11-Year Defective Car Battle Ends as Court Orders Payout of RM90,000 for Defective Volkswagen

The Court of Appeal upheld the Sessions Court’s decision ordering a continental car distributor to pay RM90,000 in damages to a company for the loss of use of a new but defective Volkswagen Polo Sedan 1.6.

Dealer FA Wagen Sdn Bhd was also instructed to pay Poratha Corporation, the purchaser of the car, RM15,000 in costs.

The panel, which included Datuk See Mee Chun and High Court Judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh, rejected FA Wagen’s attempt to introduce a legal argument not previously addressed in lower courts.

FMT reported that the issue FA Wagen sought to raise was whether Poratha, which purchased the car, could reject the car after it was repaired and fit for delivery.

In 2020, then Sessions Court Judge Mabel Sheela Muttiah ruled that Poratha had proved its case against FA Wagen on a balance of probabilities and allowed RM88,300 for the loss of use of the car; RM1,779 as special damages, interest and costs.

The High Court dismissed FA Wagen’s appeal by the High Court on May 6, 2021.

The facts of the case read that Poratha’s manager had purchased the car for about RM105,000 for his wife’s use in 2013.

Poratha took delivery of the car a month later but it ran into mechanical faults and defects and could not be used between Sept 27, 2013 and March 17, 2016.

As the car was still under warranty, FA Wagen was obligated to conduct repairs and rectify the defects to be roadworthy.

Mabel, in her judgment, said the evidence of two witnesses and on the documents produced at trial showed there were real and fundamental defects to the car which FA Wagen had failed to rectify within a reasonable time.

She said she found that Poratha had sustained losses as it had to service the car’s hire purchase instalments without being able to use it.

Mabel found that the car was not of “acceptable quality” and “fit for purpose” as required under the law, saying that the car’s gearbox and engine mounting were defective while its battery and tyres also had to be replaced shortly after purchase.

She also found the car to be unsafe because of a defective brake disc that caused it to judder whenever the brakes were applied.

Mabel had called for the government to push through the “lemon law” to allow purchasers of cars and other consumer goods to obtain compensation for products that repeatedly fail to meet quality and performance standards, noting that Singapore has enacted similar legislation.

While we’re happy for the win, remember that the car was first purchased in 2013 and after 11 years, the original purchaser has finally gotten compensation, though not in full.

The legal battle must have been exhausting and for those of us without the wherewithal to endure 9 years of court appearances, the win seems like a rare case of the exception that proves the rule.

We’re hoping that this sets a precedent for us consumers to pursue legal recourse when sold Lemons. We know at least a few Chery owners who would like their money back and many Proton owners who would like to take the national carmaker to court.

The protracted length of the case also speaks to the shrewdness attitude of Volkswagen and the dealership associated to them who, instead of paying for the defect in good faith, chose to fight a 11-year legal battle to save themselves what we can assume is pocket change.

Shame on you Volkswagen and your Scrooge McDuck of a dealer FA Wagen. Be better.