Classic Aussie muscle car turns out to be a lemon

Brad Beard thought he’d found the perfect match when he spotted a ‘meticulously maintained’ Falcon V8 on a classifieds site, but he ended up bitterly disappointed.

Brad Beard’s FPV GT Falcon didn’t live up to his expectations. Picture: From Carsales.

A Melbourne man is thousands of dollars out of pocket despite winning a settlement with a car dealer in Western Australia over a dodgy used car.

Brad Beard took legal action against Midland Kia in Perth for misleading and deceptive practice after his dream car turned into a nightmare.

Mr Beard bought a high-performance Ford Falcon from the dealer after responding to an ad on classified website Carsales. The ad described the V8 FPV GT-P Falcon as “meticulously maintained” and an “absolute stunner of a vehicle”.

The FPV GT Falcon was described as “an absolute stunner of a vehicle”. Picture: From Carsales.

Mr Beard rang the dealership and was told by a salesman that the car was in great condition, except for a couple of minor stone chips.

He paid $41,000 plus shipping for the car.

But when it arrived it had deep scratches and dings in the paintwork, a cracked windscreen, badly damaged upholstery, worn brakes and a loose battery.

Things got worse when he fired up the Ford and found it kept going into limp mode. Warning messages appeared on the dash suggesting the car was not safe to drive.

“I was doing about 40km/h on the freeway, running on four cylinders, thinking what have I done. It was devastating,” he said.

The Falcon began experiencing problems as soon as it arrived. Picture: From Carsales.

“I was stuck in second gear and the thing was chugging away like a Massey Ferguson (tractor).”

After spending more than $5000 in shipping, registration and minor repair costs, he was quoted another $12,000 to fix the more serious problems with the car.

Calls and emails to the dealer requesting a refund were ignored.

“They never responded to emails. They wouldn’t put anything in writing,” he said.

After months of inaction, Mr Beard eventually took the matter to the Western Australian Consumer Protection unit.

Consumer Protection tried to resolve the dispute through conciliation but the dealer refused to budge, offering just $2000 for repairs.

The leather seat trim was worn. Picture: Supplied.

In a scathing report following the failure of conciliation, Consumer Protection said: “this vehicle is not as described, not of acceptable quality nor reasonably fit for the purpose for which it was purchased”.

“This assessment has been made due to the list of faults which render the vehicle unsafe and unroadworthy …”

Consumer Protection said the vehicle appeared to have suffered a major failure and was unsafe and different from the description in the ad. It couldn’t be used for its normal purpose and couldn’t be fixed in a reasonable time, the report said.

It concluded Mr Beard was entitled to a repair, replacement or refund.

Brad Beard, former owner of a Ford Falcon FPV GT, now rides an electric scooter. Picture: Supplied.

He then took the dealer to the Magistrates Court of Western Australia before ultimately accepting a buyback offer for the full price of the car and $1500 towards legal costs.

He said that despite the out-of-court settlement, he was still roughly $14,000 out of pocket in legal fees, transport costs and repair bills.

But worse than that, it destroyed his love of cars.

“I have collected cars for a long time. I’ve always loved them, but I think this has broken me,” he said.

“I was really excited about getting it but when I got it home I couldn’t bear looking at the thing in the driveway. I wanted to put a grenade under it.”

He now gets about on a bike and an electric scooter.

Midland Kia was contacted for comment.

Originally published as Classic Aussie muscle car turns out to be a lemon