Duties for Disclosure in Sale of Car Agreement

Surname 1
Camita v. Matthew Sale of Car Agreement
Name:
Institution:
Date:

Surname 2
Duties for Disclosure
According the facts of the case, the purchaser, Mathew had not been at fault to purchase
the used car from the seller as he had priory inquired and believed all information that was
provided to him. Although the seller was aware of the information that the car had been involved
in an accident before, he failed to disclose such information to the seller. This led to Mathew
believing that the car was in its original and valued at 10,000 dollars. In real sense, that was no
the value of the as at the time of sale. It is evident that some facts about the car were not
disclosed during time of sale and neither were they mentioned in the deed of sale. The seller, was
under legal obligation to disclose every detail on the current condition of the car. The current
seller of the vehicle learnt that it had been involved in an accident after purchasing it. The seller
therefore went ahead to accept it at its situation and failed to follow up the issue of the prior
accident from the original owner. Since he (the current seller) decided to involve into further
transactions regardless of learning about the accident, he should assume all responsibilities
evolving from the sale of the car.
Was Camita Quilla under any Legal Obligation to Disclose the Prior Accident?
Sales for private vehicles are not under any legal binding according to Consumer
Protection Act No 68 of 2008 (CPA) provisions. However, there are obligatory duties regarding
such cases according to the common law.1 The law requires to the to be explicitly honest with the
purchaser and should disclose about any known defects or damages to the vehicle. The aspect
1 Firnkorn, Jörg, and Martin Müller. "Selling mobility instead of cars: new business strategies of automakers
and the impact on private vehicle holding." Business Strategy and the environment 21, no. 4 (2012): 264-
280.

Surname 3
might include historical information which can affect decision of the purchaser on purchasing the
vehicle. Additionally, concise information could also have an impact on the vehicle’s safety or
direct impact on the agreed price. In this case, failure to disclose the actual information on the
history of the vehicle’s accident status made the purchaser to believe that the car was valued at a
higher price that its current value.2
Duty of the Buyer
According to used car Law, if the sale agreement has been done and all terms passed to
the buyer are fulfilled, the buyer cannot sue the seller neither can he be refunded. In different
cases, sale of a done car between two private individuals is an “as is” transaction without
guarantee or warranty implied by used car law.3 Unless the seller gave an express warranty
regarding an issue being raised, or misrepresented information to coerce the buyer into buying,
there will be no justification to have any legal proceedings concerning the transaction.
Since many used cars are as is transactions, the seller has got some obligations according
to used car law. They key obligation of the seller in various countries is to declare whether the
vehicle has ever been involved in an accident and its current status in regard to that accident.
According to the used car law, the buyer has the duty to examine the car prior to the transaction
to ensure that it meets all his requirements upfront. If the buyer fails to do so it is his
responsibility that he assumed his duty to check and he cannot claim payment for any damages
2 Firnkorn, Jörg, and Martin Müller. "Selling mobility instead of cars: new business strategies of automakers
and the impact on private vehicle holding." Business Strategy and the environment 21, no. 4 (2012): 264-
280.
3 Education, Missouri Taxpayer. "Cars." (2010).