NSW Scammed by Car Dealers - Pursue Through RTA?

[john benham]

Good evening;

Can someone please help with my enquiry regarding a vehicle I purchased privately a short time ago. It is a 2010 Corolla Accset?

At the time of inspection, I did not notice any issues with the car as it had been raining but it drove and handled fine. I agreed to buy the car but needed to finalise the payment, so I arranged to meet with the seller's brother at Wetherill Park Sydney west to finalise payment and exchange papers. This was the brother's workplace, I was told.

A couple of days later, after clear weather, I noticed some scratches to paintwork and went to a panel beater to get a quote on touch work. I was informed then that the car had been in previous accident/s and the panel beater showed me around the car pointing out bad workmanship and un-aligned panels. He said, "unfortunately to the untrained eye, it would not be picked up a lot but to him it stood out."

I subsequently went back to his brother's workplace because the panel beater told me that If I could find out details of where work was done it could be done/fixed through insurance. When I got to brother's workplace, no one had ever heard of them. I could not call as the mobile phone just kept going to voicemail and later said the line was disconnected.

My question is, can I pursue this through other means legally to either find this person through RTA and get him to give details needed or get money back?

Thank you for any help you may give.

 

[Sophea]

Hi John,

Firstly, the Australian Consumer law does not apply to private sales, so you are not protected by the same warranties of quality, fitness for purpose etc. In addition, there is no duty of care or requirement for sellers to tell you everything about the car.

You might have heard of caveat emptor - buyer beware. This applies in commercial transactions of this type - so it is up to the buyer to make sufficient enquries and satisfy him or herself that the product they are purchasing is fit for their needs and appropriately priced.

The only grounds you may have to take the seller to court to sue for your money back or price difference betwen what you paid and what it is worth is if he or she made misrepresentations about something specific. For example if you asked whether the car had been in an accident and they knowingly misled you to believe that it hadn't. This can be very difficult to prove.

Moral of the story is, it's best to take your time with private purchases and get an NRMA or other mechanic to look over it for you and identify any issues that are not apparent to the untrained eye. Otherwise you take the gamble.

 

[Rod]

And pay under the book price so if something is wrong you can have it fixed and it may still be considered a fair buy. Never pay book price without a proper mechanic's inspection for private purchases of motor cars.

 

[Tim W]

1. I agree with @Sophea.
   
   
2. No, you have no recourse to the RMS (formerly RTA).
   Consumer protection is not their function.
   
   
3. As to "paying under book"...
   Rod has a point.
   Understand however that book value is one of the great myths of the motor trade.
   Cars don't have an objective value.
   Things like Red Book and Glass' Guide are indicative only.
   Nobody has any obligations to pay them any mind whatsoever.