Bought Un-roadworthy Car from Dealer 2 months ago

Australia's #1 for Law
Join 150,000 Australians every month. Ask a question, respond to a question and better understand the law today!
FREE - Join Now

Barina

Member
24 January 2021
1
0
1
Hi there,

I bought a second hand car from a dealer 2 months ago and the car came with 12 months warranty. It's Holden Barina 2001, less than 100,000 km and came with a roadworthy certificate issued in early December 2020.
I took it to my mechanic near my place on Friday just for a check up and he found it had numerous issues and said the majority of these issues are not roadworthy.
  • Handbrake needs adjustment
  • Horn not working
  • Front wiper blades
  • Washer bottle cracked
  • Throttle body clamp does not tighten
  • Rocker cover leaking
  • Various coolant leaks, over flow bottle, top radiator hose area, Heater hoses
  • Breather hose on rocker cover split
  • Front left shockers leaking, Rear shockers leaking, Centre resonator leaking
  • Rear Muffler leaking
  • Rear tyres 10 years old
My mechanic was really helpful and suggested I should contact the dealer and request them replace these parts at no charge or ask for a full refund.

What's worse. when I was driving back home on the same day, my accelerator suddenly stopped working so I needed to pull over my car on the side of street because it was unsafe to drive(I almost caused an accident!). I called the dealer straightaway to ask for their help who said I will have to bring my car to his shop so he can have a look but I told him the car is not safe to drive and I am not paying for towing cost. He then said "I don't believe whatever your mechanic says as everyone has different opinions and it's not like your car is falling apart so it's surely not urgent!"........... After 10 minutes of taking to him, he reluctantly said he will come and have a look at my car on Monday but no time has been confirmed yet.

I know because of the age of the car, it's not covered by a Statutory Warranty, however, my mechanic said that the issues listed above should have been picked up in the first place by the dealer and my car is not roadworthy. My car comes with 12 months warranty but i am not sure if this warranty covers everything listed above. It's just because of the dealer's attitude over the phone, I am also a bit concerned he might not fix all these issues... My questions are:

1. What are my rights and what should I be doing?
2. Is my dealer liable for repairing my car?
3. Am I liable for paying towing cost?
4. or should I ask for a full refund..?

Any help would be appreciated.