Emissions claims: a valid type approval is no defect in title

In proceedings concerning emission values, claims are frequently directed at two opponents at once: at the manufacturer of the vehicle and at the dealer from whom it was bought. In law these are two different questions, which are also answered differently.

The starting point

Against the dealer, a purchaser ultimately relied only on claims under the statutory warranty. The lower courts held that defects in quality were time-barred and that no defect in title existed. The appeal challenged this, maintaining a single argument: that the threatened withdrawal of the type approval constituted a defect in title.

Defect in quality and defect in title

A defect in quality concerns the condition of the thing itself. A defect in title exists where the thing lacks a legal quality it ought to have, for instance where a vehicle may not be admitted to road traffic. The distinction affects the periods: for defects in quality in movable goods, the two-year warranty period runs from delivery; for defects in title, limitation runs only from knowledge of the defect (§ 933 Abs 3 ABGB).

The decision

The Supreme Court rejected the appeal. Its central holding is brief. As long as the EC type approval is in force, there is no defect in title. The merely apprehended lack of legal stability of the approval is not enough. The Court relied on its already settled case law (3 Ob 40/23p, 2 Ob 122/23i, 8 Ob 70/23m).

Since no question of law of significance therefore remained open, the appeal was rejected despite the appellate court having declared it admissible. The appellate court's ruling on admissibility does not bind the Supreme Court.

What follows from this

For purchasers this means that claims against the dealer are possible only within narrow limits. Anyone having claims examined should check the periods early; the warranty period runs from delivery, irrespective of when a recall or a public debate about the engine type begins.

For dealerships the decision confirms that they are not liable for the possibility that an official approval which is in force might be withdrawn in future. This does not release them from their own warranty for the condition of the vehicle; their liability is, however, clearly delimited.