Car failure: what is the liability of the garage owner?

Two cases raise the question of the liability of the garage operator after a breakdown on a vehicle has been found.

After buying a used car from a garage, a customer observes vibrations in the engine. Since the garage can't fix the problem, the customer goes to court. The Court of Appeal does not recognize the liability of the garage owner because the direct causal link between a fault of the garage owner and the problems of the car is not demonstrated.

In another case, the liability of the garage owner is not taken into account because the breakdown is accidental. Its origin, sought after by other professionals, is difficult to determine with the intervention of several experts. The judges conclude that the fault cannot be definitively attributed to the garage owner.

But the Court of Cassation reminds us that the garage owner who intervenes on a car shall be presumed liable for misconduct if malfunctions persist or occur subsequently. In such a case, it is therefore up to that professional to to prove that there is no fault or causal link, and not to his client.

Thus, neither the uncertainty as to the origin of the breakdown, nor the difficulty in detecting that origin, nor even the absence of a demonstrated link between the breakdown and the garage operator’s errors are such as to preclude that presumption of liability.