Calls for mandatory second-hand vehicle inspections as ‘car-selling cowboys’ rip off South Australians
Dodgy private car sellers are ‘actively preying upon South Australians’ and you could fall victim, says a car industry boss. See the scams.
The state’s motor industry is ramping up calls for tighter rules around the sale of second hand vehicles as shocking new dodgy sale tactics of “car-selling cowboys” emerge.
It’s claimed South Australian consumers are the nation’s “least protected” with shifty sellers increasingly targeting unwitting buyers.
Motor Trades Association (MTA) chief executive Darrell Jacobs says his organisation receives “multiple reports each week” of cons, ranging from social media scams to odometers being tampered with and service and repair histories doctored.
This, he says, is “a significant increase” from a decade ago and reflects that three out of four used cars are now sold through online platforms such as Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree.
“Dodgy private sellers … actively prey upon South Australians due to our status as having the least protected consumers in the country when buying a used car privately,” he said.
“(We’re hearing of) cars intended for scrap rebirthed for sale, with structurally unsound welding and repairs … (and) hidden defects requiring thousands of dollars of repairs or in some instances, a dangerous vehicle which puts the driver at serious risk.
“In addition, we receive regular reports of dodgy private vehicle sellers from the public and MTA members through our ‘dob in a backyarder’ program.”
He says as well as increasing reports of written-off vehicles being bought at auctions interstate and sold to “an unsuspecting South Australian”, there has also been a growth in sales of flood-damaged vehicles sourced from the eastern states.
Mr Jacobs says it is frustrating that there is little to deter shonky operators caught out for doing the wrong thing with examples of online sellers continuing to advertise despite receiving formal warnings about their crooked activity.
He points to a dodgy Facebook Marketplace seller who wiped more than 150,000km off a car’s odometer and tried to sell it for $11,500 profit – twice – but this month avoided conviction.
Other dubious operators remain on the association’s radar, including one Adelaide man who was issued a warning in relation to unlicensed selling in April 2023 but continues to advertise vehicles on Facebook Marketplace and is suspected of recently establishing a new profile.
“If the judicial system can no longer protect the public, then we need to change our laws,” Mr Jacobs said.
The MTA is stepping up its efforts to lobby local politicians for support of independent MLC Frank Pangallo’s Second-hand Vehicle Dealers (Roadworthiness Certificates) Amendment Bill which calls for mandatory roadworthiness certificates for all second hand vehicles.
“Buying a car is a big decision for most, particularly … those who do not have a family member or friend with knowledge of cars and ability to negotiate with a seller to support them,” Mr Jacobs said.
“Requiring the seller to have their vehicle inspected by a government authorised and qualified mechanic as a condition of sale will save consumers the time and money of negotiating with dodgy sellers who are looking to offload thousands of dollars’ worth of repairs to the unsuspecting public.”
However, the RAA takes a different stance.
“There is no evidence to suggest mandatory inspection schemes improve road safety,” says safety and infrastructure senior manager Charles Mountain.
“What’s being proposed represents a $20-plus million impost on private sellers, based on the number of private used car sales in South Australia in any given year.
“When you’re buying a house, you can choose to pay for a building inspection – and that same choice applies when you’re buying a car. It’s a case of ‘buyer beware’.”
Victims and villain: the reality of dodgy car selling practices
Today the MTA shares with the Advertiser a list of some of the “victims and villains” it’s aware of who help fuel its passion to advocate for change.
The scammed
Facebook scam: This month a red-faced millennial shared how he and his family unwittingly became the face of a bold scam after hackers took over his social media accounts.
Johnny Smith*, aged in his mid 30s, was impersonated on his Facebook and Instagram accounts with hackers engaging with his friends.
They pretended to be him, tried to sell a car in the “awfully authentic” posts that highlight how vulnerable even tech-savvy social media users can be.
While none of it was true, the hackers shared a series of legitimate-looking images along with detailed information on the $6000 vehicle purportedly belonging to his dad.
Mr Smith said it was unsettling to realise the hacker had conversed with his friends, and implicated a family member in the “dodgy post”.
“It is obviously unsettling for me but just as unsettling for my friends who thought they were having a conversation with me, some were really close to (sending money),” he said.
Young mistake: Late last year Josef “Joe” Gentile learnt the hard way that parents really do know a thing or two and are worth keeping in the loop when making big life decisions.
Without telling his dad, the 19-year-old paid $7000 cash for an Audi Q5, brought through Facebook Marketplace.
He discovered almost immediately it blew “a massive cloud of smoke” from the exhaust when idling, needing to find another $1000 to fix the problem.
A post-purchase inspection also identified the car had likely had its odometer swapped while there was also evidence it had previously been involved in a serious accident.
His dad, Joseph Gentile, said it was upsetting to discover his son had been “ripped off”: “I was upset about it but there was nothing I could do.”
Inspection miss: In October, 2023, after months of searching for a car that both suited her needs and was within her $12,000 budget, part-time worker Rosalie Bifulco found one, or so she thought.
The sellers talked the single woman out of getting an inspection but it didn’t take long for her to regret being pressured into overlooking this step.
“Within the first night of … driving it I noticed there was trouble with the gear changes,” she said in an interview at the time.
She took it to a trusted mechanic and discovered major repairs, totalling $6000, were needed: “It is absolutely devastating because I cannot afford to make (this) big payment (to repair the vehicle).”
Explosive reaction: Also in 2023, a car exploded into a fireball completely destroying it just minutes after it was driven from the seller’s car yard.
Then aged 19, Hajar Yassini, who lost her dad when she was young, was lucky to walk away with her life after the frightening ordeal.
The teenager had conscientiously saved for her first car, a $5000 second-hand Mazda, believing the best in the mechanic who sold her the dud.
“I’ve been saving up my money for years to buy a car. (The seller) was telling us, ‘the car is good, the engine is good, everything is fine’,” she said in an interview after the incident.
“It’s common thing that happens among teenagers, because a lot of us just want to buy a first car and not all of us have, like, enough money to buy it first-hand … I feel like I was taken advantage of because I know nothing about cars.”
The car burst into flames on the Salisbury Highway as she drove it home, 15 minutes after proudly picking it up.
“It was just so scary, it was genuinely a life-threatening situation,” she said.
CBS has confirmed it has commenced action against the seller with the matter due in court next week.
The scammers
THIS month Minghui Jin, 35, faced court for wiping more than 150,000km off a car’s odometer and attempting to sell it on a digital marketplace for $11,500 profit – twice.
It was found he switched the odometer on the Commodore he’d bought in Wagga Wagga from 221,589km to 67,559km before advertising it for sale just a week later for $27,500 ($12,500 more than he had paid for it).
When that sale fell through after the deceitful act was discovered, he again tried to sell the vehicle to another person on the digital marketplace.
He escaped conviction, instead released on a $1000 bond and ordered he perform 150 hours of community service within 12 months.
LAST May Andrew Nanku Prasad was found guilty of winding back the odometers of four vehicles he bought at auction, profiting to the tune of $45,000.
The 44-year-old received a suspended sentence of five months and 19 days in relation to one count of deception.
While spared jail, Prasad was fined $10,000 with the magistrate describing his conduct as “manipulative, deceitful and unscrupulous”.
IN July 2023, licensed dealer Arta Hanssen was convicted and fined $1800 for winding back the odometers in two cars.
ALSO in July 2023, second-hand salesman Salameh Soud Haddad was convicted and ordered to repay thousands of dollars after he was caught winding back the odometers of two cars.
In the first case, the then 33-year-old reduced the odometer on a Holden Commodore from 256,416km to 190,000km, upping by more than $1000 its asking price.
In the second, the odometer reading of a Subaru Forester was changed from 282,627km to 182,360km with him selling it for $7000 after purchasing it for $4009.
Haddad was ordered to compensate the Forrester owner $2000 for the loss and an additional $2100 to the second owner of the car for additional repairs.
He was ordered to pay CBS $300 for the cost of restoring the odometer as well as hundreds of dollars in legal fees and a fine of $450.
IN March 2023, Ravindra Jayasinghe Mudalige faced court on two counts of interfering with an odometer on second-hand vehicles and one count of dishonest dealings with documents.
The qualified mechanic pleaded guilty to forging a log book and winding back two separate odometers before selling the cars online, taking about 64,000km off a Holden Astra and more than 210,700km from a Mitsubishi Pajero.
He listed each vehicle for sale for considerably more ($5000 up from $500 for the Astra and $38,000 up from $22,500 for the Pajero).
He was fined $3000 but no conviction was recorded.
THEN in December 2022, child protection worker Mohammad Aref Ghaffari pleaded guilty to charges related to wiping almost 400,000km from the odometers of two Toyotas and selling them off, netting a cool $26,000 in profit.
CBS staff also found each vehicle had come with a log book – Ghaffari had purchased the documents separately and doctored them to match his mechanical alterations.
He was fined $4200 and ordered to serve a two-year, 24-day prison term for his crimes which was suspended.
IN late 2022, Puthear Sam Som was charged with “carrying on a business as a second-hand vehicle dealer when not authorised by licence”. He was also found to have tampered with an odometer of a second-hand vehicle. He was convicted and fined $7,000.
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Originally published as Calls for mandatory second-hand vehicle inspections as ‘car-selling cowboys’ rip off South Australians
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