UK car buyers are getting a poor deal because they are prevented from buying the car they want, when they want it and at a reasonable price, the Consumers' Association has told MPs.

Some car companies stop buyers from shopping around for the best deal, the association said in written evidence to the House of Commons Trade and Industry Committee.

"UK car dealers .... seem determined not to lose trade by helping consumers buy cheaper cars from abroad," said Consumers' Association director Sheila McKechnie.

She added: "Consequently, consumers are being subjected to a form of price fixing."

She said that by continuing to give consumers "misleading and inaccurate information" about the availability of cheaper, imported cars, "UK dealers are able to keep the price of cars in the UK higher than anywhere else in Europe".

The CA said one of its researchers had been "misinformed, misled and bombarded with endless complicated reasons" by one dealership about why she was better off buying a more expensive UK car than one imported from outside Europe.

The Retail Motor Industry Federation said that the large company car market in the UK affected prices.

"Over the last ten years, higher list prices for volume new cars have been a method by which retail customers have been subsidising the large corporate fleet buyer."

A recent report by the European Commission showed that UK customers pay between ten per cent and 60 per cent more for 60 of the 74 best-selling cars than in some EU countries.

The AA said today: "The Trade and Industry Committee's inquiry into why UK motorists pay more for cars than drivers in Europe do, cannot come soon enough.

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