Sale of a used vehicle: validity of an amicable, non-judicial assessment in the event of agreement on the facts
Published on :
05/11/2025
05
November
Nov
11
2025
Source: www.courdecassation.fr
After purchasing a used vehicle from a professional dealer, the buyer resold it to a third party, with a certificate of sale stating a mileage of 141,000 km.
A few years later, a technical inspection revealed an inconsistency: the odometer had clearly been tampered with before the sale. An amicable expert assessment, carried out at the buyer's request and in the presence of the seller, confirmed the tampering.
Seized with the matter of rescinding the sale, the local court ordered the refund of the purchase price on the grounds that the vehicle did not conform to the agreed description.
The seller argued in the Court of Cassation that the judgment was based exclusively on a non-judicial expert assessment, in violation of Article 16 of the French Code of Civil Procedure.
The Court of Cassation dismissed the appeal. It pointed out that while a judge cannot base his decision solely on an amicable expert report, this is not the case when the findings of the expert reports relate to an established and undisputed fact.
Since both parties acknowledged that the mileage had been altered before the sale, the court was entitled to rely on the expert report in order to order the cancellation of the contract.
History
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Sale of a used vehicle: validity of an amicable, non-judicial assessment in the event of agreement on the facts
Published on : 05/11/2025 05 November Nov 11 2025Publications
Source: www.courdecassation.fr After purchasing a used vehicle from a prof...
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