23/07/2026
Another emphatic win for Consumers.....!!! 🎉
....and another expert opinion from the Defenders 'favourite' engineer comprehensively dismantled! 💪
In Kiara Coll v CA Auto Finance UK Ltd, Sheriff M D Jackson KC had little difficulty finding that the Citroën C4 was not of satisfactory quality at the point of sale.
The Court found that the vehicle suffered from a latent SCR/AdBlue defect, that the Consumer had validly rejected it under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and the finance company was ordered to refund the Consumer's money together with damages and interest.
The real takeaway, however, is the Court's treatment of the Defender's expert, Michael Campopiano of Elite Inspections Ltd.
Under cross-examination, his evidence unravelled.
He accepted he couldn't identify the cause of the failure (despite his report to the contrary) and so he had to accept that he couldn't say what condition the vehicle was in when it was sold. This type of crystal ball report writing is a common theme.
He conceded that further investigation was needed before reliable conclusions could be reached. This is an important point that should force finco's to do better in the early stages of a dispute, or face losing in Court!
His admissions sat squarely at odds with the 'confident' conclusions in his written report.
The Sheriff concluded that the reliability of his evidence was "tempered...by his backpedalling on certain issues of significance" - a damning assessment of an expert witness......ouch!
Perhaps most astonishingly, Campopiano suggested that a well-maintained diesel Citroën should only be expected to last 50,000-100,000 miles! This is a guy who crows loud and proud about his Citroen credentials and so to come out with such a stunning throwaway opinion creates a bit of a dilemna for sellers and funders alike!
A quick check showed Arnold Clark with hundreds of similar cars for sale, and on Autotrader there were nearly 3000 cars in this mileage bracket!
Are they all knackered too?? 🤣
What is clear though is that his case should never have reached a final hearing. CA Auto Bank and Arnold Clark had repeated opportunities to step in, recognise the obvious shortcomings in their defences and resolve the matter. But they didn't.....
Instead, the Consumer, an NHS Nurse, was forced through litigation for years, had to buy another car to use and faced real financial hardship.
This judgment is another powerful reminder that courts decide cases on evidence, not speculation.
Consumers deserve better, and this decision is another important victory for common sense, durability and Consumer rights.
You can read the whole Judgement here; https://lnkd.in/eRCqEWeK
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