The Mazda 2 Hybrid, a compact car known for its fuel efficiency and eco-friendly design, was commonly sold on
Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) and
Hire Purchase (HP) finance agreements during the period under investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which spans from 6 April 2007 to 1 November 2024. During this timeframe, many consumers were affected by motor finance mis-selling practices that led to significant overcharges on their loan repayments.
How the Mazda 2 Hybrid Was Typically Financed
The typical financing arrangement for a Mazda 2 Hybrid involved Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) or Hire Purchase (HP) agreements with amounts ranging from £15,000 to £30,000. Common finance lenders for the Mazda 2 Hybrid included
Black Horse, Barclays Partner Finance,
Close Brothers Motor Finance,
MotoNovo Finance, and
Santander Consumer Finance.
Under a PCP agreement, consumers would make monthly payments over a term of typically 36 to 48 months, with an option to return the car at the end or pay a balloon payment (also known as the Guaranteed Minimum Future Value) to own it outright. The balloon payment is often calculated based on an estimated value at the end of the agreement and can be significantly higher than the actual market value.
The FCA Motor Finance Investigation
The FCA launched an investigation into motor finance practices, uncovering widespread mis-selling through
discretionary commission arrangements (DCAs). These agreements allowed lenders to pay dealers for steering customers towards more expensive financing options. As a result, millions of consumers were overcharged on their loan repayments. According to the FCA’s findings, 12.1 million eligible agreements (FCA, March 2026) by these practices during the investigation period, with total mis-selling reaching £7.5 billion (FCA, March 2026) and an average customer loss estimated at £829 (FCA estimate).
How to Check Your Agreement Look for any mention of "Discretionary Commission Arrangements" or similar phrases that indicate the lender paid additional fees to the dealership based on the type of financing you chose. pay attention to the dates when the agreement was made; if it falls within the period from 6 April 2007 to 1 November 2024, there is a higher likelihood of mis-selling affecting your deal.
If you suspect that your Mazda 2 Hybrid finance agreement was affected by DCAs, you can complain directly to your lender free of charge. Common lenders such as Black Horse, Barclays Partner Finance, Close Brothers Motor Finance, MotoNovo Finance, and Santander Consumer Finance have established processes for handling customer complaints related to mis-selling practices.
When lodging a complaint, provide detailed information about the terms of your agreement and any discrepancies you noticed. you do not need a
claims management company to handle this process; you can manage it entirely on your own without incurring additional fees or costs.
Sources and References
- Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) estimates, 2024
- Mazda UK finance information, 2024
Based on 130,919 MOT tests conducted in 2024 (source: DVSA anonymised test data), the Mazda 2 has a pass rate of 78.0%. This is close to the national average of 79.6%, meaning the 2 performs about average in MOT testing.
The 2 pass rate is slightly below the overall Mazda average of 80.2%. The average mileage at MOT for this model is 67,509 miles.
- MOT pass rate: 78.0%
- MOT failure rate: 22.0%
- Tests analysed: 130,919 (2024 DVSA data)
- Average mileage at test: 67,509 miles
- Mazda average pass rate: 80.2%
- National average pass rate: 79.6%
Data source: DVSA anonymised MOT test results 2024, published under the Open Government Licence v3.0.