The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2024
WECARS (ex-Bigmotor) sold 30 used cars as 'no repair history' — all had been repaired
A used-car dealer that absorbed scandal-hit Bigmotor sold 30 cars as 'no repair history' — every one had been repaired.
WECARS Inc. · 2024-07-24
What happened
WECARS, the company that succeeded to all of Bigmotor's business through an absorption-type split, listed 30 used cars for sale. On its own website and on 'Auto Server', a nationwide used-car information site, each was marked '修復歴なし' (no repair history) or '修復歴無し' — implying the bodywork had never suffered major damage.
In fact all 30 vehicles had repair history: damage to the main body parts that had been repaired. The 'no repair history' claim was false for every one of them.
Because the display implied the cars were significantly better than they really were, the Consumer Affairs Agency found a violation of Article 5(1) of the Premiums and Representations Act. On 24 July 2024 it issued a corrective order under Article 7(1), requiring WECARS to notify consumers of the violation, put recurrence-prevention measures in place, and stop the misrepresentation.
Why it happened
- A used car's 'no repair history' is exactly what a buyer cannot verify without the seller — the label is the trust
- 30 cars at once shows this was a practice, not a one-off slip
- The dealer had already built its reputation on repair claims, so the label was core to how it sold
The lesson
A used car's 'no repair history' is a claim the buyer cannot check without the seller. When the seller knows the truth, the label is the thing being sold — and 30 at once is a practice, not a mistake.
Aftermath
The corrective order required WECARS to publicise that its representation had violated the Act, put recurrence-prevention measures in place, and stop claiming no repair history where it was false. The case pairs a systemic fake label with the painful rebrand of a dealer already notorious for repair-related misconduct.
Sources
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