A lawsuit against a car dealer has become a common thing and this is because many transactions are made every day for the purchase of new and second hand vehicles. Of course, a large part of these transactions are carried out to the satisfaction of all parties involved in the transaction, but in some cases it turns out that the purchased vehicle is damaged in one way or another, or the seller did not disclose all the details relevant to the transaction to the buyer of the vehicle, which sometimes results in the need to file a lawsuit against the vehicle dealer.
Before filing a claim against a car dealer, it is recommended to contact and consult with a car lawyer who has filed and managed claims against car dealers in the past, and succeeded in winning them.
Lawsuit against a car dealer for violating the provisions of the Used Car Sale Law
Many car dealers do not fulfill their duty according to the provisions of this law and do not provide the required information to the buyers. Sometimes this is done consciously to hide accidents that the vehicle has been in (or other defects such as reducing the number of km that the vehicle has traveled), or that the vehicle has been declared as a "Ovdan Gamur Lehalach" vehicle ,or even as a total loss vehicle , with the aim of increasing the value of the vehicle in the eyes of the potential buyer, so that he will agree to pay a higher price for it, which does not correspond to its true value.
Before selling a used car to a customer, a car dealer is obliged to act according to the provisions of the law on the sale of used cars . Section 4 of this law states as follows:
(a) A vehicle dealer shall not enter into a transaction regarding the sale of a used vehicle, unless all of the following have been met:(1) a written contract has been signed between him and the purchaser of the vehicle (in this section – the contract);(2) The person dealing in the vehicle delivered to the purchaser of the vehicle, until the date of signing the contract and separately from the contract, a form signed by him, in which the details as mentioned in subsection (b) are specified (in this section – disclosure form);(3) The purchaser of the vehicle confirmed with his signature the receipt of the disclosure form.
(b) A vehicle dealer will accurately specify, in the disclosure form, the details below:(1) his full name, identification number and full address;The vehicle dealer was a corporation – also the type of corporation, its number and full address;(2) the full name of the vehicle owner, his identification number and full address;The owner was a corporation – also the type of corporation, its number and full name;(3) the number of the previous owners of the vehicle, and as far as he knows – if the previous owner was a company whose occupation he leased – also the name and number of the company;
(4) injuries caused to the vehicle, as far as the vehicle dealer is aware, until the date of delivery of the disclosure form;(5) the number of kilometers traveled by the vehicle, as far as is known to the vehicle dealer, from the date of its first registration until the date of delivery of the disclosure form;(6) The amount to be paid for the vehicle.
(c) In any transaction regarding the purchase of a used vehicle, in which the vehicle dealer is the seller, the vehicle dealer shall disclose to the vehicle purchaser that he is selling or marketing vehicles as a business.(d) Without deviating from the provisions of sub-sections (a) and (b), those sub-sections shall be considered relevant to those who sell a used vehicle, who is not listed as the owner on the vehicle license, as a vehicle dealer, unless he has proven otherwise;However, the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to a person who sells a used car of a member of his first degree family.
That is, the car dealer must make sure that the customer signs a contract for the purchase of the car, and in addition , a due diligence form that refers to essential details about the car (for example, whether the car has been in accidents, how many kilometers the car has driven, the number of previous owners of the car, etc.). Confirm by signing the receipt of the due disclosure form.
It will be possible to file a lawsuit against a car dealer if he did not provide the customer with all the required information and did not provide him with the proper disclosure form . As part of the statement of claim , it will be possible to demand financial compensation as well as cancellation of the car deal . In any case, before filing a lawsuit against a car dealer or a used car dealer, it is very useful to consult with a car lawyer to understand your legal rights.
Filing a lawsuit against a car dealer under other laws
In addition to the provisions of the Used Car Sale Law, the provisions of the Contracts Law and the provisions of the Consumer Protection Law can be used to file a claim for the sale of a defective vehicle .
To file a lawsuit against a car dealer under the Contracts Law, you can use the provisions of Section 15 of this Law, which states as follows:
Whoever entered into a contract due to a mistake that is the result of deception by the other party or someone else on his behalf, may cancel the contract;For this matter, "misleading" – including the non-disclosure of facts which according to law, according to practice or according to the circumstances the other party should have disclosed.
That is, if the car buyer relied on misleading information given to him by the car dealer when purchasing the car, he is entitled to cancel the transaction.
Section 21 determines what each party must return to the other after canceling a transaction:
If the contract is cancelled, each party must return to the other party what he received according to the contract, and if the return was impossible or unreasonable – pay him the value of what he received.
That is, as part of canceling a transaction, the vehicle buyer must return the vehicle to the vehicle dealer, and the vehicle dealer must make a refund.
To file a lawsuit against a car dealer under the Consumer Protection Law, many sections can be used.
Section 2 of the Consumer Protection Law states:
(a) A dealer shall not do anything – by act or omission, in writing or orally or in any other way, including after the date of entering into the transaction – that may mislead a consumer in any material matter in the transaction (hereinafter – deception);Without detracting from the generality of the aforementioned, these items will be considered essential in the transaction:
(1) the nature, essence, quantity and type of property or service;
(11) the suitability of the property or service to the standard, specification or model;
(15) the previous use of the property or its being new or renovated;
(b) A dealer will not sell, import or hold for trading purposes an asset that contains a deception and will not use said asset to provide a service.
Section 4 of the Consumer Protection Law:
(a) A dealer must disclose to the consumer -(1) any defect or inferior quality or other feature known to him, which significantly reduces the value of the property;
What all the sections of the law mentioned here have in common is that they prohibit the business from misleading the consumer, in order for the consumer to complete the transaction (and purchase the vehicle).
Before filing a lawsuit against a car dealer, you must have appropriate evidence
Any lawsuit against a car dealer without sufficient evidence may be dismissed in court, therefore before filing a financial claim against a car dealer you should collect the appropriate evidence. For example: you can check if the vehicle had an accident and when.
If you suspect that someone has "played" with the odometer (and reduced the number of kilometers), you can enter an authorized garage in order to verify or rule out this concern. If you take the vehicle for inspection before purchasing it, the inspection institute will also be able to verify the number of kilometers that appears on the dashboard.
In some cases, in order to succeed in pursuing a lawsuit against a car dealer, you will also have to provide an appraiser's opinion that will clarify to the court what the true value of the vehicle is in light of all the defects that were discovered in it, and which were not disclosed to the buyer before the purchase of the vehicle.
Lawsuit against a car dealer after purchasing a new car
One of the most common reasons for filing a claim against a new car dealer is that the new car repeatedly breaks down and requires coming to the garage every time. Naturally, a new car buyer does not expect, and should not, spend his time in the company's garage. A new car with faults is not a normal condition and in any case you must not put up with this reality.
In cases of this type, as part of a lawsuit against a new car dealer, the remedy of canceling a deal or replacing the vehicle with a completely new vehicle (of the same or a different model), or a significant monetary remedy intended to compensate the purchaser of the vehicle for mental anguish (in most cases, this is the remedy decided by Court).
In the lawsuits that reached the courts on these issues, the courts tend to side with the vehicle buyers. In TA 2449/07 Shlomo Angel v. Champion Motors (Israel) Ltd. (judgment dated 6/9/2011), it was ruled, among other things, as follows:
I believe that under the circumstances of the matter and according to the evidence presented to the court, the testimony of the plaintiff and his wife, the opinion on behalf of the defendant and the defendant's books in which frequent and numerous repairs are documented relative to what is expected of a new vehicle, including unusual and unusual repairs, as well as the defendant's agreement to extend the warranty period on the vehicle – Subsection (3) of Section 11 of the Sales Law applies, namely: the vehicle does not have the quality or features necessary for the normal use of the property.
One of the purposes of purchasing a new vehicle is to avoid having to use the garage's services frequently, except as required by the manufacturer's instructions.This is a reasonable and legitimate expectation of a car buyer and it deserves legal protection(see also Chamber (Y-M) 9670/00 Miller v. Union Motors Ltd., [published in Nebo] Honorable Dr. Agmon-Gonen dated 10/11 /05).
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A person who buys a new car does so, among other things, in order to drive safely without needing frequent visits to the garage for repairs, certainly in the first year of the car's life.
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The plaintiff was indeed caused significant mental anguishand I set the compensation for mental anguish at a total of NIS 50,000as of the date of filing the claim.
In another case, Tel Aviv 9670/00 Yehuda Yoel Miller v. Union Motors Ltd. (judgment dated November 10, 2005), it was determined, among other things, as follows:
The court may determine compensation for mental anguish to the plaintiff, which will be determined at a rate that seems reasonable under the circumstances of the case.Among other things, the ruling emphasized the importance of the loss of pleasure and disappointment caused to the plaintiff, and also for these the court may compensate the plaintiff within the scope of mental anguish (CA 82/85 Cohen v. Kori PAD Ma(2), 778; CA 430/ 79 Benishti v. Sasson F.D. LA (2), 400).
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It should be mentioned that this is a new vehicle, when exactly this behavior, of frequent visits to the garage, is what a person buying a new vehicle wants to avoid.This legitimate hope and expectation did not succeed.
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If the Union Motors company had taken responsibility for a new vehicle with new serious faults discovered recently, and replaced the plaintiff with the vehicle at the time, the whole matter would have been avoided.
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In light of the above, I determine the compensation rate for mental anguish, for which the defendant is responsible towards the plaintiff in the amount of NIS 50,000.
As you can see from the judgments cited here, when suing a new car dealer, the courts tend to rule in favor of the car buyers, if they manage to prove that they visited the garage many times, even though they purchased a new car.
