Refund ordered for the 'perfect car' – that drove only in reverse

SUPPLIED

The Mazda Familia billed as a perfect first car ended up only able to be driven backward.

The salesman told Amanda Edwards she was buying a "perfect car".

But only 10 days after she paid $1300 for the 1994 Mazda Familia, a strange thing happened. The car would drive only in reverse.

When Edwards, from Feilding, asked for a refund from The King of Cars, a yard in Palmerston North, she was refused.

Only now, after the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal ordered the yard to refund her money, can she laugh about the experience. A car that only goes backwards, she said, was about as useful as a bicycle to a fish.

Edwards bought the car for her son to drive to his first job, and she was told the older model would be "perfect" and it had a warranty. She insisted it have a Warrant of Fitness when supplied, and four days later handed the keys over to her son Jayden.

WARWICK SMITH/STUFF

The King of Cars yard in Palmerston North is now deserted.

"My son was so eager to get the car," she said. At first it ran just fine.

"Then he got in it to go to work one morning, and started it fine and put it into drive, and it just revved like it was in neutral. He put it into first and second, and it wouldn't drive, except in reverse. It was a dud car."

She tried to contact the yard, and after making a number of calls was eventually told it would not be refunded without a written warranty.

However, after seeking advice from the Consumer Protection helpline about how to complain, the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal found in her favour in a decision released Friday, and she was awarded a full refund plus a $50 tribunal application fee.

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"Even the [adjudicator] said 'what are you supposed to do, drive it in reverse to Palmy?'," Edwards said.

Car Fox director Tom Rolton did not attend the hearing, but in a written submission told the tribunal Edwards should not get a refund as "she should not expect anything more from such an old, low cost, high mileage end of life car," the decision report said.

"A $1300 vehicle is half a step from a scrap project, parts vehicle."

WARWICK SMITH/STUFF

Carfox is now operating in Rangitikei St in Palmerston North.

While Rolton was correct that the level of consumer protection Edwards should expect was relative to the age and high mileage of the car, he was wrong in thinking she had no consumer rights, the decision said.

"A reasonable purchaser would expect that even an old car will meet basic standards of durability, if purchased from a motor vehicle trader.

"Even a $1300 vehicle such as Ms Edwards' Mazda should be good for at least one month of motoring without requiring major repairs."

Car Fox was ordered to pay the costs within a week of the decision. Edwards said after some back and forth emails with Rolton, and the Tribunal threatening to go to mediation, she was eventually paid the refund.

In 2014 the tribunal also ordered The King of Cars refund a woman who found her car had a faulty transmission immediately after buying it from the yard.

Their Tremaine Ave yard closed late last year, but a dealer called Tom using the same cell phone number as King of Cars now runs the Carfox yard on Rangitikei St in Palmerston North.

- Sunday Star Times