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So I'm currently battling with a useless Car Dealer in Auckland who I'm waiting to replace a front headlight due to it having water in it. I was sold the car the end of last year with the agreement it would be replaced free of charge and a new WOF issued, but during the time the Dealer has mucked me around like crazy and during this time the WOF came up for expiry. I know that with the amount of water in this light it shouldn't have passed a WOF, and the car dealer had already confirmed that they couldn't give me a new WOF until the headlight was fixed. Yet a few weeks ago the car was finally picked up to be fixed, and when it was returned they told me they had ordered the wrong light from Japan so hadn't fixed it, yet the car had a new WOF, even though the WOF sheet I was given marked the headlight as a reason for failure. The car dealer told me that the service place gave a WOF in 'good faith' because they were also going to be the ones to fix the headlight, which they couldn't do with a wrong part. Is it legal to give out WOFs even when the car should have failed, just because they ordered the wrong part? It all seems pretty shady to me.

Hi there,
The short answer is yes, a wof should not be issued until the fault is remedied. However all they needed to do was drain the water out, dry it off and it would pass on the day.
If the dealer is not timely with repairs, you may need to let them know you will get it repaired and send a bill or claim the amount back through a dispute tribunal.
You have rights under the CGA. : https://www.consumerprotection.govt.nz/help-product-service/cars/solving-issues-car-dealer/

Thanks for the quick reply. The car dealer told me he did try and blow the water out when I first brought the car to get the warrant at that stage, and then went and asked if it would pass and was told it wouldn't because it was damaged enough that not all the water had come out. He also tried to take the light off a different car of the same model he was also selling and pass it over that way, but then discovered it was too complicated to change over.

The day when the WOF was given the dealer didn't even bother trying to dry the light and its clearly marked as a fail on the WOF sheet. I now notice they've ticked both pass and fail next to the inspection result, and then they've added the same date as a 're-inspection' and ticked passed. Makes me wonder who else they are passing when they shouldn't.

The water in the light was also picked up in my AA Pre-Purchase Report. I'm with AA Insurance for this vehicle, do they give out advice on how to proceed with these types of problems, in terms of getting this light fixed / bringing a dispute etc? Of course I have the agreement to get the light fixed in writing and signed by the dealer.

Hi there,
I don't think insurance will help in this instance, the Consumer Protection website has a lot of helpful information on how to proceed.