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0 pointsmichaelt1y ago0 comments

If the purchase goes well, the vehicle is reliable, spare parts are easily available, and nobody has to resort to legal action? No problem.

On the other hand, if I buy a car in Holland, get it serviced in Austria, and register and drive it in Slovakia - which legal system governs the transaction? Which country's consumer rights protections do I get?

It would be jolly inconvenient if the manufacturer ripped me off, and my only option for redress was a court 1000km away, with the laws written and courts operated in a language I didn't speak.

Or does the EU have some mechanism that avoids this problem?

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Stevvo1y ago

The EU is a single market. The consumer protections are much the same between countries. The differences are less than those between US states.

yreg1y ago

Consumer protection follows the place of purchase and they are quite strong and very similar in the EU.

I mean if I was super worried (as a Slovak) I could buy the car in Czech Republic which has pretty much identical consumer protection laws (and all Slovaks understand Czech well and vice versa).

I bought mine in Slovenia. I understand Slovenian somewhat as well, but that didn't influence the decision.

Fortunately I had zero issues in over 3 years and the car works great, but of course I could have been less lucky – I know that.

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