YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

‘A supposedly reputable garage sold me a clocked car. What can I do?’

Q I bought a car from what I considered to be a reputable garage. There were no knocks, rust or visible damage, and my brother checked it, too.

There was 90,000km on the clock, and I was told the car had one previous owner, a stayat-home mum, who bought it new. I got a good deal but had to forgo any warranty due to the knockdown price. But when I brought it to a mechanic, their diagnostic tool showed the mileage was really 273,000km.

I’ve had to have the clutch repaired, which cost €1,200. I feel like this car is going to cost me a fortune. What can I do?

Geraldine, Co Tipperary

A It sounds like your car has been clocked. ‘Clocking’, which is illegal, means changing the genuine odometer reading to make it look like a car has fewer miles on the clock.

When you buy from a garage or a dealer, the car should be of an acceptable standard. It’s an offence under consumer protection law and a crime for a garage to give false, misleading, or deceptive information about a car’s history.

It’s also a crime for a business not to share important information, like if a car has been clocked or was previously crashed.

Get a nearby independent assessor from the Institute of Automotive Engineer Assessors to check out the car and its history.

When you buy goods – including second-hand goods – from a trader or garage, you enter into a contract.

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2022, the car must be in conformity with the contract and the car must match the description and quality as per your contract, be fit for purpose, and have the durability expected of cars of the same type.

If you can show that your car doesn’t match the description, quality, or durability of what the garage said, you may be entitled to a repair or replacement, a price reduction, or a full refund.

Send the garage a written complaint, outlining the above information and your preferred remedy. You should check if the garage is a member of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (Simi), by visiting simi.ie. If it is, then file a complaint about their member on the website.

Failing a satisfactory response from the garage, you could seek independent legal advice.

Finally, report the issue to the CCPC, using the report form on ccpc.ie under ‘reporting a consumer protection issue’. Your complaint may be investigated and could result in enforcement

action being taken by the CCPC against the car dealer.

‘I work full-time but still don’t see how I can ever afford to start saving’

Q I’m almost 30 and have hardly any savings. This is really stressing me out because I feel like everyone else my age has a couple of grand put aside. I work full-time and make between €30,000 to €40,000 a year. I’m still paying off a student loan and I pay rent monthly. I don’t have a car, but

I still find that I’ve only €100 to put aside at the end of the month. I’m in a relationship now with someone who I want to buy a house with and marry, and I’d like to learn to drive eventually, but I don’t see how I could ever afford to do any of those things. Where should I start?

Luca, Co Leitrim

A Well done on taking the first step towards building a savings habit. The next step is understanding your income and your expenses.

You can use the budget planner on Ccpc.ie to see how you’re spending your money on and how this compares with your income.

There’s also a spending calculator you can use to figure out what you are spending every month, or every year, on items that you might not really consider or budget for. Cutting down on these discretionary expenses can go a long way and leave you with extra money to put towards savings.

Once you understand where your money is going and where you can cut back, you can adopt the ‘pay yourself first’ method.

This involves setting aside part of your income as soon as you receive it before paying any other bills or expenses. Even if you can only afford to put away small amounts, doing this consistently will help you steadily build up your savings over time.

However, given you’re still paying off a student loan, you should put additional funds towards that loan before increasing your regular savings. Paying extra off outstanding loans saves money in the long run, because you pay less interest and clear your debt faster.

Ccpc.ie has a loan calculator that will show how much you could save if you reduce the amount you borrow. Then compare that to how much you’d earn if you’d saved that money instead. You should also check if your loan has any early repayment fees.

If you do opt to save more, you’ll need to decide where to save your money. The Money Tool that you’ll find on our website will help you shop around for the best interest rate on your savings.

There are lots of options, from a deposit account and state savings schemes to credit union accounts and savings accounts in other EU countries.