Obligating a car agency to repair a female citizen’s vehicle and compensating her with 50 thousand dirhams

The Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance recently ruled to oblige a well-known car agency to repair a luxury vehicle owned by a female citizen, in which it discovered defects in the brakes after purchasing it. The court obliged it to pay the complainant 50 thousand dirhams as moral and material compensation for the damages, expenses and attorney’s fees she sustained.

The engineering expert report after examining the vehicle stated that there were hidden manufacturing defects that the average person could not identify.

In detail, a citizen filed a lawsuit against a car agency in which she said that she had bought a 2017 luxury car from them, and while driving it she heard a sound in the “brakes,” so she returned it to the agency where it was inspected and returned to them without repair, then she returned it a second time after hearing the same sound. The front brakes and drums were changed, and the problem persisted, which prompted her to file a lawsuit.

The agency said, “When the vehicle was examined and the electronic mechanical detection was conducted using the control panels, no defect appeared in it.”

The court appointed a mechanical engineering expert, and the expert concluded in his report, after inspecting, examining and testing the vehicle on the road in the presence of both parties, that the braking system is not working properly and is making noises when stopping and starting the vehicle, as a result of the installation of very poor-quality “brake pads” that are not up to the standard for their installation. Cars, which are considered luxury cars.

The report stated that “the electronic control system is not working properly, which indicates that it must be completely changed, based on the plaintiff’s repeated complaint that the right front door glass is not working correctly and that at times it stops working, and the radio waves are automatically diverted, which… “It indicates that the electronic control system has defects and needs to be completely changed,” stressing that the car does not conform to the conditions and specifications due to defects.

The engineering expertise inquired about the vehicle’s accidents through the police’s electronic services, and it was found that it had been involved in three accidents due to hitting a fixed object outside the road, considering that this does not mean that the agency is spared from restoring the car that is the subject of the lawsuit to its normal condition, stressing that “the defects present in the car are manufacturing defects and are hidden.” The ordinary person cannot stand its truth.”

The engineering expertise concluded that the plaintiff deserves to have these defects repaired within the agency, whether these defects resulted from an accident or otherwise, because the car is a 2017 model and is still in the warranty period, and the plaintiff deserves a replacement car of the same type and category until the repair is completed and it is returned to its normal condition, and it must The agency must issue a two-year warranty to the plaintiff for the parts that will be replaced and repaired, and the plaintiff is entitled to compensation for the damage she sustained as a result of these defects. Lawyer Ali Al-Abadi, the plaintiff’s agent, submitted a memorandum, at the conclusion of which he requested that the car agency be obligated to completely change the car’s braking system, including the electronic control, and obligated it to pay the plaintiff compensation commensurate with the material, moral, and psychological damage she suffered, with a delay interest of 5% from the date of the claim until Payment, and obligating it to pay fees and expenses, document translation fees, and attorney fees.

The court stated in the rationale for its decision that “It is legally stipulated in Article (544) of the Civil Transactions Law that if an old defect appears in the sold item, the buyer has the choice, if he wishes, to return it, or if he wishes, to accept it at the specified price, and he has no right to withhold it and demand what the defect has reduced from the price, and the defect is considered old.” If it was present in the sold item before the sale or occurred after it while it was in the hands of the seller before delivery, the defect occurring to the buyer is considered old if it is based on an old cause present in the sold item at the time of delivery. The seller, and the old defect must be hidden and only become apparent through experience. The seller will not be responsible for this defect if he makes it clear to the buyer at the time of sale, or if the buyer is satisfied with it after he learned of it or learned of it from someone else, or if he bought the item being sold knowing of the defect.

The citizen bought a 2017 luxury car and discovered a defect in the brakes and control panels.