Car dealer fined $67k over sales

An Auckland car dealer has been fined $67,500 for advertising vehicles for sale ‘‘as is, where is’’, after several buyers were left with hefty repair bills.

In a decision released yesterday, the Commerce Commission said BNZ JP Euro had misrepresented consumers’ rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act.

It had earlier pleaded guilty to six representative charges under the Fair Trading Act, mostly relating to the sale of 77 used motor vehicles between August 2017 and December 2018.

BNZ JP Euro operates a car and truck wrecker business selling automotive parts in Papakura.

At the time of the offending, it was also selling low-priced used motor vehicles, which were advertised on Facebook.

BNZ JP Euro offered vehicles for sale on an ‘‘as is where is’’ basis and asked buyers to sign an agreement acknowledging there was ‘‘no warranty implied or given within it’’.

Commission chairwoman Anna Rawlings said the statements suggested consumers had no rights if something went wrong with the vehicle, when in fact the Consumer Guarantees Act applies to used motor vehicles.

‘‘Traders cannot evade their responsibilities to provide guarantees and remedies under the CGA by using phrases such as ‘as is, where is’.

‘‘Where consumers buy vehicles from traders, rather than private sellers, the purchase will always be covered by statutory guarantees, including that the vehicle is of acceptable quality and complies with its description.’’

Any attempt by traders to mislead consumers about their rights was likely to breach the Fair Trading Act.

Rawlings said the trader’s conduct had real impacts on its customers, some of whom felt they had no redress for faulty vehicles and that issues were for them alone to deal with.

‘‘In four cases we know of, consumers purchased vehicles that required substantial repairs. In at least two of those cases the cost was nearly the same as the purchase price of the vehicle itself.’’

BNZ JP Euro also never offered consumer information notices (CINs) with the vehicles it sold. The notices include such information as vehicle age, distance travelled and any security interest over the vehicle and must be displayed on all used vehicles being sold by a used motor vehicle trader.

The company pleaded guilty to one representative charge relating to failing to display CINs for 16 vehicles sold between October and December 2018. It is an infringement-only offence and no conviction can be entered for it.