QLD Car sold with misleading RWC

[Sarkar]

Dear Members,
I bought a car on 7th Oct'19 with an RWC (issued on19th Sep/ 59,529km) and 59,622km on the clock from a private seller and soon after I realized that the wheels were shaking a bit, so booked in an appointment for wheel balancing and got them done on 14th Oct'19 with 60,075km on the clock. The issue was still present. I booked in for an inspection with Pedders suspension on 19th Oct'19 with (60,434km on the clock) to check on everything on the car and their report came back with so many issues and Mechanic mentioned that the car should not have passed the safety inspection.
Then on 21st Oct'19, I booked in a Mechanic for RWC to see if it passes the standard safety certificate inspection.
This inspection failed with 60,503km on the clock.

I understand, when going with private sale no warranties will be available, but the car was clearly not roadworthy to receive a pass RWC certificate at the time of sale. To make it pass RWC inspection, a couple of mechanics have quoted me around $1500.00

I was convinced that the RWC proves the safety standards of the vehicle, but clearly this was a false report at the time of sale.

The seller is not responding to my messages.

What are my options?
I appreciate everyone's time and response.

Thanks in advance,
Sarkar

 

[BlackxxAssassin]

My opinion is you have very little options. However someone else may have better advice for you.

What do the mechanics say needs done to make the car roadworthy?

 

[Scruff]

Report it to TMR.
Complaints about motor vehicles or trailers (Department of Transport and Main Roads)

 

[Sarkar]

My opinion is you have very little options. However someone else may have better advice for you.

What do the mechanics say needs done to make the car roadworthy?

• Front Suspension on both sides.
• Front control arm bushes.
• Rear engine mount.

Thanks for your response!

 

[Sarkar]

Report it to TMR.
Complaints about motor vehicles or trailers (Department of Transport and Main Roads)

Reported it to TMR, will there be any outcome favouring me?
Possibly to get the seller pay for the repairs or return the car.

Thanks for your response!

 

[Scruff]

Reported it to TMR, will there be any outcome favouring me?
Possibly to get the seller pay for the repairs or return the car.

I'm in NSW, so I'm not familiar with how TMR in QLD actually handles these type of cases. Probably best to give them a call and ask them directly.

It might be that TMR only investigates and takes action against the issuer(s) of the RWC, in which case they won't handle the consumer side of it. If that's the case, then you may need to go through Fair Trading or QCAT to get a resolution in regard to a refund or compensation. You should look into this straight away because there would likely be time limits in regard to filing applications with QCAT.

Hopefully one of our experts from QLD can advise you further on this.

 

[Rob Legat - SBPL]

The issue for you in taking action against the seller would be to prove that they knew it was not roadworthy. They could seek to rely on the safety certificate provider. You could sue the seller, who might then try to join the certificate provider into the suit. It could get a little complex.

 

[Sarkar]

The issue for you in taking action against the seller would be to prove that they knew it was not roadworthy. They could seek to rely on the safety certificate provider. You could sue the seller, who might then try to join the certificate provider into the suit. It could get a little complex.[/QUOT

I'm in NSW, so I'm not familiar with how TMR in QLD actually handles these type of cases. Probably best to give them a call and ask them directly.

It might be that TMR only investigates and takes action against the issuer(s) of the RWC, in which case they won't handle the consumer side of it. If that's the case, then you may need to go through Fair Trading or QCAT to get a resolution in regard to a refund or compensation. You should look into this straight away because there would likely be time limits in regard to filing applications with QCAT.

Hopefully one of our experts from QLD can advise you further on this.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[Sarkar]

The issue for you in taking action against the seller would be to prove that they knew it was not roadworthy. They could seek to rely on the safety certificate provider. You could sue the seller, who might then try to join the certificate provider into the suit. It could get a little complex.

Thanks for your time and response!
100% agree with you and make sense. I understand that the buyer might or not be aware of this at the time of the sale.
My side of the argument was on the same node. It should not have received a safety certificate unless it passes the set standard norms.

 

[Scruff]

It could turn out (in fact I thinks it's likely) that when it comes to compensation (cost of repairs), you will end up with a much stronger case against the issuer of the RWC than the seller.

Given that you have now reported the matter to TMR, I would think that they will need to thoroughly inspect the vehicle at some point. You should ask TMR about this and request an inspection if it's not already being considered. If an inspection is scheduled, it's very important that you don't drive the car or modify/repair anything in the meantime - you want the car in the same condition as you bought it when TMR inspectors look at it. A TMR inspection will also uncover any other defects that should have been identified at the time of the RWC inspection.

If TMR find that the issuer has breached their obligations in regard to being an Approved Examiner, they will take appropriate action in regard to those breaches. If TMR does take such action, it shouldn't be too difficult for you to obtain relevant documents that would support a civil claim against the issuer.

According to Legal Aid, action against a private seller would need to be taken in the Courts, not QCAT as I mentioned previously. I assume the same may therefore apply if you were to take action against the issuer of the RWC.
Ref: Legal Aid Queensland - Buying A Car
(The relevant section is "Buying a used car in a private sale", but the whole page is worth reading.)

If you want to learn more about how TMR looks at this kind of thing, the following citation from QCAT is pretty educational. The case relates to the review of a decision by TMR to cancel an examiner's approval based on RWC's issued for four different vehicles. There's a lot of detail, but it's well worth the read if you want to learn a little about the subject and how seriously TMR takes it.
Ref (PDF): Spence v Chief Executive, Department of Transport and Main Roads (2012) QCAT 184