In June 2021, Chengdu citizen Liu Bin (pseudonym) bought an officially certified second-hand car at Chengdu New Element Xingye Automobile Sales Service Co., Ltd. (New Element Company), and when Liu Bin was preparing to replace the vehicle more than half a year later, he found that the "certified second-hand car" he had purchased for the purpose of safely was an accident car, and immediately negotiated with the merchant.
On March 21, New Element Company told Upstream News (e-mail: [email protected]) that the second-hand car purchased by Liu Bin had indeed had an accident, the A-pillar and other parts of the car had been repaired, and the company's sales representative had clearly informed consumers that there was no fraudulent sales alleged by Liu Bin. In order to solve the problem, the merchant is willing to buy the second-hand car involved at the original price.
On March 25, the buyer and seller further negotiated, but the subsequent solution changed dramatically: Liu Bin agreed to the new element company's 140,000 yuan repurchase plan, but the new element company no longer agreed to the original price to buy back, requiring it to be recovered at market price, and the incident once again reached an impasse.
Legal professionals believe that the condition of the second-hand car, maintenance records, etc., should be an important part of the second-hand car transaction sales contract, should have a clear and detailed explanation, it is recommended that the second-hand car dealer should clearly record the relevant situation in the form of a written contract when trading, so as to protect the interests of both buyers and sellers to the greatest extent.
▲Liu Bin purchased a second-hand Audi A4L sedan from Chengdu New Elements Company. Image credit/courtesy of the interviewee
The officially certified used car was verified as an accident car
In June 2021, Liu Bin was preparing to buy a car because of the needs of life, and when he came to Chengdu New Element Xingye Automobile Sales Company on Huangjinglou Road in Jinjiang District, Chengdu for consultation, the sales staff introduced him to the "Audi official certified used car" project launched by the store. It is also a second-hand car, but after the official "blessing" of the Audi brand, Liu Bin is very impressed, and after careful consideration, he spent 140,000 yuan to buy an Audi A4L sedan sold by New Elements.
According to public information, Chengdu New Elements Company is an Audi "officially certified used car" dealer, the official website introduced, "strive to build a trust bond with consumers, the process of receiving, refurbishing, and selling are transparent and visible, the maintenance records are true and reliable", "Audi official certified used cars" certification standards are one of the most stringent and comprehensive used car inspection procedures in the automotive industry, and the pre-vehicle appraiser will pass the national networked vehicle maintenance and repair information system to repair the history of the vehicle, maintenance records, Information such as the history of the vehicle is verified.
After buying a car in June 2021, Liu Bin was basically satisfied with the condition of this A4L sedan, and Liu Bin once again had the idea of changing the car at the beginning of this year. When he drove the A4L sedan to another Audi 4S store in Chengdu to prepare for vehicle replacement, the 4S shop found that the car had multiple repair marks, and Liu Bin told the upstream news reporter, "The 4S shop that was ready to collect my car said that the A pillar of the car had collided, and there were spray paint marks in other places, which was determined to be an accident car." ”
After Liu Bin found the problem, he immediately commissioned a third-party testing company to test it. The vehicle maintenance report issued by the third-party inspection company shows that Liu Bin's A4L sedan has carried out sheet metal maintenance on the right rear fender and right rear door, painted the right front door, painted the right front fender, replaced the front windshield, and repaired the sheet metal of the right A-pillar. Liu Bin then drove the A4L to another Audi 4S store for testing. The report issued by the store also shows that the vehicle involved has been repaired and treated, and it is a full-fledged accident car.
The "Audi official certified used car" was an accident car, which made Liu Bin feel very depressed. He told reporters that the purchase of second-hand cars is to go to the new element 4S store and Audi brand, "the result is still an accident car, which makes no one able to accept, the official second-hand car price is more expensive than the outside and encountered this situation, which is unbelievable." ”
Liu Bin drove the vehicle to the new element company for negotiation, and the company's technicians found that the A4L sedan purchased by Liu Bin had indeed been repaired in the key position of the A pillar, and there were also spray paint marks on the fenders and the right rear door.
The upstream news reporter noted that both the buyer Liu Bin and the seller Chengdu New Element Company confirmed that the officially certified A4L used car had an accident.
▲The third-party test certificate shows that the Audi car involved is an accident car. Image credit/courtesy of the interviewee
The seller said that it had made a complete introduction to the condition of the car
At the beginning of March, Liu Bin officially reported to Chengdu New Elements that he bought a certified used car as an accident car. Liu Bin told the upstream news reporter that the new element company did not clearly inform the vehicle of the previous accident when selling, "The new element company deliberately concealed the accident car and then sold it to consumers, which is fraudulent." ”
Mr. Liao, the person in charge of the new element company, told reporters that before selling the certified second-hand car, they will clearly inform consumers of the real car condition, and also inform Liu Bin of the A4L car involved in the process before selling the A4L car, "clearly informing Liu Bin of the real car condition of the vehicle involved and the original insurance, maintenance and other records." For Liu Bin's statement that "the merchant did not inform the fraudulent consumer", the 4S store denied it.
The upstream news reporter obtained the contract signed by Liu Bin and the new element Audi store on June 2, 2021, which clarified that the vehicle traded by the two parties was an Audi A4L sedan and the basic information of the chassis number, body color and other vehicles, and at the same time made it clear in the remarks column, "The condition of the car has been informed to the customer, the customer has been approved by the car inspection, and the remaining insurance is 1713 yuan and the transfer fee is 800 yuan." Purchase a maintenance 750.6 yuan. ”
The reporter noted that the contract also specifically noted that "the vehicle is an old motor vehicle, although Party A tries its best to inform Party B of the vehicle condition, maintenance records, insurance records, etc., but there may be quality faults or defects that have not yet been discovered, and the vehicle is signed with the approval of the vehicle condition, etc., and the new element company does not bear the relevant costs and related responsibilities." ”
Did the buyer and seller communicate about the accident of the vehicle during the used car transaction? Liu Bin insisted that New Element did not inform the vehicle of significant information that had been involved in an accident before delivering the vehicle, leading to his decision to buy without understanding the real condition of the vehicle. Mr. Liao of the new element company believes that the company's sales representative had "verbally" informed the accident information when the vehicle was sold, Liu Bin decided to buy it after understanding the condition of the car, and the company's sales did not conceal anything.
After Liu Bin submitted a compensation request, new element company proposed that in order to solve Liu Bin's claim, although the company did not agree with the fraud, it was willing to recover the car at the original price of 140,000 yuan that Liu Bin bought last year. Mr. Liao, a new element company, said, "In the used car industry, this is already a very responsible process. ”
▲The contract signed by the two parties states "Audi officially certified used car", and the condition of the car has been informed to the customer. Image credit/courtesy of the interviewee
The consumer claimed to have been defrauded and demanded 30,000 yuan in damages
For the "original price return" solution proposed by the new element company, Liu Bin told reporters that he did not accept this treatment opinion and insisted that the new element company return the car and compensate 30,000 yuan.
Liu Bin believes that although the car booking contract clarifies the relevant terms such as "Party A informs Party B of the vehicle status as much as possible", there is no relevant expression in the entire written contract, which is based on verbal notification as an excuse for prevarication, and in fact, it does not fully inform that there has been an accident in the vehicle. ”
On March 21, Manager Yang, who was responsible for the follow-up disposal of the incident, communicated with the upstream reporter again. Mr. Yang once again confirmed that when selling the car, he had issued the vehicle's maintenance records, insurance records and other information to Liu Bin in person, "There is an A-pillar repair record in the maintenance record, we showed it to the customer, and the contract signed to confirm the condition of the car." You say you don't remember, but the contract won't be faked, right? New Element Company believes that the contract clearly states that "the vehicle maintenance situation has been informed", the consumer Liu Bin has signed, and at the same time, the maintenance record is a necessary procedure in the second-hand car transaction, and Liu Bin has no reason not to know the real car condition.
Liu Bin insisted that New Element Company is a professional used car sales company, should know the importance of the real situation of the vehicle in the used car transaction, it is impossible not to clearly record in the sales contract and only rely on "verbal promises", New Element Company is "deliberate fraudulent sales".
After the two sides did not reach an agreement after several consultations, Liu Bin went to the Liujiang Market Supervision Office in Jinjiang District to complain. On March 25, the market supervision department of Jinjiang District of Chengdu organized mediation between the two sides after receiving Liu Bin's complaint. In the negotiations on the same day, Liu Bin made concessions, saying that he was willing to give up the 30,000 yuan of cash compensation requested, and only asked New Element Company to return the car at the original price of 140,000 yuan. New Element Company withdrew its willingness to return the car at the original price in the negotiation, saying that the original plan was to appease the customer' measures, and now only agreed to recycle according to the market price, but the two sides could not agree on the specific price of the vehicle recovery.
For Liu Bin's request to return the car, the new element company believes that it is unreasonable and does not accept, and said that Liu Bin has pulled a banner at the entrance of the store several times in a row to broadcast and obstruct other customers from entering the exhibition hall. Liu, manager of the new element company, said that he hopes that the two sides can take the legal route to solve, "the cars of more than 100,000 yuan are very cheap in our place, and it is impossible to make the corporate image and the company's reputation stink for thousands of profits." We didn't do anything wrong, and we hope the law gives us the answer. ”
▲Chengdu New Elements Company", "certified used car" showroom. Photo / Upstream journalist Shen Du
Used car contracts should have maintenance records written in complete
For the deadlocked dispute over the return of second-hand cars, Wan Miaoyan, a lawyer at Sichuan Dingzhi Law Firm, told the upstream news reporter that Liu Bin said that New Element Company concealed the real condition of the car to sell "accident cars", and the essence of this accusation was that there was "fraudulent sales" in New Element Company. According to Article 55 of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, "if a business operator provides goods or services fraudulently, he shall increase the compensation for the losses he has suffered in accordance with the requirements of the consumer, and the amount of the increased compensation shall be three times the price of the goods purchased by the consumer or the cost of receiving the service". Wan Miaoyan believes that if Liu Bin can prove that New Element Company deliberately concealed the actual sales, "it is completely reasonable to go to the court to sue for 3 times compensation." ”
Regarding the result of the breakdown of negotiations between Liu Bin and New Element Company, Wan Miaoyan believes that according to the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law on the burden of proof, after this consumer dispute case entered the judicial procedure, Liu Bin needed to submit evidence to prove that New Element Company had made fraudulent sales, and the standard of proof must also reach the level of "excluding reasonable doubt", "But from the existing evidence, Liu Bin clearly signed and confirmed that he was aware of the real car condition in the "Car Fixing Contract" of the car purchase. This makes it more difficult for the court to make a judgment when determining whether Liu Bin is aware of the situation and cannot meet the corresponding standard of proof. ”
Wan Miaoyan believes that the car condition in the second-hand car transaction is an important part of the contract, for the car condition description, maintenance records, etc. there should be a clear record, Liu Bin and the new element company "ripping" the reason, that is, there is no clear delivery of the real car condition, "as a professional second-hand car dealer, like maintenance records, car conditions, etc. should be clearly recorded in the contract or directly as an attachment to the contract in the transaction contract to be clear." If the maintenance records, vehicle condition descriptions, etc. are clearly defined in writing, both the buyer and the seller can protect their respective interests to the greatest extent. ”
Upstream journalist Shen Du intern Feng Xinyi