Used car warranty: legal, hidden defects, commercial

With a professional seller, a used car is covered by the legal conformity guarantee for 2 years from delivery, with a one-year presumption in your favour, and by the hidden-defect guarantee. With a private seller, only the hidden-defect guarantee applies. A commercial warranty, free or paid, can be added but never replaces the legal guarantees.

What legal guarantees apply to a used car?

Service-Public.fr sums it up: the professional seller owes the legal conformity guarantee and the hidden-defect guarantee; the private seller is bound only by the hidden-defect guarantee (Service-Public.fr). The professional seller may also offer a commercial warranty, free or paid. Keep your proof of purchase (invoice, order form): it is essential to assert your rights.

How long does the legal conformity guarantee last?

You have 2 years from the day the item is delivered, whether it is new, used or reconditioned (Service-Public.fr). It applies only to contracts between a non-professional buyer and a professional seller, and not to goods sold by a private individual or to used goods sold at public auction.

The one-year presumption: what does it change?

For a used item, the non-conformity is deemed to have existed at the time of sale for one year. You do not have to prove when the defect appeared; if the seller disputes it, the seller must prove that the defect appeared after delivery. After one year, you can still invoke the guarantee, but you must prove that the defect existed on the day of the sale (Service-Public.fr).

What is covered, and what is not?

Lack of conformity includes, among other things, an item unfit for its usual use, one that does not match the seller's description or lacks the announced qualities, or one with a manufacturing defect (Service-Public.fr).

The guarantee does not apply if (Service-Public.fr):

• you knew about the defect at purchase;
• you could not have been unaware of it (for example, the seller told you);
• it results from materials you supplied or added;
• it comes from misuse and not from the product.

For the hidden-defect guarantee, three conditions: a hidden defect, which makes the item unusable or greatly reduces its use, and which existed at purchase. It does not apply to auction sales or to goods sold by a commissaire de justice (Service-Public.fr). The details are in our article on hidden defects.

What can you obtain under the conformity guarantee?

1. Repair or replacement. You choose between the two; if there is an obvious cost difference, the seller may impose the cheaper option. It must be done within 30 days of your request, at no cost and without major inconvenience. A repair extends the guarantee by 12 months.
2. Price reduction or termination of the contract (refund against return of the item) if repair or replacement is impossible, cannot be carried out within one month of your claim, or causes you major inconvenience.
3. Damages in court if you prove a loss.

The refund must be made without undue delay and at the latest 14 calendar days after the seller is informed of your decision; beyond that, increases of 10%, 20% or 50% depending on the delay are provided for (Service-Public.fr). You also have the right to suspend payment of the balance of the price until the seller has met their obligations.

And the hidden-defect guarantee?

It covers a hidden defect that existed at purchase. You have 2 years from discovery, within a limit of 20 years after purchase, and the burden of proof is on you. You can ask for a price reduction while keeping the car, or return the car and obtain a refund of the price and of the sale costs (Service-Public.fr).