Elderly couple refunded after buying dodgy car

An elderly Christchurch couple will get their money back after being ripped off by a car salesman who lumped them with a brokendown vehicle and a hefty loan.

Superannuitants Harry and Heather Rae Ngarae bought a Subaru Legacy last November to help them get to and from hospital appointments.

On the drive home from the dealership, the car started ‘‘throwing water everywhere’’, but the salesman dodged their phone calls.

A mechanic inspected the vehicle and found a rotten radiator, a leaky oil sump, a fault in the braking system, bald tyres, a broken air-conditioning unit and a slipping gearbox. The car was running on only three cylinders, not four, and the right wheel bearing needed to be replaced. Estimates for just some of the repairs totalled over $700.

The Motor Vehicles Disputes Tribunal of New Zealand upheld the Ngaraes claim to return the vehicle, and said Reliable Autos Limited (RAL) must pay back the $2000 deposit and trade-in costs, as well as $700 in tribunal costs and any other loan repayments made to the couple’s finance brokers.

Barrister Jason McHerron said the trader ‘‘unloaded a seriously defective vehicle on to Mr and Mrs Ngarae, encumbered them with a disadvantageous loan, and has then, in proverbial terms, ‘shot through’.’’

The Ngaraes, who were tight on money, were persuaded to arrange finance with Avanti Finance Limited through broker Gay Richardson, of TMF Finance.

A request to Reliable Autos Limited to carry out the repairs was declined.

McHerron said the salesman showed a ‘‘deliberate effort to avoid any accountability’’ for the ‘‘defective vehicle’’. He said the Ngaraes were entitled to a full refund, and the loan owed to Avanti Finance Limited now rested with RAL.

RAL would have to arrange to pick the vehicle up from the Ngaraes’ property. The salesman did not attend the hearing.