Spend 550,000 yuan to buy an Audi officially certified used car, and it is a total loss car

■Press:

Be careful when buying a used car.

The officially certified used car actually had a serious accident, and The Owner of the Audi Car, Mr. Li and his wife, were very distressed about it.

According to Mr. Li's report to Consumer Report, he and his wife bought an Official audi certified used car in September 2021, and after purchasing the car, they found that the vehicle had suffered a serious traffic accident and was identified as a total loss by the insurance company. However, Mr. Li said that the 4S shop did not truthfully inform the car of the condition at the time of purchase. To this end, Mr. Li took the Audi 4S store involved in the case to court.

With the heat of China's automobile consumer market, used cars have also become the first choice for many consumers to buy cars. However, the problem of mixing up the second-hand car market does exist, and the seller may use the asymmetry of information to conceal and deceive consumers, seriously infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. In addition to calling on regulators to further regulate the second-hand car trading market, we also remind consumers to be cautious when buying used cars.

Spent 550,000 yuan but bought a total loss car

"I can't laugh at such a happy thing as buying a car." Mr. Lee's wife told consumers.

In September 2021, Mr. and Mrs. Li took a fancy to a second-hand Audi car on the Autohome website, and then spent more than 550,000 yuan on a second-hand 2020 imported Audi A6 car at an Official Audi 4S store - Beijing Mingzun Aoxiang Automobile Sales Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Mingzun Aoxiang 4S Store"), and the manufacturer guidance price of the new car was 560,800 yuan, and the price of Mr. and Mrs. Li's purchase was only about 5,000 yuan lower than the guidance price of the new car manufacturer.

▲The sales promotion page of the vehicle involved (photo provided by the interviewee)

"When buying a car, the sales staff of the 4S store said that the meter mileage was more than 6,000 kilometers, and the whole car was new from the outside, and the previous owner bought the car on December 18, 2020, and sold the car in March 2021, which is a 'quasi-new car'." Mr. Li's wife also said that before buying the car, they saw that the vehicle involved was an official audi certified used car, "we believe that Audi officially purchased this car."

According to Mr. Li's wife, when purchasing the car, the Mingzun Aoxiang 4S store never told him that the vehicle had suffered a serious traffic accident and suffered major damage, nor did it provide a test report on the condition of the car, but only verbally explained the vehicle situation. "If the famous Aoxiang 4S shop told me that there had been a serious accident in the vehicle, we would definitely not buy this car." Mr. Lee's wife said.

▲The purchase agreement of the vehicle involved (photo provided by the interviewee)

However, the actual condition of the vehicle backfired. After the purchase of the car, the vehicle involved repeatedly had the problem of abnormal body noise, and in February 2022, the airbag fault light prompt appeared. Subsequently, Mr. Li sent the vehicle to the Mingzun Aoxiang 4S shop for maintenance, and the after-sales personnel inspected and found that the B pillar of the vehicle may be damaged.

"On the day of the inspection, the sales staff of the Mingzun Aoxiang 4S store inquired about the relevant information and found that the vehicle had a serious traffic accident in March 2021, and there was also an insurance record of the insurance company at that time, and my car was determined to be a total loss car at that time." Mr. Lee's wife said.

▲The vehicle involved suffered a serious traffic accident in March 2021 (photo courtesy of the interviewee)

From the photos of the accident scene, it can be seen that the vehicle involved collided with a van in a tunnel at that time, and the accident scene was in a mess, while the front of the vehicle involved was seriously damaged, and multiple airbags on the car were ejected.

At this point, Mr. and Mrs. Li found that the officially certified second-hand car they spent 550,000 yuan to buy was a total loss car.

The owner took the 4S shop to court

So, as an official audi certified used car, why is the vehicle purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Li a total loss car?

In this regard, Mr. Li's wife pointed out that the Mingzun Aoxiang 4S store said that it was not aware of the situation that the vehicle had suffered major damage. "The 4S shop said they didn't know about the car when they received it themselves."

▲After the accident of the vehicle involved, it was identified as a total loss car by the insurance company (photo provided by the interviewee)

After discovering the problem, Mr. and Mrs. Li negotiated with the Mingzun Aoxiang 4S shop on compensation issues many times, but none of them reached an agreement. "The 4S store only agrees to refund the purchase price, does not agree to provide any compensation, we ask the other party to 'refund one for three'."

At present, Mr. and Mrs. Li have sued the Mingzun Aoxiang 4S store in the people's court, and the first-instance trial will be held in the near future.

▲The owner sued the Audi 4S store involved (photo provided by the interviewee)

On the official website of Audi officially certified used cars, the words "official certification, strict quality" are very eye-catching, and also promote "vehicles have passed 110 testing standard inspections" and "ensure that certified vehicles meet the requirements of no major vehicle damage, no major modifications, service life of no more than 72 months, and driving mileage of no more than 150,000 kilometers", and each used car on sale displays a vehicle condition test report. This means that all Audi officially certified used cars should not have vehicles that have suffered serious traffic accidents and major damage to the body.

▲Audi's promotion of officially certified used cars (Source: Audi brand official website)

However, after more than 100 testing standards, Mr. and Mrs. Li still bought vehicles that suffered major damage. Looking back at the whole incident, it is not difficult to find that the Audi official certified used car may have been negligent in the inspection and audit of the vehicle involved.

In addition, Mr. and Mrs. Li purchased a car on the used car page of Autohome. "Consumer Report" noted that the auto home used car platform only plays a diversion role, consumers can not view the Audi certified used car condition test report on its used car sales page, can only contact the relevant Audi 4S store directly through telephone contact or offline meeting. Therefore, to understand the detailed information of the car condition, consumers can only consult the 4S shop that sells the car, and the right to interpret the car condition is actually owned by the 4S shop.

In response to the problems reflected by Mr. and Mrs. Li, Consumer Report contacted the Mingzun Aoxiang 4S store, and a staff member who answered the phone said: "At present, the incident has entered the legal process, and the relevant situation has been shown in detail to the court and the owner of the car, and it is not convenient for us to respond too much for the time being." For the needs of media interviews, I will help to feedback to the leaders. As of press time, Consumer Reports has not received a detailed reply from the Mingzun Aoxiang 4S store.

At the same time, regarding the problems exposed by this incident in the inspection of audi officially certified second-hand cars in terms of vehicle condition inspection and sales links, Consumer Report sent an interview letter to FAW-Volkswagen Audi for inquiry, but as of press time, there was no reply.

Guo Xiaoming, a lawyer at Shanghai Zhonglian (Chengdu) Law Firm, a well-known legal blogger @ Tandian, pointed out that according to the relevant provisions of the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law, if the Audi 4S store involved does have the problem of concealing the situation of the vehicle accident, it may constitute sales fraud, and Mr. and Mrs. Li have the right to ask the 4S store to "refund one and pay three".

The used car market is mixed, and consumers need to polish their eyes

In fact, the above-mentioned Audi car owners' rights protection incident may only be the tip of the iceberg of the chaos in the second-hand car market.

With the heat of China's automobile consumer market, used cars have also become the first choice for many consumers to buy cars. However, the problem of mixing the second-hand car market does exist objectively, and the seller may use the asymmetry of information to conceal and deceive consumers, seriously infringing on the rights and interests of consumers, and the two sides even go to court.

In March 2020, Consumer Report reported in detail that Tesla owner Han Chao purchased an officially certified used car, and as a result, a third-party appraisal agency determined that the vehicle involved was an accident car with a cut and repaired body. In the end, the court ruled that Tesla's sales fraud was established, and "refunded one to three" to Han Chao, with a total compensation of more than 1.5 million yuan.

▲Han Chao sued Tesla for sales fraud (Source: Weibo@ID_ Han Chao)

First of all, it needs to be clear that the official certified second-hand car of the car brand is not a second-hand car directly supplied by the brand side, it is inspected and sold under the framework of the brand side's testing standards, which represents only a qualification certification. Therefore, consumers need to note that officially certified used cars do not exactly mean that the car is in good condition or the condition information is completely true.

Therefore, consumers need to pay special attention to the condition information when purchasing used cars. An automotive engineer pointed out that when buying a second-hand car, it is nothing more than "talking about the discoloration of the accident car", but more importantly, paying attention to the key conditions of the vehicle. "If you don't have a traffic accident, you can't buy a car, the key is to see if there is major damage, such as whether the body structure is seriously damaged, whether important parts are scrapped and damaged." When purchasing a car, consumers can invite professionals to check the condition of the car together to prevent the seller from concealing the condition of the car. ”

Guo Xiaoming said that consumers must pay attention to checking the quality status of the car when purchasing a second-hand car, and must require the seller to provide a detailed test report on the condition of the vehicle, and list the car quality status and liability for breach of contract in the car purchase contract. When you find quality problems after purchasing a car, you must contact the seller for inspection and processing at the first time, and if you find that the seller has the problem of concealing the condition of the car, you can file a lawsuit with the people's court to protect your legitimate rights and interests.

(At the request of the interviewee, Mr. Li is a pseudonym in the article)