seller of the car and sue him to recover what you paid as he was not entitled to sell the car in the first place.

They will often have a form that they will ask you to sign that effectively passes the car over to the Bailiffs ‘innocently and without pressure’ and ‘voluntarily’. Once you have signed the form and handed over the car keys it is virtually impossible to get your car back.

Whatever the circumstances unless bailiffs turn up with a court order tell them you want to verify what they are saying, leave their card and give you 24 hours. Then phone Citizens Advice or if you have legal cover on your contents or car insurance phone their helpline for advice.

If you are visited by a bailiff who is acting unreasonably call the police and if you are unsure of your rights and you don’t have access to a legal helpline call the company that the bailiffs work for. Yet more examples of the law being toothless. It’s a disgrace! By Graham Hill

My previous blog was entitled Is The Consumer Rights Act Fit For Purpose? I give a typical example of how consumers are being ripped off by dealers not willing to honour their legal obligations. I also give a number of actions that customers can take that will help them to get a result.

After a lot of research, I have come across what I believe is a better solution. The RAC has a legal insurance policy called Legal Care Plus. It covers much more than a normal legal cover extension on the average car insurance policy.

The important cover is:

Motor Vehicle Consumer Disputes

RAC will cover up to £5,000 in legal costs following a breach of an agreement relating to the sale, purchase, hire or servicing of a motor vehicle.

I spoke to a representative who confirmed that this would cover warranty disputes as a result of the vehicle being faulty. In addition, it covers legal costs and expenses for uninsured loss recovery, for example, loss of earnings to the tune of £100,000. Where you have an accident that was not your fault you can also recover your excess.

Along with other cover, the policy looks really good to me. And the cost? Just £15 per annum. Always take professional advice before taking out an insurance product. By Graham Hill

I’ve just been reading yet another story about someone trying to reject a faulty car and not being allowed to by the dealership. What the hell is the point of an act of Parliament to protect consumers if it is totally toothless when you try to apply it?

What Car reported an incident that involved a lady who was driving a nearly new BMW 1 Series, bought with 2,200 miles on the clock for £22,000. After 5 days and 93 miles the car broke down, it shuddered, misfired and lost all power. The oil warning light came on and the onboard computer stated there was a problem with the drivetrain.

The lady driver stated that the car broke down in a dangerous position but she managed to get it to limp to a safe place then made a long walk to a friend’s house. After advising the supplying dealer it was a week before the car was collected. They then called a day later saying that they had driven the car for 60 miles and couldn’t find a fault so suggested that she could collect the car.

Following the non-repair the car has suffered sporadic electrical problems leaving the lady with no confidence that it might break down again leaving her stranded. As a result the lady wrote to the supplying dealer telling them that she wanted to reject the car under the 30-day rejection rule as part of the Consumer Rights Act. She was told by the dealer that she couldn’t reject the car as there was nothing wrong with it.

As reliability and safety were all important to her, especially as she is normally in the car alone, she still wasn’t happy. She wrote to the dealer advising them as such and informing them that she wanted to return the car for a full refund.

They replied by explaining that as there was nothing wrong with the car she couldn’t return it for a refund. But they offered another 1 series that they had in stock as a replacement. The car was cheaper than her original car so she would be financially out of pocket as they refused to refund the difference. The lady felt that she had been treated appallingly – sadly she isn’t alone.

So what was the outcome when she wrote to What Car?

They, first of all, confirmed that she was within her rights to return the faulty car for a full refund. The car was considered to be of unsatisfactory quality as the car was, and continued to be, faulty. And as it was likely to break down again leaving the lady stranded it was also considered to be unfit for purpose. All of which I totally agreed with.

What Car suggested that the lady go back to the dealership and reiterate what they had said to her. She did that and on the same day the dealer got straight back to her and said she was wrong about her consumer rights and she could not reject the car. As a result What Car contacted BMW’s UK head office to ask for their intervention – which they duly did. The following day the dealer called her and agreed to a full refund.

Now whilst this may look like a great outcome and in the case of the lady concerned – and it was but in my opinion, it is wrong on so many levels. Not least of which the dealer will receive the car back with a fault – so given their attitude will they fix it? No, they won’t because they don’t believe the car is faulty. So will they continue to sell the car until someone accepts their argument and accepts the faults or pays for the fix themselves – if it can be fixed? I suspect that this is the route they will take.

Solution 1: Record on HPI and Experian that the car had been rejected and list the reasons. The dealer wouldn’t do this automatically because it alerts the new owner so they would need to be obligated to by law. But if we do that we will need to make it compulsory for lenders and insurers to record finance links and insurance damage – something that isn’t compulsory at the moment. Ridiculous. We need changes.

If you experience a fault immediately after taking delivery of your car (within 30 days), either new or used, from a dealer or trader (not private) you should reject it immediately by putting it in writing. An email or a letter should do (I suggest a letter that is signed for). If the issue is minor such as say a loose piece of trim that can be easily fixed you can give the dealer an opportunity to fix.

Remember you don’t have to give the dealer an opportunity to fix within the first 30 days but the fault does have to be genuine, you can’t just change your mind about the car. I’ve heard of situations whereby the customer has a fault and insists that the dealer refund the cost. The dealer (as in the case above) takes the car back, repairs the fault then says that a fault didn’t exist. So this is where my next piece of advice is all important.

If your car suffers a fault take as many photos and/or videos that you can with your phone showing the car running badly, an item not working and certainly warnings that appear on the dashboard. Don’t put yourself at risk so get the help of a friend or relation to take photos if the fault occurs and you can get someone else to video it whilst you’re driving.

The next thing is to register your complaint with Trading Standards. The more people that complain the better the picture that Trading Standards will have of the dealer. If the dealer has a bad record of not treating customers fairly and meeting their legal obligations you may find that they come to a quick solution. And Trading Standards have legal clout.

The problem is that you can no longer contact Trading Standards direct. You have to go through the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline and they decide whether to refer to Trading Standards. In most instances that won’t be a problem – just a minor delay.

Make sure that you don’t sign any forms, simply write to the dealer advising that you want to exercise your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to hand the car back for a full refund and explain why. Some dealers will hand you a form to sign which may have a string of conditions included – they are not legally enforceable but they’ll try it on. Don’t sign it.

You can write to the manufacturer as well, as happened with What Car and also to any trade association of which the dealer is a member. Most are members of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. They should be able to refer you to an independent dispute resolution body but make sure that it isn’t the Motor Ombudsman as I don’t believe they are totally independent. You can only use them if the dealer is a member which costs them money so I believe their advice cannot possibly be totally independent.

It should also be born in mind that if you buy goods from a shop, say a kettle from Argos, it is the responsibility of the shop if the goods are faulty, not the manufacturer. Once the shop has resolved your complaint it is then up to the retailer to take up the issue with the manufacturer – nothing to do with you. A manufacturer’s warranty is in addition to your legal rights – not a replacement. However, this isn’t the case with a Franchised dealer. He trades as an extension of the car manufacturer as a ‘franchisee’ so when you deal with the dealer you also deal with the manufacturer.

The manufacturer has a reputation to maintain so it isn’t unusual for them to overturn a local decision made by their franchisee. So if you don’t get satisfaction from the dealer certainly go for the manufacturer.

Finally, check your home and car insurance policy if you have legal cover. At worst they will give you legal advice at best their lawyers will write to the dealer. By Graham Hill

Have you ever had a headlight bulb blow on your car? In truth, if you only ever drive new cars with a full manufacturer’s warranty you could be excused for believing that they would be covered for the term of the warranty so it wouldn’t matter if a bulb did blow. But if you think that – you might like to check the terms of your warranty.

Some manufacturers cover your light bulbs till the warranty runs out but others will cover the bulbs for a fixed term or until you reach the first service. They all seem to have a different approach. So I found it interesting to read the results of an investigation carried out by What Car.

Now, under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t bother reporting on such an article. Especially as I had a bulb blow on my Mercedes after about 2 years. I simply popped into Halfords, bought a bulb for about £18 and they fitted it for me. In fact it took no more than seconds to disconnect the connector, flip a clip, replace the bulb, clip it in place, reconnect the connector and it was all done.

However, a friend with a Renault Megane found that in order to replace a headlamp bulb you have to practically dismantle the whole of the front of the car which can be extremely expensive, especially if this replacement isn’t part of the warranty. And it isn’t a job you could do yourself unless you are an engineer.

But it gets worse. When What Car carried out its survey it found that exchange bulbs varied greatly. The cheapest they found was a Suzuki Swift Halogen bulb, costing £4 with prices increasing up to a maximum of £20 for a Citroen C3 Halogen bulb. But that’s just Halogen bulbs.

If your car has High-Intensity Discharge bulbs fitted you could be in for a shock. According to some bulb manufacturers, the bulbs should last for 10 years whilst others say they should last the lifetime of the car.

So you may not have to replace a bulb but if you do it will be then that you will find out that you can’t simply replace the bulb, you have to replace the whole sealed unit  which, according to What Car, can cost from £211 on an Audi A1 S-Line to £846 for a replacement unit fitted to a Polo GTI. A Vauxhall Corsa can cost £317 whilst a Honda Jazz can be £714. And those prices don’t include fitting.

At these prices, it has been known that used cars with a blown bulb have been written off as it costs more to replace the bulb or headlamp unit than the car is worth. This is what What Car says: If you’re going to keep your car for many years or are buying second hand, we’d recommend avoiding models and trim levels that have sealed headlamp units. Stick with halogen bulbs if you want the cheapest replacement bulb costs, or go for a model such as the Mini Hatchback that lets you replace HID bulbs separately.

They go on to say that ‘If your car fails its MOT test because the lights aren’t bright enough, rather than replacing the light units, you can buy a headlight restoration kit for less than £20. You can use this kit to polish up yellowed or lightly scratched headlight lenses so they’re crystal clear again’. But of course, this won’t help if the bulb has blown.

Yet again a hidden cost that really should be made apparent when you buy your new or used car. And it raises the big question that I’ve been discussing around warranties. If your warranty has bulbs covered till your first service and a bulb goes after the service is this an enhancement of your legal rights – which is what a warranty should be? I would suggest not.

Don’t forget (see my PCP Report free on grahamhilltraining.com) that at the moment you are covered by the EU 2 year guarantee that comes with anything you buy, new or used, from a trader or business (not privately). By Graham Hill

This isn’t down to the cost of the glass itself, which is expensive enough, but more down to the cost of re-calibration of cameras and software. Something that most drivers are unaware of when they have a windscreen replaced.

Sadly this could well have an adverse effect on smaller independent windscreen replacement companies but could also lead to cars being less safe as the fitters, unable to re-calibrate as they don’t have the equipment, simply leave it leaving you with unsafe safety systems.

The safety systems fitted to new cars, called Advance Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) include autonomous emergency braking and lane assist, both of which rely upon cameras that operate through the windscreen. If the systems are not recalibrated following a windscreen replacement you may find that the car drifts out of its lane without detection or the emergency braking fails to identify an obstacle.

In 2015 just 1% of cars required recalibration. That has now increased to 9% of private cars and 34% of fleet/business cars as they tend to be newer. National Windscreens has invested £2 million in ADAS recalibration whilst Autoglass is launching 14 new recalibration centres and will have 70 workshops with the capability open by December 2018.

Dr Chris Davies, director of superiority at Belron (no seriously that’s his title), owners of Autoglass, explained why recalibration is necessary. When manufacturing the glass there are levels of tolerance and with slight differences in the positioning of the windscreen it can cause the cameras to effectively be in a different position.

Most cars require a static recalibration which can take place in a workshop but some must be dynamically recalibrated on the road. All recalibration must be carried out by a qualified engineer but dynamic recalibration needs the car to be driven at a fixed speed over a certain distance which can cause problems in city centres or at times of the year when you’ve got snow.

All of this makes it impossible for some smaller windscreen fitters to be able to do what is necessary to make the car safe so there is a risk that the recalibration doesn’t take place. Not good when your life could depend on it. If you know that your car doesn’t have ADAS systems fitted you should be fine but if in doubt make sure you use a major windscreen fitter.

Following the warnings from the BVRLA and myself, it is important to carry out a check to see if the company you are dealing with is properly authorised. If the company isn’t authorised the onus falls on your shoulders should fraud have been committed.

You cannot make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) against a company that isn’t on the FCA register as authorised.

That is scary because it means if you’ve been scammed by an unauthorised firm – you’re stuffed!

You can check the FCA Register by clicking on the following link and inserting the company name. Try using ‘GHA Finance’ as an example.

https://register.fca.org.uk/

Here is an extract from the FCA website:

If you deal with an unauthorised firm you will not be covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service(link is external) or Financial Services Compensation Scheme(link is external) (FSCS) if things go wrong.

Unfortunately there are firms that operate without our authorisation and some knowingly run scams like share fraud and other investment scams.

If a firm does not appear on the Register but claims it does, search for it in the list below and contact our Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768.

Beware of fraudsters pretending to be from a firm authorised by us, as it could be what we call a ‘clone firm‘. If you are cold-called by a financial services firm always ring them back on the switchboard number given on the Register.

We add firms to this list as soon as possible but it is not exhaustive. Do not assume a firm is legitimate just because it does not appear in this list – these firms frequently change their name and it may not have been reported to us yet.

You should take further steps to protect yourself from unauthorised firms and check our list of warnings from foreign regulators(link is external). You can also find out about share fraud and other investment scams.

Search for an unauthorised firm below or see the most recently added firms.

As you can see, not carrying out a quick check could leave you seriously out of pocket with no-one to turn to for help.

So far this year BMW has recalled 312,000 cars in the UK over a stalling issue whilst Toyota has issued two notices worldwide for 3.4 million recalls. VW and Seat have recalled Polos, Aronas and Ibiza’s over malfunctioning rear seatbelt buckles. Whilst recalls are becoming more common, if you receive a notice it doesn’t always make it clear as to what you are supposed to do.

Being told that you have a safety recall can be worrying but how serious should it be taken? Are manufacturers forced to issue recalls? How are the recalls issued? In an exclusive interview with Auto Express Neil Barlow, head of vehicle engineering at the Driver Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), explained how the system works.

The most critical level of recall is the ‘Stop Drive Recall’. This is very serious but very rare apparently. If this recall is issued it’s a little like an aeroplane being grounded, the car must not be driven. Next level is a Safety Recall. This is the most common recall that the DVSA has to deal with. Neil explained this as follows, ‘Where a vehicle or component is deemed by our engineers, usually along with the manufacturers’ engineers, to present some safety risks.’

Drivers can continue driving the affected car whilst waiting for the problem to be fixed, ‘Unless informed otherwise,’ according to Mr Barlow. The DVSA also gets involved when a manufacturer has ‘non-code actions’ and ‘service campaigns’, where it will assist them to contact owners regarding defects that do not present a serious safety risk.

According to Mr Barlow, they hear about problems mainly from manufacturers and they can sometimes hear about the issues from dealers who have had drivers come in with consistent faults. Drivers can also report issues directly to the DVSA via DVSA online.

8 Dedicated engineers and 350 examiners are on hand to assist with inspections. Once a fault has been identified the engineers discuss a fix with the manufacturer. Car brands are obliged to advise the DVSA if they identify safety-related problems and a recall notice issued if the fault is likely to affect the ‘safe operation’ of the car or may ‘pose a significant risk to the driver, occupants and others’.

Recently there have been several press reports when it came to light that the DVSA recommended a safety recall be issued but the manufacturer initially refused. This has now been cleared up as a result of the DVSA taking legal advice. The result is that the DVSA can insist on notices being issued. If the manufacturers don’t conform the DVSA can take legal action or place a suspension notice on vehicles that are affected to prevent them from being sold.

If you receive a notice you should contact your local dealer or follow the instructions included in the notice. Notices are sent by recorded delivery but the problem faced by manufacturers and the DVSA is that too many drivers don’t respond to the notice. Then sell the car to an unsuspecting purchaser.

As Barlow pointed out it is possible for drivers to check their cars to see if there is an outstanding recall notice by visiting www.check-mot.service.gov.uk. Drivers may have to pay for remedial work when it relates to ‘non-code actions’ but work done under a safety recall should be free of charge. By Graham Hill

I recently announced in my newsletter that the Government was going to pull the plug (get it) on electric vehicle and hybrid grants in November. Hybrid cars that have an electric, zero-emission, range of less than 70 miles were to have their grants reduced to zero and the grants for full electric vehicles were to drop from £4,500 to £3,500.

Whilst drivers brought forward their purchases to benefit from the last of the grants the Government forgot to mention that there was a pot of grant available and when that pot went so did the old grants and the new grants were to kick in.

So imagine the shock when car dealers and leasing company staff rocked up for work on Monday to find that the new grant structure was effective from Monday morning. Presumably, because the old pot of grant money had gone by Sunday night. The Government revealed that qualifying car sales increased by 6 fold following the Government’s announcement.

I covered the announcement in a previous blog/post so I won’t repeat but we are already behind most of Europe when it comes to charger infrastructure and the take-up of hybrids and EV’s is still low even though the higher uptake of the two is the reason given by the Government for people buying hybrids and EV’s. More would take electric vehicles if there was less anxiety over the range, hence the popularity of hybrids.

Personally, I think that removing the grants on hybrids is a bad move. Many used it as a stepping stone towards a full electric but they are now being pushed out of the market and back into petrol and diesel cars purely because of cost – retro-move! By Graham Hill

The Department for Transport (DfT) has revealed that an amazing 1 in 4 drivers who died on our roads in 2017 wasn’t wearing a seat belt. Official figures revealed that 1,793 people were killed on UK roads last year. Of those, 27% were not wearing a seatbelt, up from 20% the previous year.

The fine for not wearing a seatbelt is currently £100 which rises to £500 if the case goes to court. Clearly, this isn’t enough of a deterrent. As much as we hated Jimmy Saville his clunk click campaigns worked but what on earth causes drivers not to belt up when they get into a car? It just doesn’t make sense. We need some new campaigns to make drivers aware of the dangers that still exist.

On to cars:

Cars are exposed to dangers as a result of ineffective speed bumps. A survey carried out by Confused.com revealed that over a fifth of drivers had experienced car damage as a result of speed bumps with repairs costing an average of £141. Whilst not classed as a road defect local authorities have paid out over £35,000 over the last two years in compensation.

Confused.com surveyed 2,000 motorists of whom 22% reported damage caused by driving over a speed bump of which there are 29,000 in the UK. Tyre damage was the most common – in 48% of the cases followed by 33% reporting suspension damage. 41% felt that speed bumps caused too much damage whilst a quarter said that they did nothing to reduce speed – probably the drivers who sustained damage to their cars – idiots!

Advice from Confused.com’s motoring editor, Amanda Stretton was to check the height of the speed hump if they sustained damage whilst driving at a reasonable speed to see if you qualify for compensation. Might have been handy to explain what that height should be! By Graham Hill