40 per cent of motorists would not use a second hand car dealership again following an unsatisfactory previous experience, a new survey has revealed.

Yet despite negative feelings towards car dealers, the report found there is a great deal of demand for used cars. 56 per cent of the 1,500 drivers in the survey said they would choose to buy a second hand car over a new one.

Of those polled, 39 percent said they would never return to the same used car dealer again, while 40 per cent said they had experienced a problem with a used vehicle.

Dealing with problems

In terms of rectifying problems, used car sales teams also fared poorly – with 29 per cent of respondents saying they did not do a good job of addressing the issue.

In addition, 30 per cent of motorists said they warned others off using a particular used car dealership.

Respondents also revealed why so many of them preferred second hand cars. The 56 per cent who chose old instead of new cars said new vehicles depreciated more quickly, while 44 per cent said they got a car of a higher specification when buying a second hand vehicle.

Reasons for buying second hand

The reasons stated for deciding to change cars were down to rising repair bills (50 per cent), unreliability (41 per cent), 'fancied a change' (31 per cent) and high mileage (29 per cent).

What is your experience of buying from used car dealers? Do you agree with the survey’s findings? You can leave your comments in the section below.