A used car dealer has been told it can no longer use an advert style on its website because it was found to break advertising regulations.
A potential customer reported Bapchild Motoring World, which operates the Bigmotoringworld.co.uk website, to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) because adverts on the homepage did not include the £142.30 fee in the headline prices that were quoted.
Keeping on top of your administration is necessary whatever type or size of motor trade business you run. As well as making sure your online advertising meets the specified regulations, you should also regularly check that you have the right level of motor trade insurance and road risks insurance to cover the size and scope of your business.
Bapchild Motoring World, which is based in Kent and sells used cars and also offers MOTs and services, fell foul of the regulator because the buyers’ fee information was not displayed clearly on models for sale on the homepage. Potential buyers only found out about the buyers' fee when they clicked for further information and the details of the charge were shown on text at the bottom of the page.
The company told the advertising watchdog that it had consulted with Trading Standards about the form of advertising it used, AM-Online reported.
However, the ASA decided to uphold the complaint, and ruled that “the pricing information in the ad was misleading”.
In a statement, the regulator said: “The CAP Code stipulated that quoted prices must include non-optional taxes, duties, fees and charges that apply to all or most buyers.
“Given that all cars purchased from Bigmotoringworld.co.uk were subject to a buyers’ fee, we considered that it was a non-optional charge that would be applicable to all buyers, and therefore should be included in the quoted prices on the Bigmotoringworld.co.uk website.”
