Legal Assistance for Car Purchase Problems

Questioner

Dear reader, Last Thursday, March 20, 2014, I took a test drive in a Volkswagen Bora at a private individual in *. I had previously contacted this private individual by telephone, and he told me that the car was in excellent condition and drives perfectly. Without any defects. “The car had even been to the garage to have all sorts of things repaired.” After taking the test drive, I decided to buy the car, and to pick it up the following Saturday, March 22, 2014. During the test drive, I naturally tried to check the car as well as possible. Both inside and out. I myself could hardly find any defects, and drove the car without any problems. The seller pointed out to me several times the 'fact' that it was an excellent car, and that he would even have trouble selling it. The following Saturday, I picked up the car together with a friend of mine. We then immediately had it transferred to my name. After this was all arranged, I went for a drive in my newly purchased car. Also then I had bought a nice car according to the salesman that would drive fine. We then drove towards Heijen. My father's place of residence, to 'show off' my new acquisition. On the way there, after about 40-50 km the oil light started to burn. We then decided to check the oil ourselves. We discovered that the oil level was well over the permitted limit. This is already very strange, since the car was inspected at a garage a month ago. In my opinion, a garage would never put too much oil in a car. From that moment on, the engine also started making a very 'raw' sound. Something that was absolutely not the case during the test drive. And also not when I had registered the car in my name. We then drove to a garage in the area to partly empty the oil there and get it back to the correct level. The mechanic who helped me there also found that the car was not running 'well' at all. And advised me not to drive too many more kilometers. I then drove a bit further, because I could hardly leave the car there. We then drove onto the highway. After driving a bit there I also started to notice that the fifth gear regularly shot out. Also something I did not notice during the test drive. My conclusion at that moment was that all these defects only occur with a warm engine. A distance that I would never have been able to drive during the test drive. After driving a bit longer on the highway I heard a huge bang, and suddenly the highway was flooded with white smoke. I then managed to reach the emergency lane in a slight panic to stop the car there. Once I got out there was a trail of about 100 meters of oil on the road surface. I followed this trail back and tried to collect as many parts as possible that were lying on the road. One of the parts that we found was the piston rod. It had apparently shot straight through the entire engine. There is a hole in it from top to bottom of the engine. This was about 2 hours after the transfer and the purchase. I am convinced that the buyer knew about the oil problems and the bad gearbox, but did not inform me about it, and therefore violated his duty to report. Afterwards I called the garage that partially emptied the oil, to ask if they could send me a confirmation stating that the oil level was indeed too high, and that the engine was showing problems. I also have the receipt from the garage where the car was a month ago in my possession. It shows that all kinds of oil-related parts were replaced. And that the engine was also 'flushed'. To me this of course only looked positive. In retrospect, this is proof to me that the seller knew about the oil problems. He must have seen the oil light himself. He did not say anything about this. Not even about the car's history. I gather from the garage receipt that there have been oil problems with the car in the past. The problems with the gearbox seem to me to be completely obvious that the seller himself noticed that. He didn't tell me anything about that either. In the end, 2 hours after the purchase, I'm left with a broken engine block that is absolutely worthless. Am I in the right, and do I have a chance of winning a possible lawsuit? Should I put the private individual in default with a registered letter?

Lawyer

The seller has a duty to inform, but the buyer also has a duty to investigate. The seller should have informed you that the car had problems with oil consumption. The question is whether you can prove that the seller was or should have been aware. Now that you bought the car from a private individual, it would have been wise to have it inspected beforehand. Now that you have not done this, this will undoubtedly be held against you in a lawsuit. Furthermore, age and the number of kilometers on the counter play a role. With an old car there is always a risk that a part subject to wear and tear will suddenly give up. Finally, you will need to be able to prove the relationship between the oil consumption found and the seized engine. For this, an expert's report is necessary. You can of course send the seller a registered letter stating that he has not fulfilled his duty to provide information because he should reasonably have been aware of the car's problems. After that, you can go either way. You can cancel the purchase on the grounds of mistake. After all, if you had known about the problems, you would not have bought the car. You return the car and the seller pays you the purchase price. A second possibility is that you claim that the car was not compliant: quote: An item does not conform to the agreement if, also taking into account the nature of the item and the statements made by the seller about the item, it does not possess the properties that the buyer could expect on the basis of the agreement. The buyer may expect that the item possesses the properties that are necessary for normal use thereof and of which he did not have to doubt the presence, as well as the properties that are necessary for a special use that was provided for in the agreement. end quote I feel more for the second option. However, if the buyer does not respond, you will have to go to court. Then the purchase price of the car will also play a role. I advise you to seek the advice of a lawyer in that case.