The dealer sold me a vehicle with a void warranty. What should I do?
QUESTION
Hi John,
We bought a 2017 Kia Sportage in 2020 December, with 32,000km on it and were told the 7 year warranty was in place (with 4 years remaining at that stage). Within 12 months we heard some noise so took it to a Kia dealer closer to our house to service it, but were told there was nothing wrong. Still having issues with it afterward; smoking and chewing through oil. So took it back for a service, they said needs an exhaust change. This was done under warranty.
Now after this, I’m still having issues with oil. So returned again and told no problem, they topped up oil and told us to return in 3000km. Returned once more and this time were told we need an engine replacement and Kia won’t cover it under warranty because one service (the 15k one) was missed before we bought it. It’s going to cost $16k to replace the engine!
I feel we were screwed over by Adrien Brian for selling us a car with an invalid warranty, Kia for making such crap cars and the dealer service department that serviced our car saying there’s ‘nothing wrong’ multiple times.
The car has done 52,000km now and we’ve clearly looked after it with all the services. I feel lost and so stupid we trusted these guys.
Is there any advice or help you could offer us?
Thanks,
Rochelle
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ANSWER
Rochelle,
You should speak to a lawyer now (a local solicitor).
When Adrian Brien sold you the car, they were bound by Australian Consumer Law, which has a thing in it called the guarantee of ‘acceptable quality’.
If they told you the car was still under warranty when you bought it, and in fact the warranty was void because the car had not been properly serviced, then they may have breached that guarantee, which is illegal. Thus, they might be liable for your predicament.
Your solicitor might be able to write them a letter that nudges them into play in some way. (The details, and what you can prove, really matter here.)
If this is unsuccessful and you end up having to foot the entire replacement bill, get an independent repairer to do the work, and try to source a used engine. This will be a lot cheaper.
Talk to a lawyer now - not legal aid or consumer affairs (they’re useless).
Hope this helps and good luck.
Sincerely,
John Cadogan
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