Ask an expert

I recently bought a used Toyota Avensis from a dealer.

Within a month of purchasing the vehicle the starter motor needs to be replaced.

The vehicle has done just over 72,000 kilometres.

Is it unusual for the starter motor to break after so few km's and am I covered by the Consumers Guarantees act?

Melanie

From the "Ask Jack" archives - 17 October 2009

In general, you would not expect a starter motor to fail after 72,000 kilometres.

Sometimes the mileage isn't an indicator of how many times the vehicle has been started. For example, a vehicle doing a lot of short trips (such as a courier driver's vehicle) will be restarted more often than a vehicle with a higher odometer, but used on regular long trips.

However, components can fail unexpectedly on occasion, for no apparent reason.

Fortunately, you purchased your vehicle from a dealer, so the Consumer Guarantees Act should apply. The act provides protection to the consumer for a "reasonable" time.

One month isn't reasonable, so you should request that the dealer remedies the problem at no cost to you.