ACCC to probe Oz car industry

[Express]

ACCC to probe Oz car industry



A string of recent recalls and scandals prompts study into local industry.


Sam Charlwood
17 June, 2016




The ACCC is set to come down hard on dishonest practises within the car industry. Photo: Supplied.


Australia's consumer watchdog has commenced a sweeping investigation into new car retailing which aims to build greater transparency for consumers and catch out rogue practises among manufacturers.

Responding partly to the Volkswagen emissions cheat, the ongoing Takata airbag scandal and Fiat Chrysler (namely Jeep) recalls, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims said the study would focus on a broad range of industry issues.

"I would say the car industry has got some existing problems and it's got some significant potential problems," Sims told Drive.

"The existing problems are clearly in relation to consumer guarantees and transparency over fuel efficiency, performance and emissions. Those are the issues now.

"The potential future problems are around consumers running into [warranty] trouble if they don't take you vehicle to an authorised dealer. As it stands, you may void your warranty if you take it outside approved centres.

"The other issue is whether consumers have got access to all the data in their car and its engine, and indeed who owns that data. The level of complaints is low at the moment but it's an issue that we're seeing emerging."

The study will also focus on consumer guarantee obligations and the ability of consumers to enforce their rights. Sims used the example of a faulty clutch, saying that in extenuating circumstances, Australian consumers have the right to claim a replacement vehicle.

"If you've got a faulty clutch and the manufacturer cannot fix it three times in a row, you're entitled to a new car because there's a major fault with something you've bought. It doesn't matter what the warranty says," Sims said.

"That's the lay of the land. If there's a major fault with anything you buy, you're entitled to a refund or a replacement. If it's a minor fault, you're entitled to a repair.

"It is a big deal, we're taking this very seriously."

The study follows a recent Choice survey which found two-thirds of new car buyers have experienced problems with their vehicles in the first five years of use, with some struggling to use their legal rights to a repair, refund or replacement. (See related article below)

A draft report of the ACCC findings will be released in the first quarter of 2017. In the meantime, the ACCC is actively seeking information from the public to inform its study as well as collecting data through surveys. It will release an issues paper later this year inviting written submissions from the public.

"We get thousands of complaints about consumer guarantees," Sims said. "There's a whole debate over lemon laws, and what we want to do is say who are the retailers and manufacturers complying with their consumer obligations.

"We'll have some form of report out early next year but we may take enforcement action before then."


Parties can register interest in being contacted about the study at: newcars@accc.gov.au

http://www.drive.com.au/motor-news/a...17-gpljga.html

Owners of 'lemon' cars are struggling to use their consumer rights to end nightmare



14 March, 2016

Esther Han
Consumer Affairs Editor



Two-thirds of new car buyers have experienced problems with their vehicles in the first five years of use, with some struggling to use their legal rights to a repair, refund or replacement.

A Choice survey found while most affected owners were able to get their car fixed, an "alarming" 15 per cent were unable to resolve the problem, despite warranties, insurance and consumer guarantees to repair, refund or exchange if a product is not of an acceptable quality.

Further, when owners were forced to pay for repairs, it cost them $1295 in direct fees and lost wages, and 31 hours.



Holden Commodore SS-V Redline. Photo: Supplied


"While some companies are doing the right thing, others are treating consumers' statutory rights as an optional extra," said Choice's chief executive, Alan Kirkland.

"The research findings convey the very real sense that car companies are off-loading sub-standard new cars on consumers and then using lawyers to fight consumers, forcing them to pay more to have their new cars fixed."

Choice also found 16 per cent of new car owners with problems were forced to sign a confidentiality agreement in order to obtain a remedy, banning them from telling anyone about their experience.



If a problem with a new car is a major one, customers can pursue a refund or replacement. Photo: Jay Cronan


Mr Kirkland accused car companies of attempting to cover up the scale of problems with new cars.

"It's astonishing. The problem is an owner might start thinking it's isolated and not rife across the industry," he said.

"This information should be in the public domain, available to consumers and regulators, and it's time this power imbalance was addressed."

When it came to complaints, the findings showed Holden was the worst performing car company, with 68 per cent of Holden owners experiencing problems with their new car, followed by Ford and Audi.

No car brand had a problem car rate of less than 44 per cent.

______________________________

Problems under warranty

Percentage of respondents who faced issues with their new car, broken down by brand.

Holden: 68%
Ford: 65%
Audi: 62%
Hyundai: 61%
Nissan: 61%
Volkswagen: 61%
Jeep: 61%
BMW: 57%
Mitsubishi: 55%
Kia: 54%
Subaru: 53%
Suzuki: 53%
Toyota: 50%
Honda: 49%
Mazda: 44%

Source: Choice
______________________________


Greg Patten, chief executive of Motor Traders Association of NSW, which represents dealers, said the industry took warranty complaints very seriously and fixing problems properly and quickly was their "lifeblood".

He said in cases where there were confidentiality agreements, the consumer most likely had exhausted all options with manufacturers, fair trading agencies, lawyers, and were willing to sign an agreement.

"It would be worrying if consumers are immediately going to the dealer or manufacturer and signing a confidentiality agreement to get a warranty problem fixed, because that would mean all the advertising done about consumer rights has completely missed its mark."

While acknowledging the poor results, a Holden spokesman said it had improved customer service by proactively calling customers with multiple warranty cases, by being "very active" on social media, and by educating dealers.

"This is clearly an industry-wide area that requires attention and is often driven by the increasing complexity of modern vehicles and vehicle interaction with mobile devices," said Holden's Sean Poppitt.

"Non-disclosure agreements are certainly not standard practise for Holden for any warranty or product issue. In some individual cases where issues are raised outside of warranty, resolution agreements are documented for clarity."

______________________________

Problem areas in new cars

Twenty-one per cent of new-car buyers had problems with in-car technology (e.g. Bluetooth connectivity, navigation, parking assist).

In-car technology: 21%
Battery/electrical problems: 20%
Car interior: 20%
Engine: 15%
Tyres/wheels/suspension: 14%
Brakes: 11%
Car exteriors/bodywork: 11%
Gears: 9%
Clutch: 6%
Exhaust: 4%
Other extras fitted by a third party: 4%
Accident damage not previously disclosed: 3%
Air conditioning problems: 3%
Odometer fraud: 2%
Not all documentation provided: 1%
Trader didn’t meet conditions of sale: 1%
Other: 16%
Not sure: 2%

Source: Choice
______________________________


Choice's research comes ahead of the review of the ACL this year, but a group of aggrieved car owners, LemonLaws4Aus, says existing laws are inadequate and national "lemon" laws should be introduced.

The proposed lemon laws, in general, imposes limits on the number to times a supplier can attempt to repair a defect in a vehicle before the buyer can ask for a refund or replacement.

The Consumer Action Law Centre supports the call for lemon laws, saying it has seen a large number of lemon car owners fail to achieve a satisfactory remedy despite the ACL.

In a submission to the Queensland government's inquiry into lemon cars and laws, it proposed a definition of "lemon" as a car that "has been repaired at least three times by the manufacturer or importer and the vehicle still has a defect or if the vehicle is out of service for 20 or more days in total due to a defect".

Mr Patten said existing laws adequately protected consumers.

"A new motor vehicle is a complex piece of machinery with tens of thousands of moving parts, some may fail, but there's a whole system to provide service and repair under warranty," he said.

"Where a vehicle has repetitive problems, which is a small number overall, it would be unusual the current laws don't adequately cover any situation that arises."

But Mr Kirkland said warranties sometimes confused consumers, making them think after it had expired that they couldn't pursue repairs and other remedies.

In his priorities speech for 2016, Rod Sims, chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, urged car companies to invest in after-sales car care, following its investigation of Fiat Chrysler, owner of Jeep.

"The consumer guarantees ... are not limited by a manufacturer's warranty and blanket refusals to consider warranty claims after the expiry of a manufacturer's warranty or solely through the strict conditions of those warranties will be of concern to us."

The Choice report also said some consumers found it difficult to convince dealers to acknowledge there was a problem with their new cars. Others reported that dealers appeared to deliberately avoid acknowledging problems existed until after dealer warranty periods expired.

The Australian Automotive Dealer Association was unable to provide a response, but pointed to its submission to the Queensland government's inquiry, which said the case was yet to be made for national lemon laws.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/retai...#ixzz4BnukXTJv

[Crazy Dazz]

The Holden result is absolutely staggering, but perhaps it was a very small sample size when you consider who many of their buyers would be illiterate.

But in all seriousness, you have to wonder about skewing in such surveys.
Are Audis really that bad? Or are they just bought by **** nitpickers who would complain if all the screw faces aren't perfectly aligned?

Similarly, if you need a flaming satnav to instruct you, point by point, on how to get from Point A to Point B, then your complaints about said satnav ("it made me drive into the lake") are potentially dubious.

But I'm glad that it does raise some good points about Australian consumer law, that many people aren't aware of, and that sellers (understandably) aren't keen to acknowledge.
That Territory you bought with Dodgy ball-joints? If Ford won't completely rebuild your front-end with a SYII design, then you're entitled to a FULL REFUND.
Same with the power-***** transmissions, or those who bought Nissan's with "grenade" engines, anyone who ever bought a Great Wall or Daewoo, etc.

[M&Ms]

2% of NEW car buyers complained about odometer fraud?

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by M&Ms

2% of NEW car buyers complained about odometer fraud?

I wonder if it were actually "fraud" or people complaining that their "new" car had 100kms on the clock because they'd used it as an unlicensed demo?

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by M&Ms

2% of NEW car buyers complained about odometer fraud?

Maybe it was morons complaining about having kms on a car they expected to have 0 on the clock.....that came from halfway across the worrld.

[Trump]

If the buying public knew what the pre-delivery people do before the cars get to dealerships, there would be a revolution overnight...

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by Loud_Noises

If the buying public knew what the pre-delivery people do before the cars get to dealerships, there would be a revolution overnight...

+1 for the Henry Ford reference. Visionary man.

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by M&Ms

2% of NEW car buyers complained about odometer fraud?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S7AyiVfNdA

[jmack]

Originally Posted by Loud_Noises

If the buying public knew what the pre-delivery people do before the cars get to dealerships, there would be a revolution overnight...

its disgusting what happens to them.ive got a couple of family members that drive them or should i say race them off the ships .two of them actually crashed into each other racing down at webb dock