Car dealer was meant to be doing repairs but was joyriding in my car

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AndyP

Member
9 February 2019
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Hi all,

I'm going through a dispute at the moment with a car dealer for a used car I purchased (not covered by statutory warranty as older than 10 years old, but covered by consumer guarantees and a third party warranty I purchased). The gearbox on the car needs to be replaced, and the dealer agreed to fix the issue as I detected the issue within a few days of picking up the car. The car was meant to be in the garage for 4 weeks getting repairs done, but it ended up taking a little over 6 weeks. I've since found out that the car didn't have the gearbox replacement, and instead only got a gearbox service (this should only take a few hours, not 6 weeks). Additionally, there was a bunch of fake Christmas tree leaf things in the boot of my car when I picked it up. When I asked the dealer about this, he said he used my car for his own personal use (I have this in text from him saying he picked up some astroturf from bunnings). The car has come back with approx 800km's more on the odometer, and still presenting the same gearbox issues. The gearbox is now no longer covered by the third party warranty as the car has been driven 800kms since an issue has been identified (breaks warranty terms).

I'm taking him to tribunal for the gearbox, but want to know if there's any legal things I can pursue at tribunal or not for using my car without my permission for his personal use, and for voiding my warranty (which would also have covered the gearbox).

Thanks for any help!