Stephen Boyd reviews the court’s treatment of second-hand car buyers unhappy with their lot
To misquote Forrest Gump’s mother: a second-hand car is “like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get”. Cases relating to quality tend to turn on their own facts, and the statutory provisions have changed over the years. In particular, “merchantable quality” is now “satisfactory quality”, and consumers now have the additional comfort of s 48A of the Sale of Goods Act 1979. However, it is helpful to consider the authorities to see whether any general principles may be extracted.
Bartlett v Sidney Marcus Ltd
In Bartlett v Sidney Marcus Ltd [1965] 1 WLR 1013, [1965] 2 All ER 753, the dealer’s salesman told Mr Bartlett that the clutch of a second-hand Jaguar was not operating properly, but that he thought it could be put right by a minor repair. The price was reached on the understanding that the plaintiff would have the clutch repaired at his own garage. He drove it for about 200 to 300 miles
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