Usually, when you buy an Italian exotic, the last thing on your mind is worrying that the paint might start to change colors right after you drive it off the lot.
In what is perhaps the strangest auto lawsuit of this (still very fresh) year, one Canadian is suing Lamborghini Montreal under claims it sold him a 2017 Lamborghini Huracan Spyder in white that started turning yellow within days of him driving it off the dealer lot. We all know white paint can turn yellowish under certain conditions, but this is record time.
According to CTV News, Calogero Caruso bought the car for his son, Gasparino, for about $280,000 in July 2017. Because Gasparino really wanted a Lamborghini, Calogero even took out a second mortgage on the house to be able to afford it, which should give you a better appreciation of how mad he must have been when he noticed it was no longer as white as it was when he drove off in it.
In the filed documents, Caruso claims he first noticed something strange about the car within days of the purchase. He called the dealership and was informed that the car could look yellowish in direct sunlight, so he decided against parking it outside. Even though it was no longer exposed to the elements, the Lambo continued to change color, Caruso alleges.
The dealership offered to pay to have it repainted, but Caruso refused on the premise that a new paint job would drive down the residual value of the car. After a year of going back and forth, Caruso returned the car to the dealer in August 2018, but has been paying for it ever since, including insurance and registration costs.
Caruso has been asking for a refund and calls the situation “entirely unacceptable.” The dealership says it no longer wants the car, so a refund is entirely out of the question. Caruso is asking for a full refund plus damages “for stress and inconvenience and loss of work days.”
While Caruso’s claims are still to be verified in court, white paint can and does turn a shade of yellow if the car is parked outside for longer stretches. A yellow tint or stains can mean anything from iron contamination to paint damage from UV sunlight, or patches of rust forming underneath the coat of paint. Not a single one of these can become apparent after mere days.
According to CTV News, Calogero Caruso bought the car for his son, Gasparino, for about $280,000 in July 2017. Because Gasparino really wanted a Lamborghini, Calogero even took out a second mortgage on the house to be able to afford it, which should give you a better appreciation of how mad he must have been when he noticed it was no longer as white as it was when he drove off in it.
In the filed documents, Caruso claims he first noticed something strange about the car within days of the purchase. He called the dealership and was informed that the car could look yellowish in direct sunlight, so he decided against parking it outside. Even though it was no longer exposed to the elements, the Lambo continued to change color, Caruso alleges.
The dealership offered to pay to have it repainted, but Caruso refused on the premise that a new paint job would drive down the residual value of the car. After a year of going back and forth, Caruso returned the car to the dealer in August 2018, but has been paying for it ever since, including insurance and registration costs.
Caruso has been asking for a refund and calls the situation “entirely unacceptable.” The dealership says it no longer wants the car, so a refund is entirely out of the question. Caruso is asking for a full refund plus damages “for stress and inconvenience and loss of work days.”
While Caruso’s claims are still to be verified in court, white paint can and does turn a shade of yellow if the car is parked outside for longer stretches. A yellow tint or stains can mean anything from iron contamination to paint damage from UV sunlight, or patches of rust forming underneath the coat of paint. Not a single one of these can become apparent after mere days.