Legal advice for problems with second-hand cars
Questioner
Last weekend I reached an agreement with a car company about the purchase of a second-hand car. I paid a deposit of EUR 500.00. When I asked the car company for the license plate today, I was told that it still had to be created, since it was an imported car from Germany. I was not told anything about that during the sale. When I read about imported cars on the internet now, I get a very bad feeling about it. Fiddling with odometer readings or repaired damaged cars. If I had known that it was an imported car, I would not have bought the car. I have already indicated to the seller that I want to cancel the purchase, but the buyer says that I will lose the deposit. Does anyone have an idea what my options are here?Questioner
In addition: In the meantime, I have already read something about the reporting obligation (seller) and the investigation obligation (buyer), but that does not make me much wiser. However, when I look at the purchase agreement, the license plate is not stated anywhere. This makes sense, because the seller only requested the license plate (NL) after the weekend. In theory, the car stated on the purchase agreement (make, model, year of manufacture) could be a different car than the car that will now/soon be sold to me (with a Dutch registration number). And that doesn't give me a good feeling. Can I now cancel the purchase (and request a refund of the deposit) based on the lack of the license plate on the purchase agreement?Lawyer
Regarding your case the following; The duty to inform takes precedence over the duty to investigate. As such, you are in the right, because if you had known this earlier, you would not have entered into the agreement. This is a mistake, and if the mistaken party enters into an agreement with this, it is voidable and you are entitled to a refund of your purchase price. For further information, please feel free to contact me directly.Questioner
Thank you for your response. I had also heard from a fellow lawyer that I could cancel the purchase on the basis of error. Unfortunately, there is a big difference between having a right and getting a right. I first tried to settle, but that did not yield any results. Then I tried to get the deposit back via a legal letter. Unfortunately, that also had no result. The next step could then be summons, but the question then becomes whether the costs to be incurred would still outweigh the final benefits. So in the end I decided not to take any further steps. Conclusion... I did not go through with the purchase, but I lost the deposit.Lawyer
You can always claim your purchase price back. But that is not possible with one note, more will have to be written for that. If it suits you, I can legally assist you in this matter. You may contact me directly for this.Neem de volgende stap
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