Car for sale ad on social media costs a man Dhs50,000

Aya Al Deeb, Staff Reporter

A car for sale advertisement on a social networking site caused a man to incur a loss of Dhs50,000.

The man bought a car whose odometer showed that it had travelled 112,000 kilometres but later discovered that the car’s odometer had been tampered with and that the car had travelled 517,000 kilometres.

The Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Cases Court ruled that the car sale contract be annulled and that the seller be obligated to return to the man the price of the car of Dhs50,000 plus a compensation of Dhs10,000.

Earlier, the victim filed a lawsuit in which he demanded that the defendant pay him Dhs87,000 plus fees and expenses based on the fact that the defendant published an ad on a social networking site offering for sale a vehicle with a mileage of 112,000 kilometres.

The plaintiff contacted the defendant and agreed with him to buy the vehicle through a bank’s auto finance.

After the purchase procedures had been completed, the plaintiff took his vehicle to the vehicle agency for maintenance but, much to his surprise, he found that the mileage was 517,000 kilometers.

The complainant said he communicated with the defendant to return the vehicle or get a price difference based on the kilometres actually travelled but the defendant refused to comply.

The plaintiff demanded that the car sale contract be annulled and that the defendant be obligated to return the price of Dhs50,000 and pay all the expenses incurred by the plaintiff amounting to Dhs12,000 plus Dhs25,000 in compensation for the material and moral damages.

As a precautionary measure, the plaintiff requested the court to obligate the defendant to return the price difference of Dhs25,000.

The court indicated that the plaintiff submitted a statement issued by the vehicle agency stating the real distance travelled by the vehicle, which amounted to 517,000 kilometres.

Based on the material and moral damages that the plaintiff sustained, the court ruled that the car sale contract be annulled and that the defendant be obligated to return the price of Dhs50,000 to the plaintiff plus a compensation of Dhs10,000 and to pay all fees and expenses.