A self-employed driving instructor from Eastbourne faced losing her livelihood after Nissan took months to repair her leased dual-control car, leaving her to fund an expensive hire vehicle out of pocket while still paying finance on the car she could not use. The case, resolved by the Guardian's Consumer Champions column, highlights how manufacturer delays over a single spare part can jeopardise a self-employed person's income and expose weaknesses in how carmakers handle reimbursements for customers who depend on their vehicles for work.

The car sat off the road for three months awaiting a part, with a further month's wait forecast, forcing the instructor to spend over £2,500 hiring a replacement dual-control vehicle while continuing to pay roughly £1,500 in PCP finance. She borrowed more than £1,000 from relatives to keep the hire car going, and only after the columnist intervened did Nissan agree to reimburse hire costs and later apologise, eventually paying an undisclosed sum in compensation after initially offering an unsatisfactory package of free servicing.