Voetstoots clause unlawful

LAW: CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT DECLARES SELLING USED CAR 'AS IS' AS PROHIBITED CONDUCT

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Used car dealers often use the excuse for selling a car with defects by saying they sold the car "voetstoots" or "as is" and that one knew they bought an "old" car and should expect the car to have defects.

They even try to use this as a defence at the National Consumer Tribunal, but the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) is clear: It is not allowed and the tribunal declared this in many cases as "prohibited conduct".

Buying a car voetstoots is not in line with the CPA, which means used car dealers are not allowed to sell goods without any form of liability for any defects, while a voetstoots clause in an agreement is also prohibited.

A voetstoots clause was used before the CPA came into effect in 2011 to exempt a seller from liability when goods had latent defects, unless the buyer could prove the seller knew about it and did not disclose it to defraud the buyer.

A latent defect is a fault in goods that you would not discover in a reasonably thorough inspection before buying it.

Why can a used car dealer not sell a car voetstoots? According to the ombud for consumer goods and services, the thinking behind this approach was that it is a voluntary agreement between two competent parties with full understanding.