Pricing

Under the Price Marking Order, all vehicles on your forecourt that are available for purchase must bear an accurate price. This must be the price at which you are willing to sell the vehicle to prospective purchasers.

You must make sure than any prices that appear in your advertisements are the same as the price given on the vehicle. If the prices are different, then you may be committing a criminal offence.

Prices given in the press should be valid until the next edition of the publication. The price must include VAT and must not contain any “hidden extras”, i.e. it must be an all inclusive price. It is important to ensure that you do not mislead consumers as to the price at which you are selling the vehicles otherwise you may commit an offence under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.

Finance

Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, if you have the facility to provide or arrange for finance for the purchase of vehicles, you must have a current consumer credit licence that covers your type of business.

The licence must include the name(s) under which you are trading. Even though you may not be able to arrange finance yourself, introducing a consumer to a source of finance requires you to be licensed.

You will commit an offence if you trade without a licence when you should have one. If you do not hold a licence and wish to apply for one, you can contact the Trading Standards Department and we will send you an application form. Licences are issued by the Office of Fair Trading.

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