Brits buying second-hand car on major sites issued 'danger' warning

British motorists have been cautioned after a number of potentially dangerous used cars were found listed on major marketplaces without warning buyers about unresolved safety recalls.

An investigation by Which? has found that some online car retailers are not flagging vehicles that carry serious safety defects. Despite laws banning the sale of cars with unresolved recalls, when Which? contacted car dealers directly, all of them but one incorrectly declared the cars had no outstanding recalls.

Vehicle check services provided by car-listing websites were also found to be unreliable, with some stating the cars were "all clear" and others misclassifying serious recalls as "minor" — some erroneously even claiming the recalls applied only to vehicles in the European Union. It comes after news anyone buying fuel next week given '£15 charge' warning by The AA.

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This ongoing issue means buyers could unknowingly purchase a recalled car without realising the risk until its next MOT. The rare and urgent 'stop-drive' recall issued in June for tens of thousands of cars — Citroën C3s manufactured from 2009 to 2019, Citroën DS3s manufactured from 2009 to 2016, and DS Automobiles DS3s manufactured from 2016 to 2019 — highlighted the problem.

The recall was initiated by Stellantis, the parent company of Citroen, after it was found that affected airbags could, under certain circumstances, explode — posing a severe risk of injury or death to any occupants. Owners of these cars have been instructed not to drive their them for any reason at all until the defect is repaired.

In the last week of June, Which? examined 16 Citroën C3 models from 2009-2016 listed by car dealers — not individuals — on Autotrader.co.uk. Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) data showed 12 of these had unresolved recalls. When Which? messaged the dozen dealers, only seven of them responded, with just one giving the correct recall information. None of the listings for these cars warned of their recall status, and at least one was sold while still under a recall notice.

Carwow was also found to have cars with recalls for sale without any warnings. Which? contacted three dealers advertising on the platform, none of whom replied to their initial request for information. On July 23, Carwow responded to Which? saying: "When we became aware of impacted Citroën models appearing on our marketplace, those affected car listings were removed.

"We've published guidance on our editorial pages, based on Citroën’s advice, to inform owners about the stop-drive notice and are working with Citroën to support any further necessary steps."

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After receiving contact from Which?, Autotrader added visible recall warnings to all relevant Citroën C3s and contacted their sellers advising them to check the cars' recall status. Autotrader said: "It’s important to us to maintain a trusted and transparent marketplace, so once we were made aware of the serious nature of this recall, we took swift action.

"We have added information about the recall on our relevant product pages, and within our Security Advice Centre so consumers are aware of the current issue.

"We have also communicated the information Citroën had shared with its customers to our retailer customers and to consumers who were selling a potentially affected vehicle, so they in turn could take the appropriate action."

Selling a car with an unresolved recall violates the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. The DVSA says "a product with an outstanding safety recall should not be passed to a consumer".

Buyers also have rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to reject, or request a repair or refund, for affected vehicles. So to avoid any nasty surprises, anyone buying a used car should check the UK government’s MOT checker service by entering the number plate of the vehicle they are interested in.

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