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Background: At the end of last week I took delivery of a new car, having negotiated trade-in of the car previously owned. The deal was closed some 10 days previously, following inspection and test-drive of a new, basic model of the car I finally elected to purchase. The local company arranged shipment of a new car of the same model but with superior specifications, from Whangarei. I have 2 questions please:
1. As part of our price negotiations I was informed that On-Road-Costs (ORC) equated to about $700.00 and that that would be met in full by the Company. So, that $700.00 figure became a critical part of my negotiations. Because I thought that figure rather higher than I had expected, I sought confirmation of that $700.00 figure from Road Transport NZ. Unfortunately, I received its email reply shortly after taking delivery of the new car: $431.25, incl plates. The only other cost I can think of that perhaps could be considered as part of ORC is petrol - the tank was 3/4 full on delivery - say $75.00. That leaves about $193.75 unexplained, so before I question the salesman's integrity, I would like to have confirmation that there are indeed no other components of ORC that I may have overlooked.

2. My understanding is that the seller of a car has an obligation to ensure the vehicle has a current warrant of fitness, (unless specifically declared otherwise), not more than 1 month old. This weekend I have noted that the warrant of fitness sticker on my new car was issued by the Whangarei agent on 17 May 2013 - it would appear the vehicle has been "in storage" with that dealer, from that time until just last week! I, naturally, was of the assumption that the car would have a recent warrant of fitness and that it would fall due for renewal about the anniversary of purchase date, along with annual maintenance servicing. My question is: do I have the legal right to require the selling Company to have a warrant of fitness check completed and new current warrant of fitness sticker issued?
Sincerely,
HyElel18

The ORC can sometimes run in the thousands of dollars for premium brand cars but in most cases it is around $1000.00 - so in your case it seems reasonable. The ORC normally includes the PDI (Pre-Delivery Inspection) of the vehicle too which can cost around 2 - 3 hours of labour (say around $240 to $360).

The law requires vehicles being sold to have a current Warrant of Fitness (WOF) less than a month old - you need to contact the selling dealer to have this sorted out.

I find it totally unreasonable to have to pay a pre delivery inspection on a NEW car. Surely the seller should be responsible for this as well as for the wof? It is after a new vehicle .