Buying from a dealer will ensure you have the maximum protection of the law if something goes wrong.
The law implies a number of terms into any contract for a sale of goods. Therefore when you buy a new motorcycle, it must:
- Match its description
Words or phrases which are merely useful information or advertising slogans are not regarded as part of the description.If you’re wanting to claim because something you have bought does not meet its description, you must be able to show that you relied on this description when you made the purchase. - Be fit for its purpose
This includes any purpose you have specifically indicated to the seller, for example “I want to ride this bike off-road.” If you wanted something on which to tour the Alps and he sold you a moped, you might have a claim. - Be of satisfactory quality
The motorcycle must be of the standard that a reasonable person would regard to be acceptable.
There are certain factors which the court will always take into account, including:
- The price you paid for it: if a deal feels too good to be true, then it generally is. Riding home a brand new bike for a couple of hundred quid may imply that there is something wrong that you don’t know about. However, if you’ve spent nearly £10,000 on a bike, then you are entitled to expect that there’ll be nothing wrong with it. Make sure you know which parts are optional extras and check whether these have been accounted for at the time of sale.
- If you, or someone on your behalf, inspected the bike before you rode it away, then you may not be entitled to any compensation for defects you would have been reasonably expected to notice. However it may be arguable that you are not expected to spot mechanical defects.
- Durability: Remember everything has a shelf life. But if something you might reasonably expect to last a long time develops a fault which cannot be repaired within a short time, this may be taken into account in deciding whether the goods are of satisfactory quality. Defects arising as a result of fair wear and tear cannot be held to be the fault of the seller. Everything has a finite life, and what that finite life is may depend on the price, and how you have used the goods (using your new R1 on a moto-cross track may be considered rather inappropriate).
- Safety: If you have bought a product which is unsafe, you may have additional rights. You do not need to be injured by the goods to show that they were unsafe. Bring the faults to the attention of your local Trading Standards department.