Question

Hello. I am a used-car dealer. I sold my friend’s father’s vehicle, a 2004 BMW 735Li, by posting it on a used-car marketplace. During the process, I showed the vehicle to the buyer, and the buyer also test-drove it. The purchase price was transferred directly into the seller/owner’s bank account. At the same time, I handed over the documents required for the sale and registration, and the vehicle was immediately delivered to the buyer.

I did not receive any commission or sales-related fees. The buyer paid only the purchase price of the vehicle.

However, only a few days after the vehicle was transferred into the buyer’s name, the transmission warning light came on, and the buyer is demanding that the vehicle be repaired under warranty.

The seller says that there is no obligation to provide warranty repairs for a foreign/imported vehicle and is asking why he should be responsible for the repairs. The buyer is saying that he will report me to the police and file a criminal complaint against me.

If a complaint is filed against me, and the relevant court is in a different region, which court would have jurisdiction? I am also not sure whether it is appropriate for me to be the person against whom the complaint is filed, since this was essentially a transaction directly between the buyer and the seller.

What should I prepare or do as the intermediary?

Answer

First, regarding civil liability:

Although it depends on the specific terms and circumstances of the contract, if the used vehicle had a defect, there is a possibility that you and the seller could be held jointly and severally liable for civil damages, since the buyer entered into the transaction based on your introduction/intermediation.

Also, if there was no separate agreement providing for warranty repairs, there would generally be no obligation to provide a warranty. However, if there was a pre-existing defect in the vehicle that the buyer was unaware of before the purchase, it appears that the seller may be required to compensate the buyer for damages corresponding to repair costs and other related losses.

Next, regarding criminal liability:

If the seller or you intentionally concealed a defect in the vehicle when advertising it on the used-car marketplace, causing the buyer to believe that the defect did not exist and thereby inducing the buyer to purchase the vehicle, this could potentially constitute the crime of fraud.

In that situation, the person who deceived the buyer could potentially be you (if it is established that you actually engaged in deceptive conduct), and you could potentially bear criminal liability.

If a criminal complaint is filed, and you are subsequently indicted and become a defendant in a criminal trial, the court having jurisdiction would generally be the court in your place of residence or the court having jurisdiction over the place where the crime was committed.

However, even in such a case, it would be necessary to examine whether there was actually deception and whether you obtained a property-related benefit as a result. These issues would need to be established before determining whether criminal liability exists.