Can you cancel a contract to buy a car because of a long delay?
Hi
I have ordered a Toyota on 2018-04-04.
There was no date for delivery in my contract.
After 14 weeks I decided to cancel contract because of their delay.
I their branch agreement says: If the delivery date is not appearing in contract it means they should deliver the car in 12 weeks.
They are not accepting my wish to cancel contract and they already sent me an invoice of 35238 SEK without any detail.
What should I do?
Regards
A.
Lawline svarar
Hello A.
Thank you for using Lawline's legal services.
My assumptions
In my answer, I will assume you purchased the car in the capacity of a consumer. I will also assume both you and the seller are operating under Swedish jurisdiction.
The seller has breached the contract
Since you bought the car from a business in the capacity of a consumer, konsumentköplagen (Consumer Contracts Act) is applicable (1 § KKL). The law gives consumers certain minimum-rights, which cannot be waived even with consent from the consumer (3 § KKL).
According to 5 § KKL, if the time or date of delivery is not decided by the parties, then the product should be delivered within reasonable time and not later than 30 days after the contract between the parties was made.
I am having trouble understanding exactly what you mean when you write that according to their"branch agreement" the time of delivery is 12 weeks. If this "branch agreement" is part of the contract between you and the seller, then it is binding between the two of you. However, if it is merely some general recommendation that the seller didn't inform you of before the contract was signed, then the rules in KKL enter into force. I will assume that the branch agreement was not part of the contract between the two of you, since you write that there was not a date of delivery in your contract.
According to 6 § KKL, the product is to be considered delivered when it is in your immediate possession. The car is obviously not in your immediate possession. Since it has gone 14 weeks since you signed the contract and the maximum time for delivery according to 5 § KKL (which we've previously established is applicable) is 30 days, the seller has breached the contract.
You should likely be entitled to cancel the contract
Since the seller has breached the contract, you are entitled to make use of certain sanctions. The car was supposed to be delivered after 4 weeks (30 days). It has gone 14 weeks since the contract was signed according to your question. That means the delay is now ten weeks long.
According to 13 § KKL, the consumer may cancel the contract if the delay is of considerable importance to him. I cannot say anything with certainty, but in my view the sheer length of the delay (10 weeks is a long time to be without a car) suggests that it is indeed of considerable importance to you. You should therefire be entitled to cancel the contract. After a cancellation, you are not liable to pay the price of the product any more (43 § KKL).
How to proceed with the dispute
You write that the car company does not want to accept your cancellation of the contract, and insists you pay them for the car. Before doing anything else, it might be a good idea to contact the company again, just to see if you can reach an agreement.
If agreement appears impossible and you still want to cancel the contract, I would advise you to proceed and make a complaint to the National Board for Consumer Disputes (ARN). ARN is a Swedish Authority which can rule in the dispute, and decide whether or not you are indeed entitled to cancel the contract. ARN:s recommendations are not binding, but most businesses tend to follow them anyway. Making a complaint to ARN is free of charge.
If you need more help or more in-depth advice before you make your complaint, you are welcome to use one of Lawline's for-pay legal services, or to ask more questions like the one you just asked.
With friendly greetings and hopes of success,
