It was the year 2015 when the National Commission of Markets and Competition detected a series of fraudulent attitudes, which violated anti-competition regulations and constituted a cartel for the exchange of "secret, future and strategic" information, in a total of 147 dealers of cars of 91% of the brands that are sold in Spain.
From that year and until the last few months, the CNMC has been imposing a series of million-dollar fines on the big car brands that were in this plot and the Madrid Administrative Litigation Chamber has been ratifying each and every one of them. , as published by the newspaper La Información at the beginning of this month.
These ratifications open, from now on, a new way for drivers who purchased a vehicle at one of these dealerships during the years 2006 and 2013. Those affected may claim, according to the Supreme Court, compensation for the extra expense caused by this fraudulent network of establishments.
In this video we explain who can claim this compensation.
It is estimated that the buyers invested between 2,000 and 9,000 euros more than the sale price of the car, around 10% of the total amount, due to the exchange of anti-competitive information woven between these establishments that was dedicated to raising the sale price of the vehicles. Those affected are around 10 million and they are not just private customers: there are also VTC and taxi companies, car rental companies... And claims can be processed for the amount of money added to the car.
The ban to request these reimbursements was opened last April when the Cádiz Commercial Court ruled in favor of an individual who had claimed the money from one of the dealers attached to this network. After the approval of the Supreme Court of the rulings issued by the National High Court in November 2019, dismissing the appeals of the car manufacturers involved, and this sentence, all those affected will be able to start processing their requirements.
The claim can be processed individually or by contacting one of the associations or platforms that have already set up collective mechanisms to demand the return of the excess paid and that the entire procedure be as inexpensive as possible.
Thus, any natural or legal person, individually or collectively, can claim by providing the maximum documentation. The essential documents are the purchase invoice or proof of payment for the rental or leasing of a vehicle, the amounts paid for repairs (if any), in addition to the technical data sheet of the vehicle and the corresponding contracts. At the moment, the compensation returned is around 10% of the purchase price of the vehicle.
To find out if our car falls within the models affected by the actions of this 'cartel' of dealers, some organizations such as the Association of People Affected by the Car Cartel (AACC) have developed verification tools. On its website you can fill out a form that will automatically tell us if our vehicle is one of those affected by this situation.
