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Hi there. A month ago i bought a used japanese import vehicle from a dealer in auckland.It was a mazda demio 2013 with 65,000km for a price of $7600. i live in wellington. The car has a number of faults, two small and two potentially more serious (leaking brake cylinder and cracked tyres both of which i have been advised will be a WoF fail in February when the next WoF is due). it was also sold without a WoF within the last 28 days (which i didn't realise at the time was a requirement).
I have done less that 1500km in the car since purchase, most of which was the journey from auckland. The cost of repairs will be about 10% of the purchase price and i have been trying to communicate with the dealer (both calling, email and tracked courier letter) to get them to pay for the repairs, but they are ignoring my communications. I first tried to get them to acknowledge the issues in the first week of ownership.
How far and how long should i keep trying to get a response from them before going ahead and getting the work done and going to the motor vehicle or normal disputes tribunal to get the money back from them.
Also, am I legally required to return the car to auckland for the repairs? Also, i am aware that you can claim for consequential loss in the MVDT. is it acceptable to claim for the time and costs it is taking to get the problems solved?
Thanks for your help.
Hi there,
As long as you have given them first right of remedy, and document their response or lack of, then if it costs you to get the repairs carried out and the wof updated- then you can claim those back in the MVDT. I'm not exactly sure on the limits of what you can claim back through the tribunal. They are also within their rights to ask for the vehicle to be returned to them for diagnosing and repairs (which can be a bit expensive and cheeky for them to ask) as they are not responsible for where the owner is located once the purchase has been made. https://www.consumerprotection.govt.nz/help-product-service/cars/solving-issues-car-dealer/