Should my Subaru dealer repair my car free under Consumer Law?

QUESTION #1

Hi John,

I have a 2016 (MY17) Subaru BRZ, which came with a three year warranty, and of course has now expired.

My cruise control has recently developed a fault in the past month, deactivating when set, or just not setting at all at the desired speed.

I emailed Subaru Australia and they to told me to go to the dealer. (They didn't even look at the video, YouTube analytics shows me that). Now, my dealer is a bit of an arsehole and its always bullshit o'clock (I mean, they tried to charge me extra on my capped price servicing on the 1st service).

Anyway, I have not contacted the dealer about this issue yet as I want to go in prepared. Yes, the car is out of warranty, but I would deem that the cruise control failing like this is a major failure and is not reasonably durable and I would like it fixed under warranty.

How do I approach the dealer about this? Do I just go in, say there is a fault (show them the video) and then when they go to bill me, try to state ACCC regulations. Or do I just state up front the issue and that I would like it fixed under ACCC law?

Look forward to your reply,

Brad.

Question #2

Hi John,

I have used your advise and booked my car in to be looked at by the Subaru dealership on the 27th.

They are wanting to charge me $165 as a diagnostic fee. They said they will send the details through to Subaru Australia to either get approved or denied.

Just wanting to check with you if the $165 fee is dealership bullshit or not. I have sent them a video of the fault and the service manager did tell me he has seen it. I have not given them any money yet.

(As a reminder the car is out of warranty).

Regards,

Bradley

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ANSWER #1

Brad,

You’ve got your wires crossed mate. A cruise control problem is not a major failure. It’s a simple system fault.

Major failures are a trigger for refund or replacement under Consumer Law. (There’s no ‘ACCC Law’ below. The ACCC is an agency designed to enforce Consumer Law compliance.)

There’s an Acceptable Quality Consumer Guarantee (a piece of Consumer Law) which says (in part) that products need to be reasonably durable’. If they’re not, the retailer must repair them (or replace them if repairs are impractical in the circumstances). This is irrespective of the warranty status.

A cruise control system should last longer than five years.

Just tell the dealer the cruise control has not been reasonably durable, therefore it has breached the Acceptable Quality Consumer Guarantee, and you require them to repair it for free. (It’s not a request. It’s a demand. Make it a polite one, however.)

JC

Consumer guarantees: a detailed guide for consumers >>

Answer #2

Bradley,

Olay, so you need to get your car fixed. The $165 is a trivial sum. What I would do is pay it, to get the ball rolling.

If it’s a consumer law claim (i.e. the car has a component that has failed prematurely, which is a breach of the Acceptable Quality Consumer Guarantee) then the RETAILER (the dealer) is required by law to fix it for free.

In this case, the $165 is refundable. The dealer cannot brush off this decision onto Subaru. It’s illegal. Subaru would of course reimburse the dealer for costs in the background.

If you abused or damaged the car, for example by hitting a bird or nudging a bollard while parking, thus damaging a sensor or other system component, then the responsibility for the repair falls wholly to you and you will be required to pay all related costs. That’s how this works.

If you end up in a disagreement with the dealer on this, it’s best to consult your lawyer for advice on how to proceed before taking any other action. It’s a good idea to try to collaborate/co-operate to the extent of what’s reasonable, to avoid this. Obviously.

Sincerely,

JC

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