Court holds sellers liable for deceitful trade in faulty second-hand vehicles

The dispute before the court was between car dealer Best Cars Limited trading as Impact Motors against Mr Morara Omoke and Ms Esabel Gathigia.

“The trial court was correct in its judgment, when it observed that there was tangible evidence adduced by Mr Omoke and Ms Gathigia that the suit motor vehicle was not in perfect working condition and it mattered not that the latter was inspected to their satisfaction given that they were not experts in the field,” said the judge.

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The judge dismissed an appeal filed by the car seller against the lower court’s decision to award the buyers Sh400,000 in the form of special damages for the repairs done on the motor vehicle.

Mr Omoke and Ms Gathigia had purchased a second-hand car – a Volkswagen Golf – at Sh630,000 in January 2020.

The buyers sued after the car developed mechanical problems and used another Sh400,000 to do the repairs and fix the defects.

They said the seller had assured them that the vehicle was in perfect condition. The court heard that the car dealer sold them a faulty motor vehicle misrepresenting it to be in perfect working condition including misrepresenting the vehicle's mileage.

But it immediately developed mechanical problems characterised by jerking and inhabited acceleration. They told the court that upon asking the seller the history of the motor vehicle, they were ignored.

In the suit, the buyers argued that the seller “intentionally and malevolently sold the suit motor vehicle misrepresenting it to be in perfect working condition and merchantable quality”.

The Small Claims Court found that the car dealer sold to the claimants a motor vehicle that was not fit for the purpose for which it was purchased.

“There was tangible evidence adduced by the claimants to demonstrate that the motor vehicle was not in perfect working condition as represented to the claimants by the respondent,” said the court.

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It added that as the buyer relied on the seller’s skill of judgment there was an implied condition that the motor vehicle would be of merchantable quality.

The court said the car’s development of numerous serious mechanical problems soon after being handed over to the claimants was proven.

Further, the court found that based on provisions of Section 16(b) of the Sale of Goods Act, the car dealer could only be exempted from the implied warranty that his goods are of merchantable quality where the buyer is an expert in that particular field and he examines the goods whose defects are identifiable upon ordinary examination.

For its part, the car dealer had contended that the buyer, having been allowed to inspect and examine the condition of the suit motor vehicle, using his mechanics, there was no breach on the part of the seller.