Lawsuit against Champion Motors – What to do to succeed in the lawsuit?

Champion Motors is one of the largest car importers in Israel, and is currently responsible for importing Audi, Cupra, Seat, Skoda, and Volkswagen vehicles into Israel. For this reason, a lawsuit against Champion Motors can be filed after purchasing a model from one of these companies.

למשרדי מגיעות פניות רבות בעניין הגשת תביעה נגד צ'מפיון מוטורס, אך פונים רבים מניחים שמכיוון שמדובר בחברה גדולה, בעלת "סוללה של עורכי דין", אין סיכוי שהם ינצחו, גם אם יש להם עילת תביעה טובה. זהו קו מחשבה שגוי וניתן למצוא בפועל פסקי דין רבים שניתנו במסגרת תביעות נגד צ'מפיון מוטורס, שחייבו את החברה לשלם ללקוחותיה פיצויים כספיים.

In this article, I will detail what you should do and how you should prepare before filing a lawsuit against Champion in order to increase the chances of the lawsuit being successful.

Lawsuit against Champion Motors filed by our firm

Attached is an example of a lawsuit against Champion Motors and a vehicle importer engaged inParallel import, שהוגשה על ידי משרדנו (ת"א 6625-11-24):

As part of this lawsuit, the following remedies were sought:

1. A declaratory order stating that the plaintiff canceled the transaction with the 2nd defendant lawfully even before the filing of the statement of claim and/or a declaratory order stating that the transaction between the parties is canceled.
2. צו המורה לנתבע 2 להשיב לתובע סך של 278,000 ש"ח, ולאחר קבלת התשלום בפועל התובע ישיב לנתבע 2 את הרכב.
3. מטעמי זהירות בלבד, ובמידה ובית המשפט הנכבד לא יורה על ביטול העסקה, מבוקש צו המורה לנתבעת 1 ו/או לנתבע 2 להחליף את הרכב ברכב אחר מאותו דגם או מדגם אחר באותו שווי ו/או בעל אותן תכונות ו/או בעל אותם מאפיינים כמו הרכב של התובע (ושיאושר על ידי התובע). עניין זה אפשרי, בין היתר, לאור הגדרת "אחריות" הקבועה בחוק רישוי שירותים.
4. For further reasons of caution, should the Honorable Court not order the cancellation of the transaction or the replacement of the vehicle, it is requested to issue a declaratory order stating that the plaintiff's vehicle is entitled to a manufacturer's warranty for three years from the date of receipt by the plaintiff. Should Defendant 1 fail to provide the warranty, it is requested to determine that Defendant 2 will bear all the expenses of repairs to the vehicle.
5. חיוב הנתבעים ביחד ו/או לחוד בפיצוי בסך 100 אלף ש"ח בגין עוגמת הנפש והאכזבה האדירה שנגרמה לתובע ו/או בגין אובדן הנאה עקב אי שימוש ברכב יוקרתי שהתובע רכש, הטרדה ואובדן זמנו של התובע, לנוכח העובדה שנמכר לו רכב פגום ו/או הלוקה באי התאמה, Has been in the garage and has not been repaired for over a year.
6. Defendant 2 is required to pay financial compensation of NIS 50,000 for breach of contract between the parties.

Preparation before filing a lawsuit against Champion Motors

Before filing a claim against Champion Motors (or Lawsuit against a company (or other large) It is worth making sure that you have all the relevant data to prove your claims in court. Filing Financial claim or Civil lawsuit Before the preparation and evidence gathering stage, it will often turn out to be a mistake because throughout the legal process you will discover that you forgot to attach relevant documents or make important claims, which will force you to file a lawsuit. Request to amend a statement of claimSubmitting such a request puts you at a disadvantage because if the request is accepted, the process will essentially start over, and you will find that you have wasted at least many months for nothing.

Additionally, if your request to amend the statement of claim is granted, you will usually be required to pay legal costs because Champion Motors will be forced to file Defense Corrected. You should consult with Automotive Lawyer Before filing a claim against Champion, make sure it is complete and filed correctly.

Contract documents with Champion Motors

Before filing a lawsuit against Champion Motors, make sure you have the purchase agreement that details exactly what you purchased, how much you paid, what vehicle specifications they promised to provide you with, and when, etc.

before Signing a contract It is very important to read the contract from beginning to end. It is important to repeat the process and read the contract one more time before submitting it. Lawsuits against car importers, משום שלעיתים יבואני הרכב מציינים בחוזה סעיפים שונים שמקנים להם הגנות שונות מפני תביעה, וחשוב להכיר סעיפים אלה לפני הגשת כתב התביעה כדי להבין כיצד ניתן "לנטרל" או "לתקוף" אותם ברמה המשפטית.

Recordings of conversations with Champion Motors representatives

It is very important to record phone calls with representatives. Champion Motors (or any other company from which you buy a car) because purchasing a new car is one of the most expensive transactions you will make in your life (apart from buying an apartment). The recording of the calls should be done before signing the contract (during the negotiation phase) and also after you have received the car.

If it turns out that you received New car with faults These recordings may clarify to the court in a lawsuit against Champion Motors what exactly you complained about, when, what was offered to you, etc. This data may be particularly important and relevant.

התכתבויות וואטסאפ – SMS – דוא"ל עם צ'מפיון מוטורס

Similar to recorded conversations, correspondence with company representatives may also be very relevant in a lawsuit against Champion. It is very important to keep all correspondence, not just some of it, in order to prevent the company from making any possible claims regarding your concealment of data when pursuing a lawsuit against the company.

The vehicle's maintenance history after receipt

Whether you are considering filing a claim against Champion Motors for the purchase of a new vehicle or a claim for the purchase of a used vehicle, it is always a good idea to obtain the vehicle's service history from the importer's garage. If the vehicle was not serviced at the importer's garage, contact the garage where the vehicle was serviced to obtain the service history.

Your treatment history may help you in the Claim for sale of defective vehicleThe courts do not view positively a situation in which a customer purchases and receives a new vehicle, and shortly thereafter is forced to repeatedly visit the garage to have various faults fixed. The more expensive the vehicle, the more legitimate the customer's expectation of not visiting the garage shortly after purchasing it.

Because the vehicle maintenance history is a document produced by the importer's garage, it will be difficult to dispute in court the accuracy of what is written in this document, and this may make it much easier to file a lawsuit against Champion Motors.

Filing a lawsuit against Champion Motors accompanied by an expert opinion

Keep in mind that a judge hearing any lawsuit against Champion Motors or any car importer does not necessarily understand the automotive field (in the vast majority of cases, judges understand nothing about car malfunctions). For this reason, it is worth considering attaching to the lawsuit: Expert opinion It is up to you to specify what faults your new vehicle suffers from, whether and to what extent these faults reduce the value of the vehicle, what the cost of repairing the faults is, etc.

Such an opinion may make it easier for you and the judge to understand exactly what you are complaining about. A party who submits an expert opinion is usually given priority in the legal process over a party who did not submit an expert opinion. If you submit an expert opinion and Champion Motors decides not to submit a counter-expert opinion on its behalf, there is a higher chance that the court will accept your arguments.

The disadvantage of submitting an expert opinion is the costs involved. Usually, submitting an expert opinion will cost at least several thousand shekels.

At what stage should you file a lawsuit against Champion Motors?

Contrary to popular belief, I almost never recommend filing a lawsuit against Champion Motors (or any other car importer) immediately after discovering a fault or problem. You should take into account that filing a lawsuit against Champion Motors has many (and high) costs, and the lawsuit takes a considerable amount of time.

For these reasons, it is worth sending Warning letter Before filing a claim, and try to exhaust all negotiations before filing a claim. Only in cases where there are very large gaps between your demands and what Champion Motors representatives are willing to offer, should you consider filing a claim (sometimes there is simply no other choice).

In what cases should you consider filing a lawsuit against Champion Motors?

When talking about cases in which it is worth considering filing a lawsuit against Champion Motors, it is worth taking into account two parameters:

1. Vehicle price
2. The reason you want to file a claim

If the price of the vehicle is less than 100,000 shekels (usually only used vehicles are involved because new vehicles sold by Champion Motors exceed this amount), it will not always be financially viable to file a lawsuit against Champion Motors, especially if you take into account the associated costs (court fees, attorney fees, expert opinions, etc.).

If the reason you want to file a lawsuit against Champion Motors is that a defect was discovered immediately after receiving the vehicle, this will not always be enough to win in court. You need to understand the nature of the defect, how much it affects the vehicle's performance, how long it took Fix the problem, Did repairing the fault lead to a decrease in the value of the vehicle, etc.

Typically, bringing a new vehicle into the garage only once will result in, at best, very limited financial compensation. In these cases, it may be worth considering filing a small claim.

On the other hand, if it is a serial fault that can be traced to a large number of buyers, you can consider submitting a complaint. Class action lawsuit against Champion Motors. In these cases, it is advisable to consult with Class Action Lawyer.

What can be claimed in a lawsuit against Champion Motors?

Transaction cancellation

One of the possible remedies in a lawsuit against Champion Motors is injunctive relief. Canceling a vehicle purchase transactionThe meaning of this demand is that you demand that Champion Motors return the vehicle you received, and at the same time receive the full payment you paid for the vehicle.

In the vast majority of cases, before filing a lawsuit against Champion Motors, The company will not agree to cancel the transaction., and therefore you will have to actually file the lawsuit and conduct it until a judgment is rendered against the company. This means that during the entire time the lawsuit is ongoing, there may be no choice but to continue using the vehicle (if you have the option of not using the vehicle at all – this is better and will increase the chance of canceling the transaction as part of a final judgment).

Exchange the vehicle for a new vehicle of the same model

Another requirement that can be raised within the framework Lawsuit against Champion Motors she Replace the vehicle with a new vehicle of the exact same modelThis requirement can be requested as an alternative to the requirement to cancel a transaction.

This option is preferable in most cases because today receiving a new vehicle involves long waiting times, and if you demand cancellation of a transaction and the court grants your request, you will have to wait a very long time to order and receive another new vehicle. In some cases, it will be possible to overcome this difficulty by demanding that the vehicle be replaced with a new vehicle of the same model.

Financial compensation and reimbursement of legal expenses

You can always claim monetary compensation in a lawsuit against Champion Motors. The claim for monetary compensation can be based on the actual damages you suffered (for example, depreciation, rental costs of a replacement vehicle, lost work days, repair costs, etc.).

You can also claim financial compensation for: Mental anguishAs it concerns a new vehicle that has to be taken to the garage repeatedly shortly after receiving the vehicle, the amount of compensation for emotional distress may be significant.

Additionally, you can request a refund. Legal expenses such as Lawyer's fees, Court fee, cost Expert opinion, etc.

In conclusion

It is not advisable to rush before filing a lawsuit against Champion Motors. It is advisable to try and exhaust the negotiations with the company before going to court, because this will lead to significant costs for the plaintiff, and the plaintiff will also have to wait a long time before receiving a verdict in the lawsuit.

לפני הגשת תביעה נגד צ'מפיון מוטורס צריכים לעשות "שיעורי בית" ולהכין את כל המסמכים/הקלטות שעשויות לסייע לכם במהלך התביעה להוכיח את הטענות שלכם. במקרים רבים עם הגשת Claim It is worth attaching an expert opinion that will explain to the judge in non-technical language what the nature of the fault in your vehicle is, and why this fault is causing the vehicle owner significant damage.

As part of a lawsuit against Champion Motors, you can demand cancellation of the transaction or receipt of a new identical vehicle, in addition to significant financial compensation.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding a Claim Against Champion Motors