This article talks about the case of DTI vs. Toyota Balintawak, Inc. where the Supreme Court stated that the buyer of a defective brand-new vehicle has the option to choose his legal remedies either from the Lemon Law or Consumer Act.
Buying a vehicle from one’s hard-earned money is oftentimes considered as one of the first steps to success. However, what will you do if the brand-new vehicle that you bought is defective?
The Supreme Court Case
In DTI vs. Toyota Balintawak, Inc. [G.R. No. 254978-70, 11 October 2023), the Supreme Court had the occasion to address this query. In the aforesaid case, a woman bought a brand-new vehicle from a car dealership. While driving the vehicle upon its release, the woman noticed a jerky movement whenever there was a change of gear in the transmission. The car dealer’s agent informed the woman that this may be just due to the vehicle being stocked up so using it in time can make the defect disappear. Despite the lapse of one week, the jerky movement still persisted so the woman brought the vehicle back to the car dealer for inspection. Upon check-up, the mechanic of the car dealer found that the defect in the transmission was caused by the fast fill duration of the automatic transmission fluid that was controlled by the ECU software. As such, the car dealer offered to replace the automatic transmission assembly at no cost. Frustrated by the defect, the woman instead demanded that the vehicle be replaced or the money be refunded to her under the Consumer Act. The car dealer countered that the applicable law if the Lemon Law and thus, it is allowed by law to make four separate attempts to repair the defect.
The Ruling – Choose between the Lemon Law or the Consumer Act
Ruling in favor of the woman, the Supreme Court held that Republic Act No. 10642, otherwise known as the Lemon Law, is not an exclusive remedy. Thus, the buyer may avail of the remedies under Republic Act No. 7394, otherwise know as the Consumer Act. Thus, the Supreme Court ruled:
“[T]here is nothing that prevents a consumer from availing of the remedies under RA 7394 [Consumer Act] or any other law for that matter even if the subject of the complaint is a brand new vehicle… RA 10642 [Lemon Law] is an alternative remedy granted to the consumer and the consumer is free to choose to enforce his or her rights under RA 7394 or any other law.”
Consequently, the woman could correctly invoke the Consumer Act and demand either the replacement of the vehicle or refund of her money.
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