Hi there, European law requires all dealers to offer a 1-year warranty (at a minimum) on all used cars. How do dealers in cars that are not known for their robustness deal with this ridiculous law? Thanks in advance for any input.
For whatever reason UK consumer law does not refer to this so maybe other EU territories have differing views too Ferraris bought from official dealers may be eligible for the factory used car warranty anyway
Hi Jimmie and J.Konrad, I'll try to dig deeper, but I was told in Germany when I bought my 458 from an official Ferrari dealer, that only Ferrari Approved cars were eligible for a 1 year warranty. Most used Ferraris sold in Portugal, as far as I know, are sold in "as is" condition, with some dealers asking a premium to offer some sort of warranty. In terms of used Ferraris for sale from the official Ferrari dealer in Portugal I wouldn't know, as in their website there isn't a single used Ferrari for sale in several years. Kind regards, Nuno.
As far as I know the same law applies in Portugal. All dealers are obliged to offer at least a 1 year warranty on all used cars, but this warranty is void on anything that a buyer can see for himself during the deal - i.e., tires, paint scratches, windows and so on. For those items it will be as it is. This law, however, doesn't apply for private sellers, only for dealers. Regarding the Ferrari official dealer, they have from time to time some used cars to sell. Last time I've seen it was about 6 months ago and they were selling a yellow 355, even though nothing was published on the official website. Last time I remember seeing something to sell on the website was about 2 years ago, one FF I think.
Hello Portuguese Alfista, Miguel and Greyboxer, Is there some kind of cutoff age or any way for a dealer to hedge their risk? I can just imagine some shyster lawyer taking a dealer to court over damage caused by faulty headers on a F355 or something like that. Repairing like that could easily cost half the value of the car. I am not a dealer or anything even close but a relative who is into vintage cars asked me about it as he wants to get into the trade. He is a meticulous fellow and he wants to know everything before he starts his (potential) business.
I understand your concern but the reality is there isn't any cutoff age or kilometers or anything else. The warranty is valid by law for 2 years no matter what, unless agreed by both parts involved to be less, with a minimum of 1 year - which in Portugal is a common practice, without any negotiation with the buyer. The warranty doesn't cover any faulty items the buyer knows of when signs the contract and thereof is considered as it is. Consumables (brakes, fluids, etc) or anything that can be proved to have reached the end of lifetime with normal use will be uncovered as well. The buyer has 60 days since the fault was detected to inform the seller and the seller has 30 days to fix the issue. If he doesn't, then the buyer has 2 years, starting from the day the seller was informed of the issue, to bring charges. Some dealers have a few cars without warranty among the lot and I think this is possible because they are only intermediaries between private sellers and private buyers, displaying only the car and getting a commission. I stand to be corrected though.
J.Konrad, As far as I know, all the info put forward by our dear friend Miguel Morais is absolutely correct. He's refering to a portuguese law (Decreto-Lei 84/2008). To sum it up: mandatory two-year warranty regardless of mileage, that can be reduced to a one-year period if both parties agree. No warranty required if the deal is inked between two private parties. That's the only way to hedge risk, imho. Kind regards, Nuno.