VCAT forces Hoppers Crossing dealership to refund customer for dud car

A man who bought a car plagued with faults from a Hoppers Crossing dealership has finally received compensation after years of complaints to the dealer fell on deaf ears.

Peter Davey Suzuki has been ordered to pay a customer $18,500 after he was sold a dud car three years ago.

A Hoppers Crossing car dealership has been ordered to pay a customer $18,500 after he was sold a lemon.

Joshua Casey bought a new Suzuki Baleno GL from Peter Davey Suzuki in November 2016 but just days after he drove it off the lot he found a raft of problems, including a crooked steering wheel, faulty entertainment system and defective headlights.

Mr Casey told the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal the car’s satellite navigation system constantly froze, his bluetooth dropped out and the vehicle had trouble accelerating past 60km/h.

And at one point, when he rested his hands on top of the steering wheel, the dashboard “popped out”, the tribunal heard.

Mr Casey said despite the entertainment unit being replaced five times it still wasn’t working.

Repeated complaints about the car not picking up speed fell on deaf ears with mechanics at the dealership telling Mr Casey test drives did not reveal any fault and “it must not be happening”.

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Peter Davey Suzuki manager Paul Vermay told the tribunal an employee had driven Mr Casey’s Baleno along Old Geelong Rd at up to 60km/h and had been “unable to reproduce fault”.

VCAT member David Kim said he was not convinced the test had ruled out issues with the vehicle’s acceleration.

“(The employee) test drove the car … up to 60km/h (whereas) Mr Casey’s complaint was that the car lacked power or acceleration when attempting to reach a higher speed,” he said.

A vehicle inspections report from RACV stated: “engine lacks power / ATTENTION NEEDED!”.

The RACV also found issues with the steering pulling to the right.

Mr Kim last week ruled Peter Davey Suzuki had breached Australian Consumer Law by selling the faulty car.

“As the supplier, they did not provide Mr Casey with a car that was ‘free from defects’,” he said.

“(Mr Casey) was entitled to expect that the car would not only be functional, but also to have its accessories and added features working properly,” he said.

“Regardless of how many times the entertainment unit was actually replaced, the system should have functioned properly from the start.

Mr Kim said Mr Casey was entitled to a full refund of the contract price of the car.

Peter Davey Suzuki must refund $18,500 to Mr Casey by June 24.