Queen 's Bench Division
14 October 2010
Case Analysis
Where Reported[2010] EWHC 2444 (QB); Official Transcript
Case DigestSubject: Sale of goods Other related subjects: Sale of goods; Consumer law
Keywords: Bailment; Breach of contract; Breach of warranty; Damages; Hire purchase; Misleading statements; Motor dealers; Trade descriptions; Warranties
Summary: The claimant succeeded in her claims for breach of warranty and breach of contract in respect of the sale to her of a vintage car which did not conform to its description as a "1930 Speed Six Bentley".
Abstract: The claimant (B) brought claims for breach of warranty and breach of contract in respect of the sale to her of a vintage car by the first defendant car dealer (M). M undertook his business through the third defendant company (S), though he did not reveal the existence of S in his pre-contract meetings with B. The car was advertised and sold as a "1930 Speed Six Bentley". M warranted to B that the car had a 1930 Speed Six engine. B agreed to buy the car on hire purchase terms from the second defendant finance company (F). Three connected contracts were entered into in order to effect the sale of the car from S to F, and the subsequent sale from F to B on hire purchase terms. M included a contractual description of the car in each of the contracts, namely that it was a "1930 Speed Six Bentley". B discovered a year after taking delivery of the car that its engine was actually a reconstructed 1927 standard 6.5 litre engine. B claimed from M, as damages for breach of warranty, and from S and F, as damages for breach of contract, the sums she had paid to F by way of hire purchase instalments as well as the deposit she had paid to S. B argued that the description of the car in each of the contracts became a term of the contracts, and the meaning of the description was that the car was a "1930 Speed Six car with a 1930 Speed Six engine and chassis". B submitted that the car did not