‘Perfect’ car only drives in reverse
The salesman told Amanda Edwards she was buying a ‘‘perfect car’’.
But 10 days after she paid $1300 for the 1994 Mazda Familia, a strange thing happened: The vehicle would only drive in reverse.
When Edwards, from Feilding, asked for a refund from Palmerston North dealer The King of Cars, she was refused.
Only now, after the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal ordered the yard to refund her money, can she laugh about the experience. Edwards bought the car for son Jayden to travel to his first job. She was told the vehicle would be ‘‘perfect’’ and that it had a warranty.
At first it ran just fine, ‘‘then he got in it to go to work one morning, and started it fine and put it into drive, and it just revved like it was in neutral . . . it wouldn’t drive, except in reverse. It was a dud car.’’ She was told by the yard she was not entitled to a refund without a written warranty.
However, she sought advice from the Consumer Protection Helpline, and the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal found in her favour in a decision released on Friday, and she was awarded a full refund plus a $50 tribunal application fee. ‘‘Even the [adjudicator] said ‘what are you supposed to do, drive it in reverse to Palmy?’,’’ Edwards said.
Car Fox director Tom Rolton did not attend the hearing, but in a written submission told the tribunal Edwards should not get a refund as ‘‘she should not expect anything more from such an old, low-cost, high-mileage end of life car,’’ the decision report said.
However, Edwards still had consumer rights, the tribunal ruled. Car Fox was ordered to pay the costs within a week.