Usage compensation when reversing a car purchase: a formula worth thousands of euros

As a lawyer and trained motor mechanic, I am frequently asked about usage compensation. When returning a seriously defective car and seeking a refund, buyers are often shocked by the dealer's substantial deduction for kilometres already driven.

The calculation can make a difference of several thousand euros. Without knowing the case law and formula, buyers often accept excessive deductions proposed by dealers or insurers.

Why is usage compensation payable?

When a purchase is reversed, whether under warranty law or for mistake, each side returns what it received: the buyer the car and the seller the price.

Use of the vehicle has consumed some of its value. The Supreme Court therefore regularly requires usage compensation to be deducted from the refund.

The Supreme Court formula

Total lifetime mileage is often incorrectly used as the denominator in every case. That is correct only for a new car. For a used car, the relevant figure is expected remaining mileage at the time of purchase.

Usage compensation = purchase price × kilometres driven ÷ expected remaining mileage.

For a used car, expected remaining mileage equals expected total lifetime mileage minus the odometer reading at purchase.

Three values determine the result:

• Purchase price: the actual gross amount paid.
• Kilometres driven: the difference between mileage at delivery and at return.
• Expected remaining mileage: the distance this particular vehicle could reasonably have covered from purchase until the end of its technical life.

The key dispute: expected total mileage

This is often the most contested and financially significant issue. Dealers and insurers may use low total-life figures, often only 150,000 kilometres, increasing the deduction and reducing the refund.

Case law frequently uses higher figures for modern vehicles:

• Petrol and diesel vehicles: commonly 200,000–250,000 kilometres, sometimes more for high-quality or particularly durable engines.
• Electric vehicles: case law is developing, with the calendar and cycle life of the traction battery increasingly considered as a separate, often long-lasting factor.

Example: a new car

A new vehicle costs EUR 30,000 and covers 40,000 kilometres before reversal.

Variant 1: the dealer's low-mileage calculation

Using only 150,000 kilometres as expected total mileage:

• price: EUR 30,000;
• distance driven: 40,000 kilometres;
• usage deduction: EUR 8,000;
• refund: EUR 22,000.

Variant 2: a technically realistic mileage figure

Using a court-accepted total mileage of 250,000 kilometres:

• price: EUR 30,000;
• distance driven: 40,000 kilometres;
• usage deduction: EUR 4,800;
• refund: EUR 25,200.

The more realistic, technically supported mileage figure reduces the deduction and produces an additional EUR 3,200 refund in this example.

Important Supreme Court decisions

1. Scratches, dents and wheel damage do not belong in the formula: 2 Ob 82/23g

Dealers sometimes seek higher usage compensation because the car acquired scratches, dents or wheel damage. The Court distinguishes these from the pure transport benefit measured by the formula. A dealer seeking compensation for damage must make and prove a separate damages claim, which can face legal obstacles.

2. The low-mileage adjustment is impermissible: 9 Ob 67/24d

A buyer purchased a Skoda Fabia with the emissions-scandal EA189 engine in 2010 and drove only about 63,700 kilometres over more than thirteen years.

The lower courts reduced expected total mileage to 94,380 kilometres by multiplying annual mileage of about 4,719 by an assumed twenty-year ownership period. This pushed usage compensation above EUR 10,700, more than three times the buyer's calculation.

The Supreme Court rejected this method. Limited use must not alter the formula to the buyer's disadvantage: only actual transport use is compensated, not kilometres never driven. The full technical lifetime figure, 250,000 kilometres in that case, remains relevant irrespective of infrequent use. The correction saved the buyer EUR 6,680.08.

3. Business purchases and electric cars: 3 Ob 188/24d

The Court confirmed linear calculation for vehicle-purchase reversals, expressly including business-to-business purchases and electric vehicles. Although the case used a general figure of 250,000 kilometres, the specific cycle and ageing characteristics of traction batteries are likely to be increasingly important to expert assessments of remaining life.

The same decision highlights a costly risk: continuing to use the car after asserting withdrawal, while knowing of the right to return it, can in the worst case create liability for accidental damage such as a windscreen stone chip, around EUR 1,500 in that case. Continued use and damage risks therefore need careful consideration.

Other factors that can materially affect the refund

• Interest: following successful reversal, the dealer may owe 4% interest on the purchase price from purchase under Supreme Court decision 10 Ob 2/23a. For EUR 35,000 over four years, a simplified calculation gives EUR 5,600, potentially offsetting much or all of the usage deduction.
• Workshop downtime: unsuccessful repairs over several weeks add no mileage, but deprive the buyer of use. Under general damages principles, this may form a separate loss, for example replacement-car hire costs.

A common mistake: accepting the opposing calculation too quickly

I regularly see uncertain buyers sign the dealer's calculation without checking it. Expected mileage is not a fixed statutory number; if disputed, the court estimates it with expert assistance. A combined legal and technical review is therefore usually worthwhile.

Online usage-compensation calculator

For initial guidance, enter the purchase price, mileage at purchase and return, and vehicle type. The calculator offers an initial estimate, but cannot replace assessment of the vehicle's technical features and the legal details of your case.

Conclusion

Usage compensation is not an unquestionable fixed deduction. Uncritically accepting the other side's figures can cost money. Before agreeing to reversal or signing a settlement, have the calculation checked by an experienced vehicle lawyer who also understands workshop practice as a trained mechanic.

Free initial assessment

I assess your case legally and technically. Send the purchase contract and available inspection reports for a free initial telephone assessment. I look forward to hearing from you.

Mag. Patrick Maydell, LL.M.
Attorney at Law
Neustiftgasse 17/1/9
1070 Vienna
Telephone: +43 1 2954251
office@maydell-law.at