Early March 2018, I found a used car for sale on eBay and arranged an appointment for inspection in Sydney.
I looked up the eBay advertiser, they have a company website. They are one of the top car part suppliers in Australia. They are registered in NSW as a Licensed Motor Car Trader, Motor Dealer, and Motor Vehicle Repairers.
On Monday 5th March I inspected the used car, a 2002 Mini Cooper S, advertised for $6,000, registered until January 2019. I asked the company employee a number of questions about the mini. He assured me many times that the company regularly serviced this vehicle every 10,000 kms; that there were no major issues with this vehicle; that it was a very reliable car and that I would have no problems with this car since the company's mechanic workshop took good care of it. I asked the employee to drive it, and I listened for any problems. The company employee assured me (more than 3 times) that there were no issues with this mini, apart from an airbag sensor light that was showing as a fault on the dash display. He promised they (the licensed company) would repair it before I picked it up. I negotiated the price to $5,500, and paid by bank transfer on the Monday 5 March 2018.
On Tuesday, I arrived around noon (as agreed) to pick the mini up, as I was told the faulty airbag light would be repaired. I was kept waiting until 5.30 pm whilst another employee (who is in charge of the company mechanic workshop) attended to the faulty airbag repair by an offsite auto electrician. The auto electrician could not repair the problem, so the employee said take the mini, and come back in a few months and they will fix it. I agreed and left with the mini.
I had bought this car on behalf of a friend who lives at Wellington (out near Dubbo), NSW. After consulting with her by phone, during the inspection and explaining that the company employee was assuring us that the mini was in very good mechanical condition, was regularly serviced by the company's workshop mechanics, and that the company was a very well known and established car part supplier, my friend gave the go ahead to purchase the mini.
I drove the mini home to Katoomba, my residence (from Villawood, Sydney). It drove Ok. It was picked up the following Sunday by the new registered owner (my friend) and driven back to Wellington (near Dubbo). By the time she arrived home there were now 3 extra warning lights showing on the dash, and the brakes were coming on automatically at low speed. She took it to a local mini specialist/mechanic in Dubbo. He diagnosed a faulty sensor light. We contacted the original seller/company and they agreed to pay for the repair. The Dubbo mechanic pointed out the issue with the faulty airbag light, and said it needed to be repaired. I tried 2 or 3 times to arrange a time on 16 April 2018 for the mini to be taken back to Villawood for the faulty sensor light to be repaired. I received no acknowledgement or responses to my requests.
On the following weekend, the mini was driven to Sydney (St Marys) by the owners son to visit his cousin. On the morning of Monday 26 March 2018, whilst driving back to Wellington, via the M4 expressway in Sydney, the owners son noticed the car was smoking, and pulled over immediately. This was on the M4 near Emu Plains. He arranged a tow truck to take the mini to the nearest mini specialist/mechanic in Penrith. The mechanic diagnosed a blown oil heat exchange unit, which he said should have been attended to if the vehicle had been properly serviced, as there was a noticeable build up of oil and water mixing in various hoses as well as the coolant reservoir. The mini was fully inspected with diagnostic equipment on the Tuesday morning.
I rang the original seller/company and asked them why we were not informed about this major issue with the mini. The employee (in charge of the mechanics workshop) apologised and said they would take it back to their workshop and repair it. He told me he would ring the Penrith mechanic and talk to him. I rang the Penrith mechanic and he agreed to talk with the seller/company employee. However the seller/company employee did not follow through with his promise. And would not return my messages and phone calls until late Thursday morning. Subsequently, after not hearing back from the seller/company, the go ahead to repair the vehicle at Penrith was given early Wednesday afternoon. I continued to leave messages and phone the contact employee from the seller/company. I also sent through emails to the sales department and the customer service department, and also addressed for attention of the CEO of the company, on Tuesday evening.
Anyway, via various emails, phone conversations and messages ... 2 different employees promised to inspect the mini at Penrith and deal with the situation (prior to full repairs being made). However it was now Thursday noon, the mini was now fully repaired, as neither of those 2 employees had carried through with their promises to contact the Penrith mechanic. I had consulted NSW Fair Trading, and they pointed me to the NSW Motor Dealers and Repairers Act 2013, so I sent off a more serious email, and immediately I was told that the company CEO would take care of the matter. He had not rang the Penrith mechanic as I was told he would, but later that afternoon (after 4 pm) the company CEO rang me and complained we did not give them enough time to inspect the mini; that the final repair bill for the mini ($2130) was excessive (the company could have repaired it for much cheaper); and that the car was sold 'as is' that we had no right to complain.
My last email to the CEO I have explained the above facts to him, that his company has breached a number of legal issues about selling a car and making false claims about the 'good' condition of the vehicle etc. I have requested that he buy back the mini ($5500) plus the cost of repairs ($2130) plus the cost of registration transfer fees etc. My phone conversation with him on Thursday 29 March 2018 (after the mini was paid for and picked up from the Penrith mechanic's workshop) was one of trying to communicate what I have just stated above, and that he had obligations as a Motor Dealer and Repairer that justified that we should receive a full refund plus repair and other costs. He said he would only communicate via written communication, but would consider buying back the mini for what we paid for it $5500, but not the repair charges.
Where do we stand? It was advertised as private sale on eBay, but that did not mean anything to me, as it was advertised under the name of the company, it was registered under the name of the company and the receipt was a company invoice. The company employee seller did not say it was a private sale to me directly, in fact he said it was a well maintained company car, that had only been used occasionally for small parts deliveries.
I have subsequently been told that as a Licensed Dealer and Repairer, the employee should have given me a current inspection/roadworthy certificate, as one mechanic has told me it would not pass a roadworthy test with a faulty airbag warning light. We do not wish to take this to a court, what would allow us to negotiate a fair outcome?
Marty
I looked up the eBay advertiser, they have a company website. They are one of the top car part suppliers in Australia. They are registered in NSW as a Licensed Motor Car Trader, Motor Dealer, and Motor Vehicle Repairers.
On Monday 5th March I inspected the used car, a 2002 Mini Cooper S, advertised for $6,000, registered until January 2019. I asked the company employee a number of questions about the mini. He assured me many times that the company regularly serviced this vehicle every 10,000 kms; that there were no major issues with this vehicle; that it was a very reliable car and that I would have no problems with this car since the company's mechanic workshop took good care of it. I asked the employee to drive it, and I listened for any problems. The company employee assured me (more than 3 times) that there were no issues with this mini, apart from an airbag sensor light that was showing as a fault on the dash display. He promised they (the licensed company) would repair it before I picked it up. I negotiated the price to $5,500, and paid by bank transfer on the Monday 5 March 2018.
On Tuesday, I arrived around noon (as agreed) to pick the mini up, as I was told the faulty airbag light would be repaired. I was kept waiting until 5.30 pm whilst another employee (who is in charge of the company mechanic workshop) attended to the faulty airbag repair by an offsite auto electrician. The auto electrician could not repair the problem, so the employee said take the mini, and come back in a few months and they will fix it. I agreed and left with the mini.
I had bought this car on behalf of a friend who lives at Wellington (out near Dubbo), NSW. After consulting with her by phone, during the inspection and explaining that the company employee was assuring us that the mini was in very good mechanical condition, was regularly serviced by the company's workshop mechanics, and that the company was a very well known and established car part supplier, my friend gave the go ahead to purchase the mini.
I drove the mini home to Katoomba, my residence (from Villawood, Sydney). It drove Ok. It was picked up the following Sunday by the new registered owner (my friend) and driven back to Wellington (near Dubbo). By the time she arrived home there were now 3 extra warning lights showing on the dash, and the brakes were coming on automatically at low speed. She took it to a local mini specialist/mechanic in Dubbo. He diagnosed a faulty sensor light. We contacted the original seller/company and they agreed to pay for the repair. The Dubbo mechanic pointed out the issue with the faulty airbag light, and said it needed to be repaired. I tried 2 or 3 times to arrange a time on 16 April 2018 for the mini to be taken back to Villawood for the faulty sensor light to be repaired. I received no acknowledgement or responses to my requests.
On the following weekend, the mini was driven to Sydney (St Marys) by the owners son to visit his cousin. On the morning of Monday 26 March 2018, whilst driving back to Wellington, via the M4 expressway in Sydney, the owners son noticed the car was smoking, and pulled over immediately. This was on the M4 near Emu Plains. He arranged a tow truck to take the mini to the nearest mini specialist/mechanic in Penrith. The mechanic diagnosed a blown oil heat exchange unit, which he said should have been attended to if the vehicle had been properly serviced, as there was a noticeable build up of oil and water mixing in various hoses as well as the coolant reservoir. The mini was fully inspected with diagnostic equipment on the Tuesday morning.
I rang the original seller/company and asked them why we were not informed about this major issue with the mini. The employee (in charge of the mechanics workshop) apologised and said they would take it back to their workshop and repair it. He told me he would ring the Penrith mechanic and talk to him. I rang the Penrith mechanic and he agreed to talk with the seller/company employee. However the seller/company employee did not follow through with his promise. And would not return my messages and phone calls until late Thursday morning. Subsequently, after not hearing back from the seller/company, the go ahead to repair the vehicle at Penrith was given early Wednesday afternoon. I continued to leave messages and phone the contact employee from the seller/company. I also sent through emails to the sales department and the customer service department, and also addressed for attention of the CEO of the company, on Tuesday evening.
Anyway, via various emails, phone conversations and messages ... 2 different employees promised to inspect the mini at Penrith and deal with the situation (prior to full repairs being made). However it was now Thursday noon, the mini was now fully repaired, as neither of those 2 employees had carried through with their promises to contact the Penrith mechanic. I had consulted NSW Fair Trading, and they pointed me to the NSW Motor Dealers and Repairers Act 2013, so I sent off a more serious email, and immediately I was told that the company CEO would take care of the matter. He had not rang the Penrith mechanic as I was told he would, but later that afternoon (after 4 pm) the company CEO rang me and complained we did not give them enough time to inspect the mini; that the final repair bill for the mini ($2130) was excessive (the company could have repaired it for much cheaper); and that the car was sold 'as is' that we had no right to complain.
My last email to the CEO I have explained the above facts to him, that his company has breached a number of legal issues about selling a car and making false claims about the 'good' condition of the vehicle etc. I have requested that he buy back the mini ($5500) plus the cost of repairs ($2130) plus the cost of registration transfer fees etc. My phone conversation with him on Thursday 29 March 2018 (after the mini was paid for and picked up from the Penrith mechanic's workshop) was one of trying to communicate what I have just stated above, and that he had obligations as a Motor Dealer and Repairer that justified that we should receive a full refund plus repair and other costs. He said he would only communicate via written communication, but would consider buying back the mini for what we paid for it $5500, but not the repair charges.
Where do we stand? It was advertised as private sale on eBay, but that did not mean anything to me, as it was advertised under the name of the company, it was registered under the name of the company and the receipt was a company invoice. The company employee seller did not say it was a private sale to me directly, in fact he said it was a well maintained company car, that had only been used occasionally for small parts deliveries.
I have subsequently been told that as a Licensed Dealer and Repairer, the employee should have given me a current inspection/roadworthy certificate, as one mechanic has told me it would not pass a roadworthy test with a faulty airbag warning light. We do not wish to take this to a court, what would allow us to negotiate a fair outcome?
Marty
