Attention when selling classic cars, private sellers are also liable
In the last few days, various places have reported on a sensational court ruling by the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH, judgment of 10.04.2024, ref. VIII ZR 161/23). On April 10, 2024, this court ruled that a seller of a Mercedes-Benz 380 SL (the picture above is a sample picture and has nothing to do with the case) with a mileage of 150,000 km was liable for a material defect, although the purchase contract had excluded any liability for material defects. This is actually customary in contracts for private sales and prevents the buyer from subsequently complaining about possible defects and demanding compensation.
However, you have to take a closer look at the specific case before drawing general conclusions. The 380 SL was explicitly offered for sale with a functioning air conditioning system for EUR 25,000 and this "perfectly functioning" air conditioning system was also mentioned in the sales contract. However, it then turned out that the cooling system was not working properly after all, whereupon the buyer had it repaired for EUR 1750. The buyer wanted this money back from the seller, while the seller insisted on the agreed liability for material defects.
The Limburg Regional Court ruled in favor of the seller, whereupon the buyer took the case to the Federal Court of Justice. This next instance then supported the buyer's argument.
The reasoning was, simply put, that the functioning air conditioning system described an agreed quality and that this could not simply be overridden with a general clause.
As an observer, one naturally wonders how it is possible to go through two instances of court with the typical legal fees and court costs for a claim of EUR 1750. Perhaps both parties have legal expenses insurance?
Something similar has happened to me several times. In all cases, it has always been possible to reach an agreement without going to court. Usually you end up in the middle and each party pays part of the costs. After all, there is usually a certain majority involved in repairing a defect that has subsequently emerged. However, in the case described, it seems strange that the functioning cooling system is confirmed in the sales advertisement and in the contract, even though it was obviously not working properly. But there are probably some things that we as outsiders don't know ...
In any case, one can hardly deduce from this ruling that private sellers of classic cars will in future be implicitly liable under warranty.
