the new car has only been driven for more than 3 months. after 7 repairs, the fault still cannot be eliminated. can i buy a new car? the verdict is out!
2024-09-10
한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina
this article is transferred from [hunan high court];
i bought the car just over three months ago.
the vehicle's engine malfunctioned.
the consumer went to the car sales company seven times for repairs
after inspection, the engine fault light still cannot be cleared.
can i replace it with a new car?
recently,
the yuhu district people's court of xiangtan city heard the
a case of sales contract dispute.
basic facts
on october 20, 2022, yin ordered a car from a car sales and service company. on november 1, 2022, yin and the car sales and service company formally reached a vehicle sales contract, with a total purchase price of rmb 136,800, and the car began to be delivered for use.
partial repair order
on february 6, 2023, when the vehicle had traveled more than 1,000 kilometers, yin found that the vehicle had abnormalities such as the engine fault light and the start-stop fault light on, so he went to a car sales and service company 7 times to request repairs. the company's maintenance personnel were unable to find out the cause after inspection. shortly after each repair, the engine fault light would light up again, and the fault code could not be cleared. with the manufacturer's consent, the company proposed an after-sales repair plan to yin to replace the engine, but yin refused. after that, the two sides failed to communicate and negotiate many times, so yin sued the court and asked a car sales and service company to replace a new car of the same model.
court decision
the court held thatthe focus of the dispute in this case is whether the defendant, a car sales and service company in xiangtan city, should replace the vehicle for the plaintiff yin.
the civil code of the people's republic of china stipulates that a contract established in accordance with the law is binding on all parties. the car sold by the defendant to the plaintiff had only traveled more than 1,000 kilometers (more than three months) when the engine fault light and the start-stop fault light came on. after repeated inspections and repairs by the defendant's staff, the fault could not be completely eliminated.the defendant should bear civil liability for the quality defects of the vehicle involved in the case.
according to article 24, paragraph 1 of the consumer protection law of the people's republic of china, "if the goods or services provided by the operator do not meet the quality requirements, the consumer may return the goods in accordance with national regulations or the agreement between the parties, or require the operator to perform obligations such as replacement or repair. if there are no national regulations or agreements between the parties, the consumer may return the goods within seven days from the date of receipt of the goods; if the statutory conditions for termination of the contract are met after seven days, the consumer may return the goods in a timely manner; if the statutory conditions for termination of the contract are not met, the consumer may require the operator to perform obligations such as replacement or repair."
in conjunction with article 24 of the regulations on the liability for repair, replacement and return of household automobile products, "if a household automobile product encounters any of the following circumstances during the warranty period, and the consumer chooses to replace or return the household automobile product with the purchase invoice and the warranty certificate, the seller shall replace or return the product: (i) a serious safety performance failure has been repaired twice cumulatively, but the failure has not been eliminated or a new serious safety performance failure has occurred; (ii) the engine, transmission, power battery, and driving motor have been replaced twice cumulatively due to quality problems and still cannot be used normally; (iii) the same major component of the engine, transmission, power battery, driving motor, steering system, braking system, suspension system, transmission system, pollution control device, and body has been replaced twice cumulatively due to quality problems and still cannot be used normally;（4) the cumulative repair time due to quality issues exceeds 30 days, or the cumulative repairs due to the same quality issue exceed 4 times. the number of replacements of the engine, transmission, power battery, and driving motor and the number of replacements of their main parts are not counted repeatedly.
the vehicle involved in the case had reported engine fault lights and start-stop fault lights for many times during the three-month driving. the defendant had repaired the vehicle many times but failed to solve the hidden danger. the hidden danger had seriously affected the plaintiff's driving safety.therefore, the plaintiff's request for the defendant to replace the vehicle is in compliance with the law and the court supports it.court decisionthe defendant, a car sales and service company, replaced the plaintiff yin with a qualified new car of the same model.
a car sales and service company was dissatisfied and filed an appeal.the xiangtan intermediate people's court upheld the original verdict, which has come into effect.
judge's opinion
"replacement" as one of the ways to bear liability for breach of contract is quite common in people's daily consumption and trading behaviors.article 582 of the civil code of the people's republic of china clearly stipulates "replacement": "if the performance does not conform to the agreement, the party shall bear the liability for breach of contract in accordance with the agreement of the parties. if there is no agreement on the liability for breach of contract or the agreement is unclear and it cannot be determined according to the law, the injured party may reasonably choose to request the other party to bear the liability for breach of contract such as repair, re-work, replacement, return, reduction of price or remuneration based on the nature of the subject matter and the amount of loss." in daily life, carsas a special movable property, it involves complex factors such as vehicle registration, property transfer, and vehicle condition inspection. at the same time, car driving is a highly dangerous operation, so the requirements for car safety performance need to be improved accordingly.
it is generally believed thatreplacing the engine is generally considered a major car repair.in this case, yin requested repairs seven times due to abnormalities such as the engine fault light and the start-stop fault light. after inspection, the cause could not be found and the fault code could not be cleared.the large number of rescues indicates that the vehicle has a major safety hazard., the legitimate rights and interests of consumers have been greatly infringed.as the manufacturer and seller of the car, the seller bears greater responsibility for ensuring that the car meets technical standards and has safe driving performance. consumers' claims for replacing new cars should be supported by law.
author: wang ying
source: xiangtan yuhu district people's court
