Castlebar man awarded €5,000 after suing car dealer

A CASTLEBAR man successfully sued a now defunct car dealer for breach of contract and was awarded €5,000 at last week’s sitting of Castlebar Circuit Civil Court.
Aidan Maughan of 10 Rathbawn Grove, Castlebar sued Auto Supermarket Ltd, Spencer Park, Castlebar after he claimed they reneged on a deal to purchase two vehicles in 2006.
The court was informed that Auto Supermarket Ltd ceased trading in 2009 and while they were represented by CiarΡn Duffy, a Director of the company, they were not legally represented.
Mr Duffy informed Judge Karen Fergus that the company has no assets or liabilities and does not have the funds to be legally represented. Mr Duffy said he was in court out of respect for the court but was informed by Judge Fergus that a lay-person cannot defend a company.
Mr Maughan informed the court he did a deal to trade in his 2002 Toyota Avensis for a 2005 Ford Focus and also to buy a 1999 Toyota Hiace van. He said he paid a deposit of €1,000 and received a receipt.
He explained the Hiace was off the road but it was intended to repair it and sell it for €6,000 and make a profit. The Ford Focus, he said was worth €20,000 and he was trading his old car for €7,500 and described the deal as a bargain.
However, he said a few days later, he was told there was a problem with his car and the deal was off. The van he said was sold to someone else and there was no explanation why.
The court heard that the car was bought by Mr Maughan for €5,000 in Limerick and he had it for approximately four weeks before trading it in. The court heard there were 90,000 miles on the clock and it was previously a taxi. There were discrepancies with the mileage and concerns it was not genuine.
Mr Maughan said apart from a problem with the paintwork, the car was 100 percent. He said he received the deposit back in the form of a cheque through his solicitor.
His counsel, Mr CiarΡn Murphy, said his client acted in good faith and was now at a loss of €5,000. Mr Murphy explained he had the parts for the Hiace and he knew how to fix the vehicle.
Judge Fergus questioned this given that Mr Maughan was not a ‘garage man’ and it was only speculation that he would get €5,000. However, she said it was unfortunate that the case was not defended and awarded Mr Maughan €5,000 in damages and awarded him his costs of €4,000.