Court rejects motorist's plea for compensation for faulty car

The Court of Appeal has thrown out a case filed by a motorist against a car dealer seeking Sh40 million compensation. 

Thomas Ojanga sued Toyotsu Auto Mart Kenya, claiming the Sh2.9 million Toyota Hilux he had purchased from the dealer was a disaster from the day he picked it, as it had faulty parts and was ‘slower’ than he expected it to perform.

To add salt to injury, it allegedly killed his mother five days later.

However, Court of Appeal Judges Patrick Kiage, Weldon Korir and Aggrey Muchelule said that in as much as they sympathised with his predicaments, he had to ‘lie with the devil’ despite the suffering, as it was his choice.

The Judges said that Ojanga had assessed the car before he bought it. At the same time, the bench headed by Justice Kiage observed that when he complained, the company offered to sort the mechanical issues.

He claimed that Toyotsu had concealed the defects, hence had illegally conducted itself.

“On the aesthetics aspect, the appellant cannot be heard to complain because he saw with his own eyes that which his heart desired, and he was happy. As regards the other defects, the same could not easily be identified by the appellant at the time of the delivery of the vehicle,” the judges said.

“Those defects as pleaded in the plaint by the appellant were absence of a removal kit for the spare wheel, loose battery terminals, loud exhaust, falling off of the exterior window rubbers, and a defective radio and CD system,” they added.

The case between Ojanga and Toyotsu started at the High Court, before Justice Maureen Kasango. She dismissed his claim. Aggrieved, he moved to the Court of Appeal.

Ojanga narrated that in 2015, Denis Awori of Toyota Kenya introduced him to a Mr Toyooka, who is Toyotsu’s managing director.

He claimed that he bought the car but was not issued a logbook or a sale agreement.

He further testified that at the material time, he was living and working in Switzerland.

Nevertheless, Ojanga claimed that things started going wrong when he went to collect the vehicle on on July 21, 2015.

He alleged that upon taking the vehicle and driving it for only 60 kilometres, it had a tyre burst and there was no removal kit for the spare wheel. 

The court heard that the car allegedly had several mechanical problems; loose battery terminals, loud exhaust, falling off of the exterior window rubbers, and an unfunctional radio and CD system.

He said that this forced him to return the vehicle to Toyotsu six years later.

Ojanga said that he tracked the vehicle's movement and found that it took 12 hours to cover 400 kms at a speed of 40-60 kilometres per hour to his home in Homa Bay.

Worst still, he told the court that the vehicle was involved in an accident that killed his mother. Ojanga claimed that the entire sale transaction was fraudulent, deceitful, corrupt, negligent, dishonest, and malicious, and caused him torture.

On the other hand, Toyostu argued that Ojanga bought the vehicle as is. The firm asserted that the vehicle was inspected before being released. The dealer shifted blame for the accident, insisting Ojanga was responsible.

The company also argued that it had written to him to go pick up his logbook, but he failed to do so.