The Federal Court of Justice overturned the decisions of the lower courts. The case involved a Mercedes-Benz 380 SL from 1981 with a mileage of around 150,000 kilometers.
In March 2021, the plaintiff bought the vehicle for 25,000 euros, but in May 2021 he complained that the air conditioning was defective. He then asked the seller to cover the repair costs of 1,750 euros. However, he refused to pay - and referred to the agreed exclusion of the warranty. The lower courts had decided in favor of the seller - but the BGH saw the matter differently. The statement made in both the online advertisement and the purchase contract that theAir conditioning system works perfectly is part of a quality agreement. But the exclusion of liability for material defects does not extend to this quality agreement, according to the judges. The judges emphasized in their decision (ref.: VIII ZR 161/23) that a quality. agreement would be practically worthless if it were automatically invalidated by an exclusion of. liability.