Who: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Motorpoint Ltd (Motorpoint)
Where: United Kingdom
When: 24 June 2026
Law stated as at: 10 July 2026
What happened
The ASA has upheld a complaint against a paid-for social media ad for Motorpoint, a used car retailer. The ad, seen on 5 March 2026, stated: “Why buy new? Save £1000s off nearly new used cars. Browse our wide range across 21 stores nationwide”. Below, the ad featured an image of a car with the claim “Save up to £17,000”. The ad appeared as a carousel of 40 images of different vehicles. Each image contained the “NOW ON” banner, and “UNBEATABLE PRICE EVENT” and “Save up to £17,000” text.
One complainant could not find a vehicle with a saving of £17,000, and challenged whether the ad was misleading and whether the saving claim could be substantiated.
Motorpoint responded that the claim referred to the saving that consumers could make against the retail price of an equivalent car bought brand new rather than at its own selling price. It believed that this distinction was made clear on its website since some vehicle listings showed two separate types of saving: a reduction against Motorpoint’s previous selling price and a saving against the new list price. However, it accepted that the terms and conditions in the social media ads should have been made clearer.
The ASA considered that the strapline “Why buy new? Save £1000s off nearly new used cars” would lead consumers to expect substantial savings on nearly new, used cars sold by Motorpoint. The claim “Save up to £17,000” also implied that a significant portion of the nearly new, used cars in the promotion were available with savings of up to £17,000. Because the savings claims were presented alongside “UNBEATABLE PRICE EVENT” and “NOW ON”, the ASA considered that consumers would likely interpret the £17,000 saving as part of the savings available through that particular event. Since the “up to £17,000” claim was intended to refer more generally to savings against the list price of an equivalent new vehicle, rather than to savings available as part of a distinct advertised “Price Event”, the ASA concluded that the ad was misleading.
The ASA assessed the substantiation provided by Motorpoint, which was based on a set percentage of stock qualifying under the claim, and found it unsatisfactory. The majority of vehicles were advertised with savings significantly below the headline maximum figure. For example, only 20 of 1,611 vehicles were available within the £17,000 to £17,999 saving band. The ASA therefore concluded that the claim exaggerated the level of savings generally available.
The ASA further noted that because used-car stock was likely to change regularly, it was important for the advertiser to hold evidence showing the availability of the claimed savings during the relevant period. In the absence of such data, the evidence was insufficient to substantiate the claim in the context in which it appeared. It instructed Motorpoint to ensure that future savings claims using “up to £x off” are supported by a significant proportion of vehicles available within the range of savings quoted.
Why this matters
This ruling reinforces the need for ads to accurately represent the nature of a sale and the level of savings genuinely available to consumers. Promotional details in ads should be presented in a way that can be easily understood by consumers to avoid misleading impressions. Although the case concerned a car retailer, the ASA’s decision might be of wider relevance to all retailers. Where ads promote savings, a significant proportion of items in the promotion must fall within the advertised savings range, and any claims must reflect the true overall picture.
