'€13,000 award over defective car'

Tabnabs

CIRCUIT COURT president Mr Justice Matthew Deery said the question of a written warranty did not arise in a case where a Co Dublin man sued a garage over a dangerous and defective turbo-charged Subaru Legacy car.

Purchaser Francis White was entitled to believe the car was “in fair and straight condition” as represented to him by Jim Moriarty, head of Motoright Ltd, Greenhills Industrial Estate, Walkinstown.

Barrister Martin Collins said it transpired the car was unroadworthy, with gearbox, steering, clutch and electrics problems. Motoright had refused to repair the vehicle or return the money.

Mr Moriarty told barrister Stephen O’Sullivan, for Motoright, that twin turbo cars were bought to be driven hard. His garage would not give a warranty with such a car. Judge Deery awarded Mr White a decree for €13,000 against Motoright and directed the car be returned to the garage.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1113/1224258726462.html

Mick K

Feel sorry for the garage in this situation,To be fair the barrister has a point! The car was probably abused and lets be honest,Subaru are not made for it.

bladespin

Mick K wrote: »

Feel sorry for the garage in this situation,To be fair the barrister has a point! The car was probably abused and lets be honest,Subaru are not made for it.

You're making some serious assumptions there.

The garage sold a car with a warranty, it's up to them to honour it, if the cars they sell aren't up to the job or won't last the term of the warranty then they shouldn't sell them.

Biro

Mick K wrote: »

Feel sorry for the garage in this situation,To be fair the barrister has a point! The car was probably abused and lets be honest,Subaru are not made for it.

Subaru are made for it, more than most other makes. But a donkey at the wheel will break anything. Selling a turd of a car and blaming the performance doesn't make it OK.

robbie99

bladespin wrote: »

You're making some serious assumptions there.

The garage sold a car with a warranty, it's up to them to honour it, if the cars they sell aren't up to the job or won't last the term of the warranty then they shouldn't sell them.

You're making a mad assumption yourself there

While most of us will agree with you that the garages should stand over their cars, this car was sold with no warranty.

stevenmu

Warranties are always in addition to your consumer rights. It seems to be a standard tactic in the motor industry to claim that warranty is everything and that without warranty cover they have no responsibility, but it's well established that used cars sold by garages/dealers are covered under consumer law as well.

jayotala

Any one know the details of the car as in year, mileage etc, or do I need to go to spec savers?

gaz wac

No point in going to Specsavers...they dont sell Subaru's

jayotala

stevenmu wrote: »

Warranties are always in addition to your consumer rights. It seems to be a standard tactic in the motor industry to claim that warranty is everything and that without warranty cover they have no responsibility, but it's well established that used cars sold by garages/dealers are covered under consumer law as well.

This is to do with "merchantable quality". And to do with the goods being sold lasting a reasonable time. It applies to no matter what you buy, so long as you do not buy it privately. But the standards expected are normally reduced for second hand products. Most judges know nothing about cars or engines and the maintenance involved in the up keep of any car, never mind a twin turbo, in order for it to last without failure. If somebody doesn't look after something well then its going to break. Is it supposed to last ten years without a service or a drop of oil. No. I'm not saying this car wasn't maintained, or that there was no goodwill offered to the customer by the dealer towards the costs to repair. But every car is mass produced, every driver has his or her own effect on a car and this can determine how long it will last. I'd love to know all the details behind this one to see if its justified.

jayotala

gaz wac wrote: »

No point in going to Specsavers...they dont sell Subaru's

Hahaha. They might have more details on the car than the judge or the Irish times.
Any one from the garage on the forum? Or who might be a friend of a friend of someone in the garage who would like to share the details!!!

JimmyCrackCorn!

If you sell a warranty you must honour it.

Though no way would i offer a warranty on a Subaru legacy import unless it was a very expensive warranty.

colm_mcm

Car probably didn't have an NCT?

Esel

bladespin wrote: »

The garage sold a car with a warranty, it's up to them to honour it, if the cars they sell aren't up to the job or won't last the term of the warranty then they shouldn't sell them.

Read the court quote in the OP again. The garage owner said they would not give a warranty with a twin
turbo car, so the assumption is they didn't give one in this case.

a_v525

I wouldnt be so quick to blame the driver guys, I'd say there are alot of shady 2nd hand dealers out there.

For example, it doesn't say how long after he bought it that the car started having problems. Id say if it was anything over a month/2 after purchase, then the case might have been thrown out.
However, if the probs started approx. a week afterwards, then clearly the dealer had sold a defective car. Unless the driver was doin 60mph in first gear & mounting every kerb he came accross hard. Granted those cars are bought for the "fun factor", but still, the article doesnt give enough info for us to be passing judgement as to if the driver was driving like a hillbilly or the dealer knew the car was bollixed when he sold it.

barcusberry

We all have rights under the sale of goods and services act! Regardless of whether a warranty was given or not, if a product (the car) was deemed not to have been of merchantable quality (which it wasnt) then by law your entitled to your money back!

I know the guy and I know that he told the garage about the problems with the car the day after he bought it and they ignored him!he had an engineers report done on the car (which I read) which said that the car was dangerous,was not of merchantable quality and that the faults could not have been caused by driver error!

This could happen to any one us! Which is why the law is there! He was sold a banjaxed car so he got his money back! the garage should not have let it get so far in the first place though!
Any thoughts?

ScouseMouse

Any garage should know that a warranty is in addition to the consumers statutory rights. They cannot be ignored unless the buyer is notified of defects and they complete the purchase on that basis.

This reminds me of a motorcycle "shop" that used to be on francis street. He sold me a jalopy on this basis but made me sign a form that it was not roadworthy and should be collected on a trailer.

Then he watched me drive off.

Now thats how its done !

JHMEG

Mick K wrote: »

lets be honest,Subaru are not made for it.

Absurdum

barcusberry wrote: »

This could happen to any one us! Which is why the law is there! He was sold a banjaxed car so he got his money back! the garage should not have let it get so far in the first place though!
Any thoughts?

Not if we get the car checked out before buying it.