Yours for just $30k, rat's nest and all
Saturday, 23 January 2016
Donna Walker, of Auckland got both more and less than she expected when she bought a late-model Australian Mazda SUV last year.
The first sign of trouble was the car's unusual aroma.
Whenever the air conditioning was turned on a particularly unpleasant smell greeted the car's new owner.
The vendor, Mohammed 'Adam' Nazif from 1 Stop Cars, assured Walker it was just the smell of a 'new' car and would go away after about a month. He advised her to use air freshener in the meantime.
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The odour persisted, however, to the point where Walker said she became reluctant to use the car.
When the air conditioning filters were checked, a mechanic found the real cause: a rat's nest, droppings and pie wrappers.
This and a series of other issues led Walker to take a case to the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal, which last month ordered 1 Stop Cars to make a full refund totalling nearly $30,000.
Unknown to Walker at the time of purchase was the fact the car had been written off in Australia before being imported. While some of that damage had been fixed, the radiator and air conditioning pipes still required replacement.
The tribunal found the trader had been misleading in failing to advise Walker the vehicle had been written off before importation.
'I consider that a reasonable person in Ms Walker's … situation would have been misled by 1 Stop Cars' conduct,' the adjudicator found. 'Accordingly 1 Stop Cars' conduct amounts to a breach of s9 of the Fair Trading Act.'
Last September, car safety advocate Clive Matthew-Wilson and the New Zealand Transport Authority (NZTA) warned buyers to check the history of second-hand cars before they bought.
About 60 per cent of used vehicles imported from Australia are statutory write-offs, about 240 vehicles a month, NZTA revealed.
Such cars can be repaired and driven safely, but the onus was on dealers to declare the vehicle's history.
Meanwhile, Walker's Mazda has been sold again. Brett Blackmore, of Whangaparaoa paid $27,500 for the car, aware of its history, and considers he got a good deal.
Blackmore said the history of an imported write-off will follow it whenever it is sold, but he has no intention of selling. The diesel will be driven until it dies on Blackmore's Northland farm.
Nazif declined to comment.