Motorpoint has been told to change two national press adverts by the Advertising Standards Agency after complaints that the campaigns were misleading.

In the campaigns, Motorpoint compares its used car prices to new car list prices. The ASA decided: “By comparing the prices of used cars with their original list prices without stating prominently that it was the basis of the comparison, the ads exaggerated significantly the savings and were likely to confuse readers."

Motorpoint said its ads usually featured several specific models and highlighted available savings against the price of a new model. It said the models featured were generally under 12 months old but it did except that the Vauxhall Vectra and Corsa featured in the adverts were not. Motorpoint also pointed out that the ads identified the second hand cars clearly as 2005 plate vehicles, which made the comparison clear to readers.

Motorpoint will now have to make it clear in the heading or next to each savings claim, when they are comparing used models to their new list prices.

Full descriptions of the ads are below:

First advert
‘At Motor Point a car is sold every four minutes’ and featured a list of available models and illustrated examples. The ad stated ’05 05Vauxhall Vectra 1.8i Club 5dr, ultra blue, £7,899, SAVE £8,050’ and ’05 05 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2i 16v SXi 3dr, Lilac £5,799 SAVE £4,800*’. The small print stated: “All savings are shown against new UK list prices.

Second advert
‘Why go elsewhere to save…crumbs? When you could slice a massive…50% off your next car at Motorpoint!’ The ad featured images of several models above which had the claim: “We’ve sliced 48% off this 55 reg Vauxhall Signum 2.2 Elite 5dr, Choice of 20 £11,699 *SAVE £10,748’. A footnote stated ‘all savings are show against new UK list prices’.