[top gear] settling for a lemon

The RAC has said that 29 percent of buyers fail to spot faults before buying used vehicles. In 11 percent of mechanical faults, drivers had to pay out up to 400 pounds for repairs. In 6 percent of cases, the faults were so serious the cost of repair was up to 800 pounds. Lack of mechanical knowledge was the main reason quoted. Despite this, only 39 percent had bothered to pay for a professional vehicle examination and 48 percent of buyers had spent less than 30 minutes carrying out checks before buying. [Reuters]