Marcus Johnson from Cwmbran, Torfaen, was one of the claimants in the landmark case.
He described the the outcome as “a bitter pill to swallow”, although was awarded just over £1,650 on the grounds his relationship with the lender was unfair.
Marcus said he was “pleased for myself, but not for the hundreds of others” who will now miss out.
“It’s weird,” he said. “It’s a win, but it’s a really big bag of salt to go with it.”
He was 27 when he bought a blue Suzuki Swift in 2017, and did not know the commission had been paid, although the lender said he had signed a document.
Soon after passing his driving test in June of that year he walked into a car dealership, and within an hour was driving away in a car he liked, “very excited”.
It wasn’t until three years later, when he had paid off the finance on the car, that he realised he still had almost the cash price of the car left to pay.
It was then he decided to contact lawyers.
Had the three claimants won their test cases, it could have opened up lenders to compensation claims totalling about £30bn.
As it stands, that bill could shrink to between £5bn and £13bn, according to accountancy and advice firm BDO.