Mark wanted to buy a second-hand Panama car. He looked at the classified section of the newspapers and spotted Fred's advertisement. Fred had advertised for sale a "2010 Panama, quicksilver fast, accident-free and well-maintained". Mark went to inspect the car and was told by Fred that he considered the engine of the car to be in a "tip top" condition. As Mark was considering whether or not to buy the car at a price he thought to be too steep, Fred said "This car used to be owned by the well-known fashion model and car enthusiast, Clare Beretta. I believed she tweaked the engine to make it go like lightning." Upon hearing that, Mark (a fan of Clare's unknown to Fred) decided to buy the car, as he knew Clare's reputation for having fast cars. The printed sale contract made no reference to whether the car was fast, accident- free, well maintained or whether it had ever been owned by Clare.

After driving the car for a couple of days, Mark decided to take the car for servicing as it was 'crawling'. He brought it to Tweak-IT, the authorised agent and service centre of Panama cars. An examination there revealed that the car was in fact a 2008 model, and had previously been involved in an accident and the engine was in fact in need of an overhaul. The workshop supervisor also said that Panamas are 'slower than buses when it comes to pick-up' and servicing would not help. Tweak-IT charges $50,000 for repairs, whereas other garages would have charged $12,000 less on average. Mark instructed the agent to begin the repair work.

 

A day later, Mark met Clare at a fan party and excitedly mentioned the car to her. On hearing this, Clare burst out laughing, asking him, "What's a Panama?" She told Mark that 'he had definitely been taken for a ride'. Mark is apoplectic with rage and shame. He immediately drove over to see Fred about this matter. Fred told him that the previous owner had told him that the car was accident free. Fred himself had never serviced the car. Fred however admitted that he actually didn't bother to find out whether Clare actually owned the car, only that he heard she owned one. He thought it unimportant. He also said that he knew that the car's pick- up is not great.

Advise Mark, who now wishes to set aside the transaction, return the car and get his money back.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Mark may have grounds to set aside the transaction based on misrepresentation and a breach of implie... View the full answer