Car and spare parts

Vincent Camilleri writes:
Although Malta has now joined the EU, the more renowned "old" car firms that import brand names still rebuff the idea that any importer can bring in all types of cars from abroad. In this respect, I would like to ask whether there have been any significant changes.

Moreover, I would like to ask the following:

If I buy a car from an official brand firm and this does not stock important spare parts (which are not in high demand) and I need this part urgently because of a collision, what would my legal position be?

If, on the other hand, I buy a second hand imported car from an unofficial dealer and after a collision I take it to the official brand firm for repairs and they accept to repair it but no spare parts are available, what are my rights?

Finally, if I have to wait two weeks or more until this part arrives from abroad, while my car idles in the garage and I am left without a car for my daily work, is my insurance responsible in any way? Should I be given a substitute car by the firm for my daily use until the spare part arrives?

Let me start with the first point on the opening up of car importation to more competition. There have been some changes with respect to the market of new cars, although their impact has not been as significant as many may have liked them to be.

There are different considerations at play, such as the increasing presence of imported second hand cars in Malta as well as the car registration tax which, in our country, remains among the highest in Europe.

But for the purposes of this article, let me just explain recent changes in EU law with respect to new cars.

Until a few years ago, the sale of new cars throughout Europe was subject to an intricate web of agreements between car suppliers and car dealers or importers that hindered competition and contradicted the idea that the EU has one single internal market.

Since October 2003, all motor vehicle distribution agreements are being governed by a new legal regime intended to increase competition so that, say, dealers may engage in more local, national and cross-border sales.

For instance, certain dealers are now free to open showrooms and delivery points at other locations in the EU and are also allowed to sell actively throughout the EU. They may place adverts and address mail shots and personalised e-mails to consumers located anywhere in the EU.

Other dealers, who enjoy an exclusive sales territory, are now free to sell actively to independent resellers within their territory, even to supermarkets and internet resellers who, in turn, can sell anywhere in the EU.

So there is a mix of new rights and obligations depending on the type of agreement that applies. But, ultimately, with these revised rules - complex as they may sound - the EU sought to inject new dynamism in the car sales market.

To my mind, however, the revision did not bring about remarkable changes, not least because the market is conditioned by other factors, such as the impact of second-hand cars and car registration tax.

Let me now turn to repairs and spare parts.

Clearly, the consumer is free to repair his car wherever he deems fit. To make this easier, the new EU rules gave independent car repairers (mechanics) the right to be given access by a car manufacturer both to spare parts as well as to any technology necessary to repair their motor vehicles.

The new rules have therefore tried to loosen the grip of manufacturers and their authorised dealers on car repairs and on spare parts by allowing other repairers to enter the car repair market and by allowing others to import branded spare parts.

So if you do not find some important branded spare parts from an official dealer, you may be able to find them elsewhere since the market is now more open for others to import branded spare parts.

But, as such, it is not a question of having some kind of claim or remedy, as the reader hopes, if one does not find the spare parts from an official dealer. More likely, it is a question of enabling competition to work in a manner that consumers may benefit from a wider choice at a better price.

Much the same applies in the case where you take your second hand car to an official dealer for repairs only to find out that they have no spare parts in stock. It is true that some parts may be difficult to find because they are not sufficiently stocked, especially if they are not in high demand as in this case. But, as I see it, this is more a question of supply and demand rather than a question of rights that the consumer may have if the parts are not available. In a small market such as ours, it is quite likely that certain parts in low demand may not be immediately available.

Finally, on the question relating to insurance, my understanding is that this depends on the type of insurance policy that you have taken out with your insurance company. If your policy includes the possibility of getting another car until your own car is repaired, then you would be covered.

Readers wanting to raise issues or ask questions can send an e-mail to contact@simonbusuttil.eu or visit www.simonbusuttil.eu