Can a car ad be libellous?

useless

Saw this classified ad in the Irish Times yesterday- can't imagine BMW Ireland are too happy about being described as incompetent...would they have a case for libel against this guy? Or would they bother?

andyseadog

wonder would he take a fiver for it?

Owen

It's only libel if it isn't true.

johnos1984

I think someones warranty expired recently

ResearchWill

First a company can sue for defamation. S. Defamation Act 2009

12.— The provisions of this Act apply to a body corporate as they apply to a natural person, and a body corporate may bring a defamation action under this Act in respect of a statement concerning it that it claims is defamatory whether or not it has incurred or is likely to incur financial loss as a result of the publication of that statement

But Section 16 states,


16.— (1) It shall be a defence (to be known and in this Act referred to as the “ defence of truth ”) to a defamation action for the defendant to prove that the statement in respect of which the action was brought is true in all material respects.

(2) In a defamation action in respect of a statement containing 2 or more distinct allegations against the plaintiff, the defence of truth shall not fail by reason only of the truth of every allegation not being proved, if the words not proved to be true do not materially injure the plaintiff’s reputation having regard to the truth of the remaining allegations.


So if what was said in the add is not true, then yes, if on the other hand it is true then the publisher has a good defence to any action.

kielmanator

^^^

beat me too it. If its the truth, and there is evidence to back up his claim, then BMW Ireland haven't a leg to stand on!

mickdw

Im sure he is not selling it. Just cleverly using the ad to highlight poor performance from BMW. Its nightmare stuff to end up with an issue that cannot be resolved.

andyseadog

mickdw wrote: »

Im sure he is not selling it. Just cleverly using the ad to highlight poor performance from BMW. Its nightmare stuff to end up with an issue that cannot be resolved.

to give the poster of the advert what he wants i suppose i'l say it :P

how after 1 full year could a premium brand where i'm sure money is little object not find and/ or repair the the problem or offer the customer some sort of compensation?

doesn't make sense.

mickdw

andyseadog wrote: »

to give the poster of the advert what he wants i suppose i'l say it :P

how after 1 full year could a premium brand where i'm sure money is little object not find and/ or repair the the problem or offer the customer some sort of compensation?

doesn't make sense.

Id say it happens when you get uninterested technicians blindly replacing seals and having no clue as to what the actual issue was to begin with. The owner should have been looking for a replacement if bought from bmw.
On the other hand, if the car was not sourced from BMW, there may be other issues with the car that bmw couldnt do anything about such as bent frame or something

coylemj

The power of a big advertiser can't be underestimated, I'm surprised that ad. got through unmodified. Didn't Kevin Myers (when he was with the IT) slag off BMW drivers a few years ago and had to issue a grovelling apology when BMW and their dealers threatened to boycott the paper?

mickdw

coylemj wrote: »

The power of a big advertiser can't be underestimated, I'm surprised that ad. got through unmodified. Didn't Kevin Myers (when he was with the IT) slag off BMW drivers a few years ago and had to issue a grovelling apology when BMW and their dealers threatened to boycott the paper?

I know a guy who bought a new vw van in 2007, a transporter and had all sorts of issues that were not being sorted by the dealer. Leaking into the cabin and starting issues to name two. He parked it on the busy road outside the dealer with a huge for sale sign on it saying it was going cheap as it cannot be fixed by vw. It was less than a year old.

It got fixed!

Nissan doctor

andyseadog wrote: »

to give the poster of the advert what he wants i suppose i'l say it :P

how after 1 full year could a premium brand where i'm sure money is little object not find and/ or repair the the problem or offer the customer some sort of compensation?

doesn't make sense.

Most main dealer mechanics haven't got a notion how to fix anything beyond the basic or anything that the diagnostic computer doesn't spell out for them.



Also, certain premium brands couldn't give a monkeys about customer service as they know that for every 1 customer like the above there are ten more lining up to buy a new/used car based on nothing other then perceived brand image.

bijapos

mickdw wrote: »

It got fixed!

A bit like the Op's photo!

MonaghanPenguin

That's probably fine, Fair Comment and all.

jhegarty

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=201131203714839

Pique

35400 Km is 'low' for a dublin-based 335 cabrio approx 1.5 years old which spent a year off the road?

I smell shenanigans.

Matt Simis

Id love to give it a shot at fixing it.

Mr Benevolent

useless wrote: »

Saw this classified ad in the Irish Times yesterday- can't imagine BMW Ireland are too happy about being described as incompetent...would they have a case for libel against this guy? Or would they bother?

You sound like you want to sue him yourself, OP.

useless

Confab wrote: »

You sound like you want to sue him yourself, OP.

? Why would you think that? Or am I just missing some sarcasm?:D

Have to say that my eyebrows were raised a bit when I saw the ad- this guy has a classified ad in a newspaper with one of the biggest circulations in the country making a claim that BMW Ireland is incompetent.

Compare that with how carefully 'naming & shaming' of poor dealers, poor service etc. has to be done on this forum, because of the fear of boards.ie being sued. (Mods- this isnt a comment on moderation policy, just pointing out that boards.ie is careful what people post on here, yet some disgruntled chap seems to have gotten free reign in a national newspaper.)

As was pointed out earlier in the thread, Im also surprised that the IT carried the ad, knowing the amount of money that BMW and its various dealers spend on advertising in it.

Edit: thanks to whoever fixed the photo I posted:)

whiterebel

BMW don't seem to give a fiddler's f^^k about blown turbos giving them bad press for years, so one guy is hardly going to give them sleepless nights.......:)

Senna

I cant believe that a leak could not be repaired, more likely the car was damaged resulting in the leak and BMW wont fix it under warranty.

Absurdum

I'd call BS on his claims as well, after like 2 months or whatever you'd probably start thinking about taking the legal route if BMW couldn't figure it out. I bet he damaged it himself and expects someone else to pick up the tab.