Further information:
Federal Court of Justice: Contractual guarantee can be invoked even if consumers have missed regular inspection
On the 17th of October 2007 (file number: VIII 251/06) the Federal Court of Justice decided that a consumer can claim reparation of a defect second hand car under a contractual guarantee even if he didn’t go to the regular inspection.
The consumer had bought a used car with a contractual guarantee. The guarantee was given under the condition of an inspection each 15.000 kilometres. The trader refused to repair the car under the guarantee since the inspection was already overdue.
The Federal Court of Justice now decided that even in this case consumers can invoke their contractual guarantee. A reparation can only be rejected when the reason for the damage is caused by the missed inspection. In the present case the car crankshaft was broken. This defect would most likely also have occurred if the consumer hadn’t missed the regular car inspection.
But even if the reason for the damage could have been prevented by the regular inspection, in the present case the trader would still have been obliged to repair the car under the contractual guarantee. Since the clause in dispute was part of the trader’s general conditions, the Federal Court of Justice considered the whole clause to be void.
Even if consumers can’t invoke their contractual guarantee, in Germany they also have a legal guarantee of at least one year when they buy a used car from a trader. Within the first six month of this legal guarantee the burden of proof is on the trader’s side if any damage occurs. Consumers can always invoke their legal guarantee besides to their contractual guarantee.
Car rental in Europe (broschure, June 2010)
Car accident in Europe: How to react? (broschure, May 2010)
Driving in Germany (July 2007)
