Brits waste £456 million every year buying the wrong car

Britons waste £456 million pounds a year on bad purchasing decisions when it comes to used cars simply because they don’t do their homework.

According to research from Network Q, the UK’s number one used car retailer, consumers are literally throwing money out the window by not shopping around for better advice and deals, with an average of 28% car decisions ending in regret.

54% of us know someone who has made a bad used car purchase and with 7.5 million used cars sold in the UK every year, that makes a lot of unhappy motorists.

According to the research, most bad decisions (45%) are made at local independent dealers, which are responsible for over seven times the rate of bad car buys at national used car retailers, with a further 40% of respondents claiming to have made a bad car buying decision through private sales.

32 per cent of respondents quote ‘lack of knowledge’ of used cars as the main reason for making bad purchasing decisions, whilst 23 per cent claimed that untrustworthy sales people were responsible for driving them to a purchase they would later regret.

If they had the opportunity to do things differently, 35 per cent said they would buy from a more trustworthy retailer and 45 per cent would insist on an approved mechanical check before purchasing.

Unfortunately our bad purchasing decisions are not just restricted to used cars. The research revealed that 89% of Brits admit to having made a bad purchase and that we waste £9.2 billion every year, an average of £290 per person per year, on purchases we regret.

68% blame themselves for buying too quickly with the worst culprits being 18-24 year olds who waste an average of £440 per year on bad buys. The most expensive purchasing mistakes are made in East Anglia, where they waste an average of £406 per year on bad buys.

Mike Brown, Used Vehicle Sales, Marketing and Operations Director at Network Q, says: "Far too much money is still being thrown away in Britain every year on bad purchases – particularly used cars.

"For an industry well documented for its pitfalls and unscrupulous salespeople, the British are still prepared to risk bad purchases and waste money by trying to take short cuts on expensive items. If you want to avoid the risk of making a bad purchase always go to a reputable, national retailer, one you can trust and demand a 114 pt check on every car."