Kiwis get all revved up over written-off vehicles
‘‘I don’t know what else todo ... whydothe laws have no teeth?’’
Russell Malone
An Auckland man wants more legal remedies available to people who buy vehicles without realising they have been damaged in crashes overseas.
Russell Malone bought a 2009 Yamaha FZ6RC motorbike in January from Cycletreads, on the North Shore, for $5500.
But when he took the bike to a mechanic in February to fix a noise in the front forks, which got worse the faster he rode, it was discovered the bike had been declared junk and salvage in the United States, and unfit for export.
Bolts were different and missing, there were spots of rust on the frame around welds, and the connectors connecting the fairing were damaged or missing.
Malone claimed he was never shown a CIN certificate – the consumer information notice required to be displayed with all used motor vehicles – or informed about the damage. Dealers are legally required to disclose on the CIN whether a vehicle they’re selling has been imported as damaged.
He returned the bike to the dealership in March, but is yet to be paid the refund he requested. The Disputes Tribunal ruled in his favour in May, and ordered Cycletreads to pay Malone $5913.13 – including other costs associated with having the bike serviced. But he’s still waiting. Cycletreads owner Sean Walsh said the bike Malone purchased had not yet been made ready for sale,
and it would have had a CIN affixed had it been put on the shop floor. He was shown the bike as an option that was due to be made available for purchase soon, but which had not yet been through the certification process.
He did not attend the tribunal hearing because he was not aware it was happening, he said.
Malone said he was left frustrated because there was no way to enforce the Disputes Tribunal ruling, and the Commerce Commission told him it didn’t have the resources to investigate – although it issued Cycletreads an infringement notice in July for failing to display consumer information notices.
Malone has now submitted a civil claim in the District Court against Cycletreads, but that hasn’t been heard.
‘‘I don’t know what else to do . . . why do the laws have no teeth?’’
But Walsh rejected Malone’s claims and said he would give Malone a refund, but wanted him to contact him. ‘‘If he wants a refund he can come in and see me. He demanded a refund, plus extra, when he had ridden a few thousand kilometres.’’
He said the damage to the bike was superficial. The accident was reflected in the bike’s price, he said. ‘‘I’m not a qualified mechanic but
the bike rode well, I’d be happy to ride it.’’
The bikes sell new for up to about $16,000.
Walsh said: ‘‘I don’t have any agenda to sell anyone anything that’s substandard.’’
David Crawford, chief executive of the Motor Industry Association, said it was a wider problem which his organisation had been working with the NZ Transport Authority to address.
Imported damaged vehicles are recorded on arrival in the NZTA system.
All vehicles written off overseas should go through a certification process to come into New Zealand, he said.
Usually buyers were told that a vehicle had been a write-off, he said, but ‘‘every now and then something slips through the gaps’’.
While dealers are required to disclose if the vehicle has been imported as damaged, they don’t actually have to provide buyers with all the information on the repair work that has been carried out.
If purchasers did not have all the information they could not make the right decision on whether they wanted to buy or at what price, Crawford said.
Since 2016, Trade Me has made it mandatory for those selling Australian imports to declare if they had been written off.
The Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal heard at least 11 cases involving the sale of Australian write-offs in the year to June last year.
It said traders were failing to disclose written-off status.