Dealer warranty on vintage cars. How to handle it...

In most states in the USA, dealers are not forced by law to underwrite a new warranty on every used car they sell. This is not the case in Europe.

Basically, European law states that all professional dealers have to offer a 1-year warranty on every car they sell. This makes no sense to me but that's beside the point. How do dealers in vintage exotics (let's face it, these things break down every now and then) deal with potential lawsuits and trouble from buyers? How do Talacrest, Duncan Hamilton, etc do it?

Any input from those in the business would be appreciated.

 

In the US, if you buy from a dealer, you will get a contract that says, 'AS IS' in very large type. Some dealers will offer a limited warranty, and of course the law differs from state to state.

 

Yup, but that's not possible as per EU law, which apparently forces dealers to offer a 1 (statutory minimum) to 2 year warranty. As someone who is OCD when it comes to commerce and customer satisfaction, such an inane law bothers me to be frank. There's no way on earth something like a F355 F1 or a Maserati Biturbo won't give someone trouble. It's nanny state socialist madness. My question still stands: how do dealers manage their businesses with this sword hanging over their heads?

 

Hi,

I have never heard of such and none of the used cars or classic cars I have bought have ever had any kind of warranty. As soon as I have started the car and driven away from the dealer it's been my problem. The 1975 XJ6C blew a head gasket after a couple 1000 kms partly because the cooling system caps were misplaced, but no other technical problems. Yes, you can buy a used car from a dealership with some kind of warranty, but AFAIK that should always be a paper with it's own conditions etc. I have never bought one that way. A friend of mine bought a 911 (993) C4 S from a Porsche dealer with a limited warranty, which was good for him as the FI failed after a couple of months and they fixed it under warranty.

I think over here it's easy to manage, they just state in the bill of sale or transfer documents that the car is bought "as is" and that there is no warranty whatsoever.

Cheers,

Pekka T.
Fin.

 

I'm not in the business but I have not heard of this.

It is often possible to buy a mechanical warranty from independent brokers but these are limited in scope and are probably not available for classics. Some traders throw these in as part of the deal.

The words 'As seen and inspected, with no warranty stated or implied' seem to appear quite often. Although, having said that, there is the concept of selling goods which are unfit for purpose, which would give a statutory right of redress in the event of some major failure on the way home!

Have I missed an important EU development?

 

I think you have John, I'm sure I that James Cottingham of DK told me that this was the case when we were discussing sale of my 575M. Maybe there is a cut off in the age of the car but "modern classics" certainly fall under government legislation on used car sales.

 

I believe that in the UK, the consumer rights act trumps the EU directive (as it has stricter provisions).

The below would apply even to a classic car but note this comment in the below

the car develops a problem you wouldn't expect for the car's age and mileage, or it turns out not to be what you’d been led to expect - you may have the right to reject it and get your money back.

The second-hand car I bought has a problem, what are my rights?

 

I think you are right Matthew. I have done some research since my first post and it seems that the UK law was such that it was deemed to give better protection that EU directive 1999/44.

However, this directive presumably applies to most if not all other EU countries, as the OP suggested.

Of course, legislation does not always lead to straightforward settlement of claims. There is doubtless argument about what is fair wear and tear, customer caused failures and the proposed resolution in many cases, save where something is very quickly apparent soon after sale. Litigation to settle could proove very expensive for both parties and is usually a last resort.