A paper which looks at some of the consumer legislation relating to secondhand car sales, and assesses liability in a specific case study.
Name of Research Paper File: JL5_JLcarsale.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
the sale of secondhand goods, regarding the rights and duties of both vendors and buyers. Frequently these issues are further complicated in the case of secondhand cars, since there is
a wide range of conditions in which a car might be, and still be considered as serviceable. In addition, whereas with some goods it is comparatively simple to ascertain whether
or not the item is fit for use: with a car there are various mechanical and structural problems which may not be immediately apparent to the buyers eye or, indeed,
known to the vendor. Consumer legislation therefore takes into account the extent to which the vendor should be aware of the state and capability of the goods, the opportunity which
the buyer has to inspect the goods before purchase, and the length of time which should be allowed to elapse before the buyer can reasonably be said to have noted
and accepted any faults which have later manifested in the sold item. There are also limitations as to how far the vendor can disclaim responsibility for faults in the sold
item: the buyers statutory rights are not affected by any additional "small print" which a private vendor might choose to include in the sales contract.
Buying a used car is a transaction which is covered by the Sale
of Goods Act (1979) and the Sale and Supply of Goods Act (1994): the legal parameters to which buyers and sellers have to conform are the same with respect to
second-hand cars as to any other kind of goods. For example, the car should be of satisfactory quality which, although the term is not rigorously defined by the law, is