How To Resolve Dispute With Car Dealership Service

Your rights and what to do if you bought a vehicle from a car dealer and at that place'southward a problem, such as faults, misleading statements and coin owing.

Your rights if something goes wrong

If at that place's a problem with your auto afterwards purchase and it's not your fault, y'all have more options if you bought from a car dealer. This is because buying from a dealer gives you many more consumer rights than if you buy privately.

Dealers must:

comply with the Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA), which gives yous guarantees for new and used vehicles
comply with the Fair Trading Act (FTA) and not mislead you — if they sell online, they must tell you they are a automobile dealer
be registered and comply with the Motor Vehicle Sales Act (MVSA)
display an accurate Consumer Data Notice (CIN) on used vehicles.

This applies whether you pay cash, get the car as a gift or purchase on lease or on finance. You accept these rights no matter if you lot buy from a auto dealer online, from a car yard or at an sale. (Note: a car market place operator – sometimes called "a park and sell" operator) is not required to exist a registered dealer.

Read more than about Buying a motorcar from a dealer

Consumer guarantees when you buy from a dealer

The CGA guarantees hateful the vehicle should exist:

of acceptable quality – reasonable in look and end, durable and prophylactic
fit for purpose – either mostly or to meet a specific purpose you told the dealer before you bought the vehicle
equally described – match the clarification in advertizement or anything the dealer said at the time.

If one of your guarantees hasn't been met, you have a right to go dorsum to the dealer for a repair, and if circumstances allow, a replacement or refund.

You are not covered by the CGA if your vehicle is:

bought from a private seller
bought for business employ and the dealer has contracted out of the CGA
bought for re-sale or resupply in trade.

Read more about the Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA)

Your right to a remedy for common problems

If you lot experience a common trouble with a auto you bought from a dealer, know your rights.

Mutual bug include:

The vehicle you bought is not of a reasonable quality

Under the CGA, y'all can expect whatsoever vehicle yous buy from a car dealer to be of an 'adequate quality'.

Whether a machine is of 'acceptable quality' depends on the detail car you buy and how the car dealer sells it to yous.

To make up one's mind if a car is of 'acceptable quality', think about whether a reasonable person would detect the machine acceptable given:

the blazon of vehicle
the price paid
any information near the car, eg history, quality, condition, given to you by the dealer or in any advertisements
the nature of the machine dealer and how the car was sold
whatsoever other relevant circumstances, eg how soon the machine adult a problem after purchase.

If a reasonable person would not consider the car'due south quality to be acceptable when they take the above points into account, you tin become a remedy from the dealer under the CGA.

The vehicle yous bought is faulty

Generally speaking, if there is a fault with your car after purchase, and information technology's non your fault, y'all can go back to the dealer to merits under the manufacturer's warranty or under the CGA guarantees.

Although some dealers may state otherwise, there is no set time limit, eg one month, you accept to return a faulty car or enquire for faults to be repaired.

Under the CGA, whether a dealer is responsible depends on:

the age, type, cost and condition of the vehicle at the time of purchase
whether or not the fault is due to reasonable article of clothing and tear
whether a reasonable person would accept the quality and condition of the vehicle.

If the fault is serious, eg it tin't be repaired for a reasonable cost, you tin can reject the vehicle. By rejecting the vehicle, you can get a refund or a replacement of the aforementioned or similar vehicle.

You lot must tell the dealer you are rejecting the vehicle within a reasonable amount of time.

If a faulty vehicle has caused damage to your belongings, you can also claim compensation.

What to do if you have a problem

Contact the dealer and warranty insurer earlier you do annihilation else.

Don't go the car checked by a mechanic or anyone else before you contact the dealer. You could lose your correct to a remedy if you practise.

How to complain

What to wait when y'all arroyo the dealer

When you go back the dealer:

Bring any proof of purchase and bear witness of the problem, eg a copy of the original advertizing, any agreements or documents you signed, mechanical reports and photographs of the fault.
Know what outcome you want.
Accept a support person to witness the conversation.
Be honest and country the facts of the situation.
Try to remain calm and reasonable.

Be prepared to honestly answer questions the dealer may ask you, including:

what the trouble is and when it appeared
if anyone else, eg a mechanic, has looked at the car before you lot contacted them
if so, whether this person did anything to the car
how you have looked afterward the car, eg regular servicing, kilometres driven, etc.
if you purchased an extended warranty or breakdown insurance.

When yous arroyo the dealer, they should get the vehicle inspected and decide whether the problem is small-scale or serious.

If the problem is minor

The dealer must get any repairs done within a reasonable time. Be certain to tell them when yous need the car back by. Ask for a 'courtesy car' while they repair the vehicle, although a dealer is non legally responsible for providing one.

If you lot agree to repairs and they don't fix the trouble properly, or the vehicle develops further faults, your rights go on. You can choose your remedy options once more until your trouble is sorted. But if you misuse a vehicle, the CGA doesn't utilize.

If the dealer refuses, fails to do the repairs or doesn't do them in a reasonable time, you lot tin can cull to:

accept the vehicle repaired elsewhere and merits the cost back from the dealer
reject the vehicle and merits a refund or a replacement of the aforementioned type and similar value if information technology is available in stock.

If the problem is serious

A problem is considered serious if:

it can't exist repaired or fixed
the cost to repair the vehicle is asymmetric to the purchase toll, eg if the car was bought for $v,000 and the cost to repair the error is $4,000.

If the problem is serious, you can:

reject the vehicle and claim a refund or a replacement of the same type and similar value if it is bachelor in stock
continue the vehicle and claim compensation for the drop in value.

If a faulty vehicle has acquired damage to your belongings, you lot can also claim compensation.

If a dealer doesn't concord that the fault is serious, become an independent mechanical report in writing and a quote for the repairs. If the report supports your claim that the fault is serious, become dorsum to the dealer to reject the vehicle and choose a refund, replacement or repairs, plus compensation for the cost of your written report.

If you lot bought the car on finance

Contact the dealer about the problem as shortly as possible.

Don't stop your payments to the finance company. The car may be repossessed if you do. You lot should contact your finance company to tell them about the problem and talk over your options.

If your dealer arranged your finance, the finance company is besides responsible for giving you a remedy for the problem under the CGA. This is particularly of import if the dealer is non being helpful or has gone out of business organization.

Side by side steps if a dealer doesn't agree

If you cannot solve your issue directly with the seller, you lot can contact:

Motor Trade Association (MTA) — If your dealer is a MTA member, they may exist able to mediate betwixt you and the dealer and assist yous reach an agreement.
Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal (MVDT) — For bug with registered motor vehicle traders, or dealers who should exist registered. Most claims are resolved within three months.
Report the dealer — to Motor Vehicle Traders Register or Commerce Commission.

Find an MTA member(external link) — MTA

What they tin do

Dealers must deed on Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal decisions. Outcomes can include:

your sales contract is cancelled or changed in a way that compensates you for your loss
your money is refunded or your trade-in returned
you are compensated for any other directly losses from the vehicle'southward problems or for beingness misled
repairs for the vehicle or new parts
the dealer taking over your obligations under whatsoever credit agreement.

Make a merits(external link) — MVDT

Study the dealer

Motor Vehicle Traders Register (MVTR)

Run past Trading Standards, this holds information about registered traders and their business.

Complain about motor vehicle traders who may be:

unregistered and trading illegally
tampering with a vehicle's odometer
banned motor vehicle traders still operating illegally.

The MVTR is a register, not a dispute resolution organisation. Complaining to MVTR may help protect other consumers. It cannot assist you get your money back, but Trading Standards may ban a seller from the register.

Complaints(external link) — MVTR

Commerce Commission

Report the trader if:

y'all think yous take been misled about the vehicle, eg price, quality, kilometres travelled, country of origin
the vehicle's Consumer Information Notice (CIN) had incorrect information or wasn't at that place.

Commerce Committee doesn't act on behalf of individuals and can't investigate every complaint. But their investigations exercise help make sure businesses are complying with the law. Your information helps them appraise which consumer problems are causing greatest harm.

Make a complaint(external link) — Commerce Commission

What acceptable quality for cars means

Find out more nigh what acceptable quality means when yous're buying from a car dealer.

Visual guide: Acceptable quality for cars

Download guide: What acceptable quality means for machine buyers [PDF, 336 KB]