Page 4271 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 23 October 2019
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(c) introducing a limit on the number of faults a motor vehicle can have, or how many times the same fault can be repaired, before a replacement is necessary; and
(d) expanding the cooling-off period from three days to seven days.
I want to share the experience of a young consumer I will refer to as Jess, a university student who bought a second-hand 2005 Holden Rodeo from a used car dealership in Canberra just last year. Soon after purchasing the car Jess took the vehicle to a mechanic for a general service. Jess does a lot of driving and wanted to ensure that everything was okay. This is where the problem began. The mechanic came back with what Jess describes as a giant list of faults, and they were not minor. There were giant cracks in the rear shock absorbers, an oil leak had ruined the clutch and there were substantial cracks in the engine belts. She was told the repairs would total $3,000 to $4,000.
The mechanic told Jess that these were not problems that had appeared over a matter of weeks, regardless of how much driving she had undertaken since buying the car; these problems had developed over six to 12 months or more. So Jess returned to the used car dealership where she bought the vehicle. The dealership denied any responsibility; they said there was no indication of any issues with the car in their records other than a fixed headlight. It was not their problem. Jess says it was this failure to appropriately disclose information about the car, including any faults, that concerned her the most.
The other big concern for her has been cost. More than a year later issues still need to be fixed. As Jess said:
I’m only a uni student. I can’t afford to fix everything at once. $3,000 or $4,000 is a lot of money.
Many Canberra consumers just like Jess have found themselves stuck with a lemon. Some motorists are covered under the Sale of Motor Vehicles Act 1977. It provides a statutory warranty of up to 5,000 kilometres or three months for second-hand motor vehicles but only if they are less than 10 years old or have been driven less than 160,000 kilometres. The act does not provide any warranty for older motor vehicles or vehicles driven more than 160,000 kilometres, vehicles just like Jess’s 2005 Holden Rodeo.
This means many motorists like Jess are not covered under the act. They do not have a statutory warranty in place where, after a few months, they can take the vehicle back to the dealership and ask for the repairs to be undertaken. And it is not only older vehicles like cars, caravans and motorhomes; second-hand motorbikes are not covered by a statutory warranty at all. That means no matter how old a motorbike is, it is not covered.
Australian consumer law provides some protection for motorists, but it seems this might not always be enough. Under the Australian Consumer Law, suppliers must guarantee goods, including second-hand goods, are of acceptable quality—that is, that they are fit for purpose, free from defects, safe and durable. Second-hand vehicles are
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