Disputes over the sale of used cars are frequent. What does the law say？
The online trading mode of used cars makes car sources and buyers more concentrated, reduces the circulation cost and facilitates buyers and sellers, but at the same time, disputes over the sale of used cars also occur from time to time, which leads to litigation rights protection.
The evidence failed to prove that there was something wrong with the used car.
The claim cannot be supported.
■ Case replay
Zhao took a fancy to a second-hand car on a second-hand car trading platform, and signed the Purchase and Sale Deposit Agreement (that is, the car purchase format contract) with the owner Xu and the platform. The platform also issued the Re-inspection Report before the transfer, which showed that except for some external scratches, the vehicle’s power, steering, transmission, braking and other systems were temporarily normal. After picking up the car, Zhao wanted to transfer the vehicle to Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, but it didn’t take long for him to get on the expressway to find that there was abnormal noise in the car. In order to prevent danger, he found that the front wheel bearing of the vehicle was cracked and the gearbox could not be upshifted, so he repaired the vehicle and replaced some accessories. In view of the maintenance cost, the after-sales staff of the used car trading platform said that this is not within the after-sales scope and will not be compensated. Zhao appealed to the court, arguing that the platform concealed the quality of the car condition and demanded compensation for maintenance costs of more than 10,000 yuan. After the court heard the case, all Zhao’s claims were not supported because the evidence could not prove the facts.
■ Judge’s statement
The court held that the parties should provide evidence of the facts they claimed. In this case, if Zhao claims that the vehicle involved has quality problems and the vehicle parts need to be repaired or replaced, he should provide evidence to prove it, otherwise he will bear the legal consequences of failing to provide evidence. The Maintenance Order submitted by Zhao did not specify the reasons for repairing and replacing the parts. Therefore, it is impossible to see that the necessary maintenance was carried out because of the damage of the vehicle parts, and it is impossible to see whether the repaired and replaced parts were broken before Zhao picked up the car or were damaged after going on the road. Zhao did not submit the corresponding payment bills to prove that he actually paid the maintenance expenses. Therefore, the court could not support Zhao’s claim.
When buying and selling second-hand cars, consumers must first confirm the condition of the car before paying the deposit. Before paying all the car purchase expenses, buyers must first confirm the condition and quality of the second-hand car they bought, the purchase period, whether it is an accident vehicle, and whether there are illegal acts that have not been dealt with. Secondly, if there are unreasonable terms in the format contract, such as expanding the transaction risk of one party, consumers have the right to request adjustments and modifications to the terms of the format contract. Finally, it is necessary to confirm the conditions and processes of providing after-sales service for used car trading platforms. If the second-hand car trading platform provides after-sales service for the vehicles purchased by the buyer, the platform is obliged to clearly inform them of the conditions and contents of providing after-sales service, as well as the repair reporting process and contact information, etc. If there are corresponding warranty cards and manuals, they should be issued to the buyer. If the vehicle is within the scope of after-sales service, the buyer shall report to the trading platform for repair according to the corresponding repair reporting channels and procedures.
Platform fraud car seller
The format clause was deemed invalid.
■ Case replay
Ms. Zheng spent 90,000 yuan to buy a used car through a used car platform, and the dashboard showed that the mileage of the car was 49,000 kilometers. In addition to signing a car purchase contract, the second-hand car platform also provides an unsigned Second-hand Car Inspection Report as an annex to the contract. When Ms. Zheng sent the vehicle to the 4S shop for testing, she found that the actual mileage of the vehicle had reached 98,000 kilometers six months ago. She believes that there is fraud in the platform and appealed to the court, demanding that the other party pay 100,000 yuan in compensation. The second-hand car platform believes that it is only an intermediary company, and the sales contract signed with the plaintiff Ms. Zheng is entrusted by the actual seller. Moreover, in the test report, it is clearly stated that "the mileage indicated in the test report is for reference only, and no commitment is made to the actual mileage." The court held that there was fraud in the second-hand car trading platform, and the clause in the test report issued by it was a format clause and should be considered invalid. The judgment supported all the claims of Ms. Zheng.
■ Judge’s statement
A standard contract refers to a pre-drawn contract for repeated use by the parties without consulting the other party when concluding the contract. According to the law, if the party providing the standard terms has the obligation to prompt and explain, it should draw the attention of the other party to the terms that exempt or limit its liability, and explain them according to the requirements of the other party. The standard terms that exempt the party providing the standard terms from the main obligations and exclude the main rights of the other party are invalid. In this case, the platform unilaterally exempted it from the real responsibility of guaranteeing the mileage of vehicles in the transaction, and did not provide evidence to prove that it had fulfilled its obligation of reminding or explaining, so the format clause was invalid.
Civil fraud refers to the act of deliberately telling the other party false information or deliberately concealing the true information in the process of establishing, changing and terminating civil rights and obligations, and inducing the other party to make a wrong representation. In this case, the second-hand car platform, as a brokerage company specializing in used motor vehicles, has the professional knowledge and detection ability related to vehicles, should know the important information of the vehicles sold by its company, and has the obligation to inform consumers of the real situation of the vehicles, but it fails to accurately inform consumers, which is a deliberate concealment of the real situation, deceiving and misleading consumers to buy the vehicles involved, which constitutes fraud. According to the provisions of China’s Consumer Protection Law, if a business operator commits fraud in providing goods or services, it shall increase the compensation for the losses it has suffered according to the requirements of consumers, and the amount of compensation shall be three times the price of the goods purchased by consumers or the cost of receiving services.
Buying a car has been delayed.
You have to pay for your actions
■ Case replay
The plaintiff Ding received a phone call from a used car salesman, saying that someone wanted to buy a Buick Excelle that he hung on the Internet. After many discussions, the final transaction price is 17,000 yuan, provided that the buyer Liu bears the violation of the vehicle. Subsequently, Ding should drive the car to a store. After checking the car, Liu decided to buy it. During the transfer procedures between the two parties, Liu drove the car away privately. Ding appealed to the court and asked Liu to assist in the transfer procedures. The used car trading platform and Liu compensated for the loss of 4,500 yuan. After trial, the court ruled that Liu assisted Ding in handling the vehicle transfer procedures and compensated the other party for a loss of 1,500 yuan.
■ Judge’s statement
In this case, both parties have clearly agreed that both parties shall go through the transfer formalities within 3 working days after the signing of the contract and the full payment of the transaction vehicle price. It is the obligation of both parties to handle the transfer of vehicles, and since the vehicles involved and related procedures have been delivered to Liu, Liu, as the buyer, should assist Ding to handle the transfer procedures. Because the vehicles involved in the case were not handled in violation of regulations, Ding was at fault in causing the dispute in this case. He said that there was no evidence to support the violation at that time, so the court decided on the proportion of its loss. The second-hand car trading platform only acted as an intermediary to facilitate Liu and Ding to reach a sales contract relationship, and had fulfilled their due contractual obligations. Ding asked him to bear the liability for breach of contract, which was unfounded in the law and the court did not support it.
What the judge needs to remind here is that both buyers and sellers of used cars and platforms should strictly abide by the contract, otherwise they will have to pay for their actions. In this case, the two parties have not gone through the transfer formalities, and Ding will hand over all the formalities of the vehicle and the car keys to the other party. He also bears certain responsibilities for the occurrence of the dispute and should bear the corresponding legal consequences.
(Author: Haidian District People’s Court, Beijing)