RACV pushes for lemon law

[vztrt]

http://www.carsguide.com.au/site/new..._for_lemon_law

RACV pushes for lemon law

* By Neil McDonald
* Herald Sun
* 07 August 2009


New car owners may be able to return their defective vehicles under tough US-style consumer lemon laws being proposed.

The broad-ranging ‘lemon law’ could also apply to used vehicles if the Federal Government adopts the recommendations into consumer rights by the Commonwealth Consumer Affairs Advisory Council.

The move has been welcomed by motoring bodies, but the RACV says the complaints process also needs to be streamlined. Consumers who have been sold a lemon should get a quick resolution to their problem, it says.

Help is already available through Consumer Affairs Victoria, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal or the courts. But the RACV's general manager public policy, Brian Negus, says there is no clear process to follow.

Consumers are often left powerless by the current resolution system, which he describes as inadequate. "It's the consumer who often gets caught between manufacturers and dealers arguing over who is responsible with neither of them putting up their hand and the consumer left with a faulty vehicle," he says.

"We believe anyone buying a car must be entitled to service histories and warranty repair records. Consumers must also be informed about what they can do when things continue to go wrong."

The RACV wants a level playing field so manufacturers have some rights too. It says any lemon law should recognise that manufacturers should be entitled to a deduction from the purchase price of a faulty vehicle if it is required to buy it back, calculated using the distance travelled of the dodgy vehicle.

"Obviously the age of a vehicle will have to be taken into account," Negus says. "If a vehicle is three months old it should be replaced but if one is two or more years old, its kilometres should have some impact on price."

In its submission, the RACV defines a lemon as any vehicle that has had three repair attempts to a persistent fault, or a single attempt for a significant safety defect, or has had 10 cumulative days out of service, or defects that occurred within two years or 40,000km.

Australian consumers make about 50,000 complaints a year over warranties and entitlements on faulty goods, which costs them $12 billion a year. The council recognises that new vehicles are often the second most significant purchase after buying a home but when that purchase turns out to be a lemon, they are often overwhelmed about where they can get help.

"It is important that consumer law provides an effective means of redress when consumers suffer, for example, because of the presence of lemons in any market," the council chairman, Colin Neave says.

Negus recommends that consumers get an independent pre-purchase inspection as the first line of defence against buying a defective vehicle. "A comprehensive inspection of a new or used vehicle before purchase helps motorists know exactly what they are buying before handing money over," he says.

[XDV800]

Negus recommends that consumers get an independent pre-purchase inspection as the first line of defence against buying a defective vehicle. "A comprehensive inspection of a new or used vehicle before purchase helps motorists know exactly what they are buying before handing money over," he says.

Why on earth should anybody feel the need to have a pre-purchase inspection on a new vehicle. New is new and this legislation would be a good way to make manufacturers honor the flimsy warranties they promote pre-sale.

Although whats to stop the manufacturer being obliged to buy back the vehicle, then on-selling it in a used lot to some other poor schmuck.
If the vehicle can't be proven to have been rectified then they could pass lemons onto TAFE colleges to dissect?

[Buntz]

Good thing it is too. It will protect consumers, and I think will go towards fixing Ford's reputation in this country. Finally they can tell Dearborn, no excuses... faults must be fixed.

Besides which, it's not like Ford can't recycle a faulty vehicle.

[uranium_death]

Great. Means that buyers can get protection from a fairly-large purchase...

[BadMax]

Gee, better turn this into a war...

I don't think it will happen in the near future, it'd cost manufacturers that still build cars here too much in buy backs. Let's face the facts, Aussie built cars are not quite up to scratch in comparison to many other countries, but not overly bad.

BTW, the government protects and spends millions on supporting the local industry, so essentialy every tax payer would be funding the program for local cars.

[SEZ213]

This article is almost 2 years old. I assume it never actually got off the ground?

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by Sezzy

This article is almost 2 years old. I assume it never actually got off the ground?

I can't find the article from Friday's cars guide. But a modified version is meant to be in now. I saw the article at work, no one else seen it?

[SEZ213]

I had a look, but couldn't find anything...didn't see anything in Saturday's paper either...

[Grunter]

Here you go. About time to.

New laws provide some lemon aid

Bill McKinnon
From:Herald Sun
May 06, 201112:00AM

YOU used to have Buckley's chance of returning a dreaded lemon to the car dealer for a replacement or a refund.

As for being compensated for the inconvenience, aggravation, lost income and costs racked up while taking the car from hell to the dealer for a further non-fix under warranty, well, make that virtually no chance either.

Many Australian consumers have tried but only a few very determined people have succeeded, usually after long, expensive battles against squads of car company lawyers in various courts.

The new Australian Consumer Law, developed by the states and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, came into force on January 1 this year. It's not as tough as US lemon laws, but it gives you much more protection than the maze of state and federal consumer regulations you previously had to navigate to make a case that your car resembled a particularly bitter variety of citrus fruit.

The Australian Consumer Law applies to most goods and services, including new and used cars, except those bought at auction or private sale, where you're still basically on your own.

When you buy a car from a dealer, you now have the protection of legally enforceable consumer guarantees, including that the car is of acceptable quality (which includes being safe, free from defects and durable) and reasonably fit for any purpose you specify when buying it, such as towing.

If you have what the ACL calls a major failure with your car, you are entitled to return it to the dealer to claim a refund, or a replacement -- your choice of an identical new car or one of similar value.

A major failure is when a reasonable consumer would not have bought the car if they had known about the problem, or when the car is substantially unfit for its normal purpose.

In other words -- the car is a lemon.

If you have a minor problem with the car, the dealer is still allowed to fix it under warranty.

If you have to get your car fixed at another workshop, you're entitled to claim the cost from the dealer who sold you the car.

However, if the dealer can't fix the problem within a reasonable time, you are also entitled to a refund or a replacement.

So the classic tactic of some dealers and manufacturers stringing you along by saying, "Just bring it back and we'll try to fix it under warranty" time and again until the warranty runs out, will no longer work.

And when the warranty expires you are still protected by the ACL's consumer guarantees -- but a used car's age and kilometres since you bought it will be taken into account when determining your entitlements.

The ACL also addresses one of the other great traps of the car business -- the extended warranty.

Many new and used car buyers have paid thousands of dollars for one of these, on the (mis)understanding that, first, it's the only way to cover themselves against repair costs when the factory warranty runs out and, second, that when they make a claim under the warranty, it will be honoured.

Those same car buyers have often found, to their great cost, that these extended warranties sometimes are not worth the paper they are written on.

They are, first and foremost, a way to increase a dealer's profit margin on the car. Most have very onerous conditions, including mandatory servicing schedules at the dealer who sold you the car. In the worst cases, consumers have called the helpline number on the warranty policy only to find there's nothing other than an answering machine on the other end of the line.

The ACL states that manufacturers and dealers must not pressure you into buying an extended warranty, or tell you that you have to buy one.

In fact, you now have rights under the ACL's guarantees that are equal to or greater than any supposed benefits you're paying for under an extended warranty policy.

If you think you've bought a lemon, the first step is to tell the dealer.

"You should go to the dealer who sold you the car and point out to them that they are legally obliged to provide you with a car that does what it is supposed to do under the ACL consumer guarantees," Katrina Lee from Choice says.

Dealers can no longer pass the buck by telling you to take your car's problems up with the manufacturer. The dealer is responsible, under the ACL, for providing you with a replacement or a refund. The dealer can then sort out reimbursement from the manufacturer. That's his problem, not yours.

However, the ACL also imposes similar customer guarantee obligations on manufacturers and importers, including car companies.

A manufacturer must guarantee, to you, the consumer, that the new car you have bought is of acceptable quality and matches the description on which you based your decision to buy it. A manufacturer must also guarantee the availability of repairs and spare parts for a reasonable time after you have bought the car.

If the manufacturer fails to meet one of these consumer guarantees, you also have rights against them.

You are entitled to ask for an amount covering the drop in value of the car as a consequence of the manufacturer's failure to meet any consumer guarantee.

You are also entitled to claim compensation for costs such as lost time, income or productivity caused by the problems with your car.

"We would hope that dealers understand that if they don't take these consumer guarantees seriously, then they leave themselves open to action from the ACCC," Lee says.

If the dealer wants to argue about whether your car is a lemon, tells you to keep bringing it back for warranty repairs or simply refuses to acknowledge your rights under the Australian Consumer Law, you should notify the ACCC, the federal regulator responsible for ensuring that dealers and manufacturers comply with the law, and contact the consumer tribunal in your state or territory, which will advise you on how to get some long overdue lemon-aid.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/new...-1226050743555

[2011G6E]

Won't happen.

The one fault we had with our brand new G6E was fixed at the first 3000km service. The electric drivers seat, when moving between two memory positions, would make a horrible squeeking and scraping noise. I assumed it would "wear in", but when Ford saw it, the service guy said "That ain't right...", and assured us it was probably only some lube or something minor needing adjusting.
Turned out it was the seat runners were buggered, as in out of alignment and worn on one side. How it slipped past QC is beyond me.

The only other problem was that they "forgot" to fit the towbar when doing the pre-delivery.

Other than that, no problems...so far...

[Grunter]

Originally Posted by 2011G6E

Won't happen....

Already has. See above.

...The new Australian Consumer Law, developed by the states and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, came into force on January 1 this year. It's not as tough as US lemon laws, but it gives you much more protection than the maze of state and federal consumer regulations you previously had to navigate to make a case that your car resembled a particularly bitter variety of citrus fruit....

[music189]

lucky for Ford this came in after they fixed the ball-joint design on the Territory or there might have been 75000 people able to claim against it!!!

[Zero_PSI]

It's a good law. But why is there new cars with issues?

[aussie muscle]

Originally Posted by yzfr101

Although whats to stop the manufacturer being obliged to buy back the vehicle, then on-selling it in a used lot to some other poor schmuck.

They need in that case something like repairable-write off laws, where they have to prove the work has been repaired to an acceptable level.

[ray38l]

^no matter how hard a car company cars try every now and then a car gets made that is a lemon. Happens to all of them even European cars that people love for some reason.
The good thing with the new law is it will stop company's trying to deal with obvious problems one on one to avoid bad publicity and make them do recalls.

[vztrt]

Thanks Grunter. That's the article.

[PHANTMXR6]

So 3 rear diff bush failures would fall under the 'lemon' tag then.......


It could get messy I reckon.