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Most common questions for Consumer Council are questions about used cars

At the Car Repair Shop.Photo: Frank May / NTB scanpix NB! MODELLKLARERT

So far this year, the Consumer Council has received 35,468 inquiries from consumers. On the top of the list, are inquiries from those who fear that they have made bad used car purchases.

This year, just like  last year  the most common subject for the questions is the buying and selling of used cars.
– In second place comes the renting of housing, followed by questions about craftsmen or workmen services related to housing,  the director of consumer service  in the  Consumer Council, Ingeborg Flønes,  says .

A lot of the over 4,000 inquiries concerning used cars ,  have to do with defects on the cars in question. Seven out of ten contact the Consumer Counscil because they think they’ve got a car that is inferior to what they were lead to expect, the Consumer Council reports .

Flønes encourage car buyers to make a thorough examination of the used car before deciding whether to buy it,  and refers to the Consumer Council’s checklist for used car purchases.
– Bring  the car to a repair shop before you decide whether to buy and let the people at the repair shop conduct a check of the car,  Flønes says.
She points out that, statistically speaking,  there is no significant difference in the risk of errors in used car between those bought  from a dealer and those bought from people who are not regular dealers.

The second most common subject for the questions in the first half of the year was the renting of housing. Two out of five questions on this subject, concerned the rent.
– In addition to the information about the rent, it’s important that you find out what the rules are for giving notice that you are leaving your flat, what your maintenance responsibilities are and what is included in the rent, Flønes says.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today