VIC Purchased Faulty Volkswagen Car - Extension on Used Car Warranty?

[Yawar]

Hi,

I bought Volkswagen Passat 2010 model on 5th May 2015. Initially for a month, the car was working fine but every now and then, when trying to reverse the car against the slope, it wouldn’t reverse, and on the dashboard R (Reverse) starting to flash and after this couldn't drive the car unless you turn the car off and start it again which was big safety issue for my family.

What made it worse was the engine light was turned on every time this issue happened and stayed on. This problem started to happen more often and finally decided to contact Essendon Mazda and they booked the car in to fix the issue on 17/6/15 for the first time. They kept the car in for two days and according to their diagnostics there wasn’t any issue with the car itself. Issue was caused by the driver not driving the car properly and they fixed some minor things with the car. I took the car back home.

Same problem started to happen again after 10 days, again contacted Essendon Mazda for the second time and booked the car in for repairs on 8/7/15. This time around they recognize that the problem exist with the car transmission and they will try to fix the problem. Three weeks till today 30/7/15 finally, they have fixed the issue after the replacing the transmission of the car. I considered this as a Major issue and requested dealer to either extend the car warranty for another 12months or refund my money. I would not have bought this car if I knew about this issue.

Do I have a right to either ask for refund of my money or compensation in the form of an increase in the used car warranty.

Thanks

 

[Tracy B]

Hi Yawar,

To confirm, is Essendon Mazda a business that trades in used cars? Therefore, they are not a private seller?

You may be protected under Australian Consumer Law, however, given it is a second hand car, there may not be as much protection.

Take a read of the following articles about used cars:

• Lemon Car? What You Can Do Under Australian Consumer Law - Blogs - LawAnswers.com.au
• Faulty Second Hand Car? Your Options as a Buyer - Blogs - LawAnswers.com.au
• Your Consumer Rights - Repairs, Refunds and Exchanges - Blogs - LawAnswers.com.au

If you still have questions after reading these articles, you can contact Consumer Affairs Victoria. CAV is the Victorian agency in charge of overseeing Australian Consumer Law (ACL). They offer a free dispute resolution service for consumers who have issues with businesses that have breached the ACL. They can advise you on whether Essendon Mazda has breached ACL or not.

Good luck and keep us updated on your situation.