Key takeaways
- A brand-new car gets the same Consumer Rights Act protection as any other — reject within 30 days for a full refund.
- You should expect a higher standard from a new car, so even “minor” defects can breach satisfactory quality.
- The manufacturer’s warranty sits on top of your statutory rights — it never replaces them.
- You reject to the supplying dealer (and the finance company if on PCP/HP), not the manufacturer.
On this page
Can you reject a new car?
Yes — and your position is strong. A brand-new car is covered by exactly the same Consumer Rights Act 2015 protection as any other car bought from a dealer. If it is faulty within the first 30 days of delivery you can reject it outright for a full refund, no repair required — the dealer cannot make a repair attempt a condition of taking the car back. The rejection process itself is the same one we set out in our guide to rejecting a faulty car.
If anything, rejecting a new car is easier to argue than a used one, because the benchmark is unforgiving. Satisfactory quality is judged by what a reasonable person would expect given the price — and on a £30,000 car with delivery mileage, a reasonable person expects nothing wrong at all. There's no haggling over age, mileage or wear. The car is either right, or it isn't.
Returning a new car because you've changed your mind
Different question, different answer — and it's worth being straight about it. If the car is fine and you simply regret the purchase, there is no general right to return it. The 30-day right is a right to reject a faulty car, not a cooling-off period, and the “14-day cooling-off” people half-remember applies to the finance agreement, not the car — cancelling the credit still leaves you owing the purchase price. (Full explanation in our guide to giving a car back to the finance company.)
The one real exception: cars bought at a distance — ordered online or by phone, without visiting the dealership — carry a genuine 14-day cancellation right under the distance-selling rules. Our distance-selling guide covers when that applies and how to use it.
How rejecting a new car differs
The rights are the same, but three things change the picture when the car is new.
Higher quality expectations
A reasonable person expects a new car to be flawless. Faults that might be acceptable wear on an old car — rattles, paint defects, electronic glitches — can breach satisfactory quality on a new one.
Warranty vs statutory rights
A manufacturer warranty is an extra promise on top of the law. If a warranty repair fails or is refused, your Consumer Rights Act claim against the dealer still stands.
The franchised network
Your contract is with the supplying dealer, not the manufacturer. You reject to that dealer — even though servicing may happen across a franchised network.
That warranty point matters most. Dealers often steer new-car buyers toward a warranty repair — but a warranty never replaces your statutory rights, and in the first 30 days you can reject instead of accepting a repair at all.
Common new-car faults
New cars are increasingly complex, and the faults that lead to rejections tend to be electronic and build-quality issues rather than mechanical wear: infotainment and software glitches, driver-assist and sensor faults, paint and panel defects, water leaks, and delivery damage that wasn’t disclosed. Whatever the fault, the test is the same — is the car of satisfactory quality for a brand-new vehicle?
Two patterns come up again and again on new cars. The first is the recurring intermittent fault — the warning light that comes back a week after every dealer visit. Keep every job sheet: three visits for the same issue is not three separate repairs, it's one failed repair, and a failed repair opens the final right to reject. The second is the fault the dealer can't reproduce — “no fault found” on the paperwork while the problem carries on. Film it happening. A thirty-second video timestamped on your phone outweighs a stack of NFF job sheets.
The “they all do that” defence
The stock response to a new-car complaint is that the fault isn't a fault at all: it's a “characteristic of the model”, a “known issue” with a software update coming, or something “they all do”. Sometimes that's even true — and it doesn't help the dealer as much as they think. If every example of the model drains its battery in a fortnight, that arguably makes them all unsatisfactory; it doesn't make yours acceptable. The test is what a reasonable buyer would expect from the car as advertised, not what the factory managed to build.
Counter it with the seller's own words: the brochure, the configurator page, the advert claims about range, refinement or technology. A car that doesn't do what the marketing said it does is not as described — a separate breach, and often an easier one to prove than arguing over engineering tolerances. And a promised fix “in the next update” is an admission the car isn't right now — note the date, and don't let the promise run your 30-day clock down while you wait.
The process
Reject in writing to the supplying dealer (and the finance company if you bought on PCP or HP — with a new car that's the likely case, and it means the lender is on the hook alongside the dealer, with the Financial Ombudsman as a free escalation route if they stall). Cite the Consumer Rights Act 2015, describe the fault and when it appeared, and act within the 30-day window for the strongest position. Photograph the car's condition and mileage on delivery day — it's the baseline every later argument comes back to. Our step-by-step rejection guide and letter template cover the detail, and our free eligibility check generates the letters with the right recipients filled in.
Delivery problems: damage, delays and deposits
Not every new-car problem is mechanical. Delivery damage — scuffs, paint repairs or delivery miles far beyond the norm — belongs on the delivery note before you accept the car, and an undisclosed pre-delivery repair can itself make the car not as described. Late delivery is a contract matter: if a promised date mattered and you said so, make time of the essence in writing and set a final date — miss it, and you can cancel the order and recover your deposit. And if the spec or price changes between order and delivery, you're not obliged to accept the substitute: the deal is the deal you signed.
Frequently asked questions
Can I reject a brand-new car?
Yes. A new car has the same protection under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 as any other car bought from a dealer. If it is faulty within the first 30 days you can reject it for a full refund.
Is the standard higher for a new car?
In effect, yes. Satisfactory quality is judged by what a reasonable person would expect, and the expectation for a brand-new car is very high — so defects that might be tolerated on a used car can be grounds to reject a new one.
Do I claim against the dealer or the manufacturer?
Your Consumer Rights Act claim is against the dealer who sold you the car (and the finance company if you bought on PCP or HP). The manufacturer’s warranty is separate and additional.
The dealer says to use the warranty instead of rejecting. Is that right?
No. A warranty does not remove your statutory rights. You can choose to rely on the Consumer Rights Act, and within the first 30 days you can reject outright rather than accept a repair.
Can I return a new car if I have changed my mind?
Generally no — the 30-day right applies to faulty cars, not regretted purchases. The exception is a car bought entirely at a distance (online or by phone, without visiting the dealer), which carries a 14-day cancellation right under the distance-selling rules.
Can I reject a new car for a software or infotainment fault?
Yes. Software is part of the car, and a system that crashes, drops connectivity or disables advertised features can breach satisfactory quality or “as described” just as a mechanical fault can. A promised future update does not make the car satisfactory today.
What if the fault appears after the first 30 days?
You still have strong rights. Up to six months from delivery the fault is presumed to have been present at delivery, and the dealer gets one attempt to repair — if it fails, you can reject for a refund. On a nearly-new car any deduction for use should be modest.
General information about your rights, not legal advice for your specific situation.