8:06 am, May 31, 2016
NEW research carried out by AA Vehicle Inspections – an inspection service for dealers – has revealed that more faults are found on vans than on any other vehicle type.
AA vehicle inspectors were quizzed on the pre-sale inspections they carry out every month at dealerships across the UK to help improve stocks, and 40 per cent said that vans inspected on the forecourt had the most problems.
Almost a quarter (24 per cent) of dealers polled said that medium-sized cars were found to have the most faults during inspection, while 12 per cent of inspectors discovered faults on sports cars more than any other class of vehicle.
The research also questioned inspectors on the most common faults they found on petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric vehicles. Almost all faults (96 per cent) found on diesel cars during inspection related to the engine, compared to 64 per cent of faults relating to the engine on petrol cars. A third (32 per cent) of faults on petrol vehicles were either caused by the chassis, steering or electrics.
According to AA inspectors, electrics proved to be the most problematic on hybrid and electric cars, with 72 per cent of problems detected on hybrids and 64 per cent on electric cars linking to the electrics and lighting.
Meanwhile, almost half of inspectors (48 per cent) discovered more problems on vehicles with mileage between 100,000 and 149,000 miles, compared to just 12 per cent finding more faults on vehicles with mileage above 150,000. More than half of inspectors found that over a quarter of the vehicles they inspected had illegal or unsafe tyres.
David Bruce, director of AA Vehicle Inspections, said: ‘A high number of our inspectors found more faults on vans at dealerships than any other vehicle type.
‘Identifying faults and providing feedback before vehicles are sold to customers helps dealers to improve their stock. It shows the value of having a comprehensive inspection carried out on stock, particularly stock that might be susceptible to faults.’
He added: ‘Not only does the inspection give dealers peace of mind and protection against customers returning a vehicle and asking for their money back, but it should reduce the number of customers returning vehicles, as the dealer has confidence that he is selling vehicles with a clean bill of health.’
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