Legal Assistance for Car Purchase Problems

Questioner

On 12-03-2018 I bought a Hyundai Getz from 2003 with 79,568 on the counter for 2900 euros. However, the car broke down on the second day. Sent to the garage and neglected to look at it, it turned out that the dynamo had broken down. Fortunately, I was able to recover this with difficulty from the garage where I bought the car, but now comes the point. The garage found more problems with the car, which the .......... in fact concealed. Bill of 103 euros does not want to reimburse the ........, in addition the costs to have it repaired were so high that we decided to hand in the car on 16-03-2018 at the current garage, where I had also bought the car. However, we paid 2900 for it and he only gave back 2000 euros for the car. Still decided to sell the car for 2000 euros, but we feel cheated. The seller keeps 900 euros for a while, while we have barely driven the car. My question is what can we do as consumers? Can he get away with this so easily.

Lawyer

Because the garage owner erred (withheld information) he was enriched (earned money) by this breach of contract. And that is legally not permissible. In the case of error, there is an incorrect representation of the facts. An agreement that was concluded under the influence of error and that would not have been concluded – or not on the same terms – if the facts had been correctly represented, can be annulled on the grounds of error if the other party should have informed the person in error of what it knew or should have known about the error, according to Article 6:228 paragraph 1 opening sentence and under b of the Civil Code. So you can claim your money back. A lawyer can assist you with this.

Questioner

Thank you very much for your answer. If I understand everything correctly, we have a very good chance of getting the money. How does that work exactly; Asking for help from a lawyer, are there any costs involved, and if so, how much?

Lawyer

You did not have to return the car, because you are entitled to a proper car for which the seller is liable. The problem now is that you have sold the car back to the seller, who can take the position that the sale is concluded. You can still try to annul the purchase on the grounds of error and/or concealment.