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dmurivan

I recently acquired a car from a private seller at Auckland Car Fair.
I had it prechecked by the onsite inspectors that for 140$ give to me a full report marking the car as in good conditions, they had it tested on an open road. They report only that they weren't unable to verify the claimed recent cambelt replacement and suggesting brake pads change soon.
I drove the car less than half a day and it started giving problems like rough idling, erratic behaviour while accelerating, basically unable to drive.
What I want to know is if I can make any claim to the people that sold me the car, or to the mechanics that got it checked and reported it as fine.
Thank you very much for your kind cooperation.

Anon

Hi there,
If the vehicle was running fine on the day of inspection, then that is all the inspection can check.
You are not covered by the Consumer Guarantees Act as the sale was private.
Unless you were misled into buying it, or what they said about the vehicle was not true you may have rights under the Contractual Remedies Act. http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/for-consumers/motor-vehicles/before-you-buy-a-motor-vehicle/know-your-rights#contractual