A 2007 Ferrari F430 goes for around $100,000 to $140,000 these days, so it’s interesting that jurors recently rewarded one F430 buyer over $5.8 (£4.5 / €5) million for purchasing a lemon.
According to Automotive News, Hamid Adeli bought the F430 from Mercedes-Benz of Northwest Arkansas in 2016. Adeli didn’t personally inspect the car, but the Mercedes dealership arranged to have it checked out by a Ferrari dealership in Plano, Texas. The dealer made several repairs to the car, but the Mercedes dealership reportedly declined to have some other “recommended services” done such as fixing an exhaust header.
Adeli said this wasn’t disclosed to him as employees from the Mercedes dealer said the model was “”turn-key” and in “excellent condition.” Adeli eventually paid $90,000 (£70,570 / €78,533) for the car and had it shipped to Virginia.
It’s never wise to buy a car sight unseen without having it independently inspected, and Adeli learned that pretty quick. The lawsuit alleges that he smelled gas after taking delivery of the car and the smell was so strong that it seeped from his garage into his house. He eventually had the car towed to a mechanic who reportedly made “numerous repairs, including one to a leaky exhaust manifold.”
Adeli reached out to the Mercedes dealership and was reportedly told that “anything that would be a concern to someone buying a 10 year old used vehicle” had been fixed. Adeli wasn’t satisfied with this response and said the issues should have been found and fixed as a result of the inspection or at least disclosed to him.
Since the car was sold “as-is,” the Mercedes dealership told Adeli he was responsible for the repairs. Adeli then sued the dealership for breach of warranty, fraud and violations of consumer protection laws.
At trial, the jury awarded Adeli $6,835 (£5,359 / €5,964) in compensatory damages, $13,366 (£10,480 / €11,663) in incidentals and a whopping $5.8 (£4.5 / €5) million in punitive damages. That’s a staggering number and one the Mercedes dealership it trying to have thrown out. The dealership isn’t even trying to get off scot-free, but instead wants the punitive damages lowered to $27,340 (£21,437 / €23,857) .
While the Mercedes dealership should have disclosed the issue, it’s worth noting they did have a number of repairs made to the car before it was sold. They also contended the manifold issue wasn’t critical and was something that simply needed to be addressed down the road.
While the moral of the story would normally be to use common sense and not buy a car sight unseen without an independent inspection, Adeli potentially has more than 5.8 million reasons to disagree.
