Public Defender: How to fight back against consumer car-nage

IN DECEMBER, Caroline Mumford bought a three-year-old Ford Ranger from a dealer in Bathurst. Then things began to go wrong.

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BY applying the letter of the law — as well as a little pressure — we managed to get this woman a very welcome $40,000 refund.

In December last year, Caroline Mumford bought this three-year-old Ford Ranger from Clancy Ford in Bathurst. Ms Mumford said to me she told the salesman she needed the vehicle to tow a horse trailer and ­according to the Ranger’s specifications, that should have been no problem.

But the supposedly rugged ute couldn’t do it.

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At the time of contacting me, communication between Ms Mumford and the dealership had broken down. We got it going again — and got some expert advice on how consumer law applied in this situation.

Caroline Mumford and the 2013 Ford Ranger XLT. Picture: Zenio Lapka.

Mike Daniel, of Resolve Litigation, said by law, motor vehicles — new and used — must be of “acceptable quality” and “reasonably fit for any purpose the consumer or supplier has specified”. He said the law then tries to determine if the event is a major or minor failure. A major failure triggers the right to a refund or replacement whereas a supplier can choose to repair a minor failure.

The test for a major failure includes:

■ A reasonable consumer would not have bought the vehicle if they had known the full extent of the issue;

■ It is “substantially unfit for its normal purpose and cannot easily be made fit within a reasonable time”; and

■ Whether the vehicle is substantially unfit for a purpose the consumer told the supplier about, and cannot easily be made fit within a reasonable time.

I explained this to Clancy Ford, which had already twice tried to repair the problems. At the time I became involved, Ms Mumford was refusing to take the vehicle back after the second attempt but I convinced her to do so.

The overheating problem that had supposedly been fixed immediately ­re-emerged. I spoke to the dealership, which said it would arrange an “independent” inspection.

I said no and suggested to Ms Mumford she get the ute assessed. A Lithgow mechanic checked it and found there was an ­ongoing issue, so I went back to Clancy’s and it asked to have one more look at the car.

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Ms Mumford bought her new ute to pull her horse float.

I said I would ask Ms Mumford to agree, on the condition a refund would be offered if it found the original problem was still there. It agreed. The original problem was discovered and a refund was forthcoming.

Ms Mumford was elated and with the money, plus $3000 extra, she bought a new Ford Ranger — from Clancy’s. “I certainly would not have ended up with the final result without your ­intervention,” she said.