ASA Adjudication on Valley Carriage Co.

Ad

An internet ad for a 1983 Land Rover Series III SWB 88'' stated "19,000 miles, totally original unmolested example of this now becoming much sought after model ... mot'd and tax'd, very solid motor ie good chassis etc, totally reliable, runs and drives superb, first to see will buy, at only £1,495, may p/x".

Issue

The complainant objected that the ad was misleading because the MOT expired the same day he bought the car and the tax expired that same month.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

Valley Carriage Co. did not respond to the ASA's enquiries.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA was concerned by the Valley Carriage Co. lack of response and apparent disregard for the Code, which was a breach of CAP Code clause 2.6 (Non-response). We reminded them of their responsibility to respond promptly to our enquiries and told them to do so in future.

In the absence of any response or evidence to substantiate the claims made in the internet ad, we considered that they had not been justified. We concluded that the ad was misleading.

The ad breached CAP Code clauses 2.6 (Non-response), 2.8 (Principles), 3.1 (Substantiation), 6.1 (Honesty) and 7.1 (Truthfulness).

Action

We told Valley Carriage Co. not to use similar claims in its future advertising. We urged them to seek guidance from the CAP Copy Advice team before advertising again and asked CAP to inform its members of the problem with Valley Carriage Co.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)