An Auckland car yard tried to claim dents in a car were "design features" when the buyer tried to return the vehicle.
The
car yard has now been ordered to return the buyer's money, along with
$238 in damages, following a decision this week by the Motor Vehicles
Disputes Tribunal.
The decision says last year Majid Lotfollahi bought a 2007 Suzuki Swift for $10,250 from Buy Right Cars.
He
had repeatedly made it clear to salesman Oliver Siaea he did not want a
crash-damaged car and Mr Siaea told him that if he was buying a car for
his daughter, he would buy the Swift.
But Mr Lotfollahi later
found the car did not have a warrant of fitness, partly because the
number plate light had been sprayed over and another light did not work.
He also noticed a rough paint job on the underside of the vehicle, and signs of damage around all the doors.
He took the car back to the yard, where sales manager Vipul Bhatnagar said the damage was a design feature of the car.
He
later acknowledged he should not have made that claim, and said Mr
Siaea, who should not have claimed it was undamaged when he did not know
the car's history, no longer worked for the company.
Panel beaters found the car had structural faults and was unsafe. It would have cost nearly $4000 to fix the car.
The
tribunal found the car was not fit for sale and Mr Siaea misled Mr
Lotfollahi. It ordered the Buy Right to pay him his money back, plus
$238 for damages.
NZN