Precedent decision from the Supreme Court: New vehicles with paint defects will be replaced

The consumer, who bought a new kilometer car in Izmir for 246 thousand 975 lira and 36 kuruş in January 2020, requested that the paint blistering on the ceiling of the vehicle be repaired under warranty. The company did not accept the request, stating that the damage was caused by external factors.

Thereupon, the vehicle owner filed a lawsuit at Izmir 8th Consumer Court, demanding that the car be replaced with a defect-free one. In the prepared expert report, it was determined that the defects in the ceiling paint were caused by the painting process and were a manufacturing error.

The court stated that the consumer cannot be forced to use the defective vehicle in its current state and decided to replace the car with a defect-free car.

The 13th Civil Chamber of the Izmir Regional Court of Justice, which examined the file upon the defendants' objection to the decision, found the decision to replace it with a faultless one on the grounds that there was no fault of the consumer in the formation of the defect in the vehicle, that the problem was caused by production, not external factors, and that the vehicle did not meet the features expected from a new vehicle.

Following the appeal of the decision by the defendants, the file came to the 3rd Civil Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals. Apartment; He stated that the defect in the vehicle was a 'hidden defect', that the expert panel consisted of an automotive faculty member and a chemical engineer, that the inspection was carried out with a paint thickness tester, that the defect was reported within the time limit, and that the consumer could not be forced to accept the vehicle with its current defect. The department also noted that there was no damage to the vehicle within the scope of the file.

The Supreme Court rejected the defendants' objections and unanimously approved the decision of the 13th Civil Chamber of the Izmir Regional Court of Justice regarding the replacement of the vehicle with a similar one without defects.