TMO’s Knowledge Base makes record Q1 start

The Motor Ombudsman’s popular online Knowledge Base, a reference tool designed to provide consumers with responses to some of the most common queries on car ownership, vehicle maintenance and dispute resolution, has recorded the highest number of searches and article views in the first quarter of the year since launching at the beginning of 2019. Across the eight categories, articles were consulted close to 91,000 times, surpassing the volume seen in the opening quarters of 2020 and 2019 (51,660 and 25,166 respectively).

 

“Can I return my car within 14 days of buying it?” from the New and Used Car Sales section was the most read article with just over 8,700 views, whilst “Can I get a car deposit refund?” came a close second (5,542). In third place, the question and answer on the significance of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, a key piece of legislation affecting a vehicle purchase, was the subject of 3,265 views, with the question around what an individual can do if they deem a car to have been mis-sold, next in line. Topping the Service and Repair category, and fifth overall in terms of the number of reads during the first quarter was the question:What do I do if my garage is taking too long to fix my car? (2,189), which was followed byWhat to do about a poor MOT? (2,089).  

 

Making it into the top 10 most viewed articles for the first time was a question and answer from the Distance Sales category, reflecting the growing prominence of online car buying due to car showrooms being closed. The question: “Is a ‘click and collect’ service offered by a car dealership classed as a distance sale?”, was the eighth most popular read during the first three months of 2021 (1,727), with “Sold a faulty car, what can I do?” rounding off the top 10 most viewed articles in Q1 (with 1,710 reads respectively).

 

Furthermore, during the first three months of 2021, there were over 23,000 user searches on the Knowledge Base, which was around double the volume seen in the same period last year. The most popular generic terms entered into the search bar were about warranties, faults and servicing.