May 14, 2014
The RACQ has slammed the State Government’s decision to scrap consumer protection for secondhand car buyers.
State Parliament last week passed the Motor Vehicle and Chattel Auctioneers Bill which scrapped the requirement for licensed dealers to provide a one month statutory warranty for vehicles more than 10 years old or those with more than 160,000km on the clock.
The RACQ’s Steve Spalding said the decision was “appalling” and left some of Queensland’s most vulnerable motorists with limited consumer protection.
“People who purchase older vehicles are typically young drivers and those with limited budgets,” Mr Spalding said.
“The people buying those sorts of cars can least afford to have something go wrong.
“Previously they were protected against costly mechanical defects by a one-month warranty. Now this protection has been wiped away.”
Mr Spalding said the government’s justification that the removal of the warranty would free up red-tape was ludicrous.
“This protection had been in place for more than a decade and served car buyers well,” Mr Spalding said.
“The only people who benefit from the removal of the statutory warranty are the car dealers as they will no longer have to fork out money to repair cars they have just sold.”
Mr Spalding advised motorists it was now essential that they have an independent inspection to help protect them from buying a car with potentially expensive defects.
