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March 11, 2023 – 07:00
An Okanagan man is on the hook for $5,000 after he misled himself and didn’t tell the truth about the condition of a used Volkswagen.
According to a March 3 BC Civil Settlement Court ruling, Scott Angus MacDonald sold Julie Le Gall a 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan in July 2021 after she described it on Facebook Marketplace as a “great little SUV, in great shape, very reliable, works great and great. in the snow.”
He wanted $9,800 for the vehicle but settled for $9,000.
However, a week after Le Gall bought the car, he discovered an oil leak.
Le Gall then took the Volkswagen to Elite Auto Center in Kelowna, where MacDonald had purchased the car and had it repaired.
They replaced a vacuum pump for $650, but said the SUV needed another $2,000 of work.
Months later, with oil still leaking, it was taken to Vernon Volkswagen, who quoted $4,500 to fix the leaks by replacing several parts.
He eventually went ahead with the repair at a cost of $4,161.
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However, at some point, he discovered that the car’s engine had been replaced six months before he bought the vehicle.
He then took MacDonald to online small claims court arguing that he had misrepresented the condition of the vehicle and that he had paid for the repairs.
Small claims court often sees disgruntled car buyers try to sue sellers with little success.
“The ‘buyer for consideration’ principle generally applies to private purchases of used vehicles,” the Court said. “This means that buyers bear the risk that a vehicle may have significant defects. There is no common law obligation for a seller to disclose known defects.”
However, the Court notes that a seller “may not actively conceal or misrepresent” defects.
Le Gall argued that MacDonald had misrepresented the fact that the engine had been completely replaced six months earlier.
In the ruling, Le Gall says he asked about engine problems and MacDonald said “no.”
MacDonald denies this and says he “wasn’t questioned much” about the car’s history.
“Faced with contradictory evidence from the parties, it is impossible to know with certainty what happened”, the Court ruled.
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The Court then assessed who was honest.
“Le Gall’s evidence is most consistent with his messages to Mr MacDonald. From the beginning he showed a serious interest in obtaining the records and maintenance receipts. He asked for these things a second time when Mr MacDonald initially did not answer her questions.”, the Court ruled. “It seems unlikely to me that Mrs. Le Gall did not ask any questions about the engine.”
The Court goes on to say that MacDonald did not respond to a message about the oil leak and only returned to Le Gall months later after she sent him a formal letter demanding compensation.
“For these reasons, I find Ms. Le Gall to be a more credible witness,” the Court ruled.
The Court said that MacDonald “misled” La Gall by “concealing” information that the engine had been replaced.
MacDonald argued that the new engine had lower mileage, but provided no evidence to support this.
“He did not explain why he did not provide this information. I find that he should have been able to obtain it, given that he described the owner of Elite Auto Center as a ‘family friend’,” the Court ruled.
The Court ruled that the reason he did not hand over the evidence is that it would not help his case.
Le Gall also tried to get information on the new engine from Elite Auto Centre, which did the work. However, he did not arrive and refused to participate.
“In the absence of any other explanation, I agree with Ms. Le Gall that Elite Auto Center probably refused to provide the information because it would not help Mr. MacDonald, with whom the owner of Elite Auto Center had a close relationship”, ruled the Court. .
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He said MacDonald’s had misrepresented the condition of the vehicle.
The Court ordered him to pay $4,981 to cover the repair costs that Le Gall had already paid, plus $300 in fees and interest.
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