Turkish businessman wins case against British car company
Engin Yakut, a businessman, won the lawsuit filed against British auto giant Land Rover after seven years of trial. The Istanbul 8th Consumer Court decided to determine that the vehicle was defective and fined the company to pay Yakut 397 thousand 800 Turkish lira with the interest to be calculated since 2013 when the car was purchased.
Turkish businessman and lawyer Engin Yakut bought a Range Rover Vogue car with 34 PHJ 41 plate in return for 170 thousand euros (397 thousand 800 Turkish lira) in a gallery in Istanbul. Yakut, driving at a speed of 70-80 kilometers with his car, which is still 450 kilometers recorded on the odometer, realized that sparks came out and the vehicle began to drain oil rapidly. Yakut said, the car was taken a week after the distributor company reported that, “the engine is dead, transmission screws are not tightened due to a breakdown and production due to a failure in the production”.
The company reported that Yakut had no responsibility for the fault because it was taken from the car dealership. Engin Yakut made an international notice three times to Land Rover Company about the incident and demanded that his car be replaced with a new one. Yakut, who could not get a response from the company, filed a lawsuit with the lawyer Candaş Gürol about Istanbul 1st Consumer Court. In the seven-year trial, the Turkish court ruled that the Range Rover Vogue SUV vehicle engine, manufactured by Jaguar Land Rover Company, produced a factory fault. Yakut won a lawsuit against British auto company in the 8th Consumer Court of Istanbul on 28 February.
The European justice decision required additional evidence
On the other hand, plaintiff Engin Yakut presented the case to the European Union. He applied to the EU Court of Justice to initiate an investigation into the EU Parliament, the EU Commission and the EU Consumers' Association. The Court of Justice requested that evidence be included in the file for the review to be initiated. Upon application, the Ministry of Industry initiated an investigation. Yakut said, about 2 thousand 192 pieces of spare parts of engines and transmissions related to other vehicles have been imported related documents are presented to the court.
Expertise report: Defective goods
At the hearing held on February 28th in Istanbul 8th Consumer Court, the lawyer representing the company and plaintiff Engin Yakut was represented. The expert report was announced at the hearing. In the report prepared by engineers from Yıldız Teknik and Istanbul Technical University, it was stated that the vehicle was classified as a defective defective goods based on the manufacturing error not caused by the user error. The court announced the decision, Land Rover brand, Range Rover 4.4 type black color PHJ 41 plate defective vehicle to the British company and 397 thousand 800 Turkish lira return to the British company to pay with the highest deposit interest decided to pay with the car.
Land Rover: Turkish court has no authority
Engin Yakut's lawyer, Candaş Gürol said, "The manufacturer's lawyer said that the Turkish courts had no jurisdiction to judge British automobile company. We received written opinions from our teachers at Istanbul University Private Law Department. We won this case through an environment in which even the authority of the court was discussed. It was a pleasing result for our law and the Turkish consumer."
Lawyer Candaş Gürol, continued as follows:
"In the report of Gunseli Gelgel, Professor of Private Law at the University of Istanbul University, ‘Serial Factory Faulty faults may be in other vehicles ‘. In the Anglo-American legal system, this decision could open the door for criminal reimbursement, and if the cause of the overturn is finalized, it may be a matter of confiscating all Range Rover Vogue SUV vehicles in the member states that signed the constitution."
Land Rover Company lawyer İnci Akın stated that the reasoned decision had reached the hands and prepared to apply for appeal.
