A Lawgistics member recently successfully defended a fast track court claim worth over £21,000 and was awarded over £2,000 in costs.
The claim related to a second-hand vehicle that our member sold to a consumer back in 2021.
Over seven months and some 12,000 miles after the sale, the consumer informed our member the vehicle had broken down due to an engine and turbo failure.
As a result of this failure, the consumer sought to reject the vehicle and receive a full refund of the purchase price, in addition to recovery and diagnostic costs.
From the outset, the consumer was informed that since the fault arose over six months after the sale, it was the consumer’s responsibility to prove on the balance of probabilities that the fault was present at the time of the sale.
The consumer sought to rely on an independent report however, the report was not a (CPR) Part 35 Complaint report. Despite the report not being court compliant, the consumer was granted permission to rely on the report. However, the report did little to assist the consumer’s claim.
The report concluded that the vehicle’s turbocharger failed as a result of wear and tear to the bearings. The report confirmed that the degradation of the bearings would have been ongoing at the time of sale however, it did not state that the turbocharger itself was defective at the time of sale and was at risk of imminent failure.
Our member put forward evidence to show that the vehicle was fault free, of satisfactory quality, and fit for purpose at the time of sale. Specifically, our member demonstrated they had exercised due diligence when preparing the vehicle for sale by carrying out a visual health check, MOT, and an oil and filter service. Our member further relied on the consumer’s report to show that the fault arose as a result of wear and tear, which was to be expected on a second-hand vehicle.
The court accepted our member’s submissions and commented that as a matter of common sense when purchasing a used item, a buyer has to accept the item is not going to be in the pristine state it would be in if purchased brand-new.
Frustrated with the direction the judgment was heading, the consumer attempted to storm out of court before the judge was able to give their judgment and award costs.
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After waiting approximately 10 months for this claim to reach a final hearing, our member was relieved to finally have the claim dismissed and awarded over £2,000 in costs.
