Pretty much a year ago, I bought a 2008 Mazda Atenza from a dealer and I have just taken it for wof and it fail, It fail on the passenger side front seat belt not working how it should, The mechanic found that the per tension seat belt had be unplugged and a resistor plugged in place, to trick the airbag light that is was plugged in, He remove the resistor and plug it back and airbag light come on, He source other seat belt, Fitted it and plug it back and now it fine and pass it wof, The mechanic said that the car shouldn't of pass it last WOF or pass compliance and that the resistor look pretty new,
A vtnz pass the car for a WOF just before I bought it and it did pass compliance, Mechanic said it could of been done in Japan or been done in NZ but it shouldn't of got a WOF in the first place and should of been pick up, Is it worth ringing the dealer and see what they say, Seeing if they will pay for it? Worth ringing the vtnz who done the WOF? Worth taking it to like of MTA if the dealer won't come to the party? Or just suck it up and pay for it? Bill is less then $300.
Thanks
msigg,
Aug 27, 10:46am
Yes by all means ring the dealer and say you are not happy and want refund of the parts and Labour. You can only try. Send email as well. After that there is not much u can do. Everyone will deniy responsibility. Move on and forget if u like the car. Time and money. What's it worth to u. Things happen.
babcorp,
Aug 27, 11:50am
DON"T suck it up and take it! Yours and your families life was put at risk, and probably others lives too if this is a common practice that needs to be addressed. Kick up a damn stink about it! Send copies of your correspondence to the seller to MTA, VTNZ, Ministry of Transport, AND Fair Go!
tamarillo,
Aug 27, 11:59am
Back up . There is no way to know who put that resistor there and no way you can expect a tester to find it. do you realise how small they are? Could be any owner, dealer, exporter, importer. In Japan or NZ.
babcorp,
Aug 27, 12:00pm
Oh. guess that makes it ok then.
newtec1,
Aug 27, 12:11pm
If the dealer has a conscience or any credibility he would offer to refund at least 50% of the cost if not 100%.It's that simple considering he sold a faulty product regardless if he knew or not. He sold it to you with a fault,you didn't create the fault but had to rectify it.
sw20,
Aug 27, 3:19pm
No it doesn't make it ok.
Just like it's not ok to take your nuclear war approach to dealing with an issue that can be resolved quickly and simply by contacting the dealer politely and offering them the opportunity to put it right.
saxman99,
Aug 27, 6:13pm
After a year has passed it might be difficult to prove it was like that when sold. Not saying OP is wrong, just that a dealer might take the "that was ages ago, the car could've been through a service or a rough valet or got water in it or etc etc in that time, not my problem" line.
phillip.weston,
Aug 27, 7:17pm
If the recent WOF tester was able to find the resistor due to the irregular operation of the seat belt tensioner, then the VTNZ WOF check *AND* compliance check should have picked up on it too.
friendly_prawn,
Aug 28, 2:53am
A year later. And not knowing who done it or when? And the bill being less than $300. Personally I would just suck it up.
kazbanz,
Aug 28, 6:07am
VR4-mate im doing devils advocate here so please don't shoot me. The issue I see is that you have owned the car for 12 months. Given the car went through compliance (at least) the seatbelt had to be tested.-Its part of the compliance process.it probably also had a WOF but in fairness as long as the reel retracs properly then a WOF tester isn't going to dig deeper. That suggests that the "cheater' was fitted by you. THAT ^^^^ is what you are up against What I feel you should have done is taken the car back to the dealer as soon as the issue was discovered.-too late now. So moving forwards- What I would suggest is RIGHT NOW call your mechanic and make sure the old belt/resister hasn't been thrown out. -Grab it. Then get a fully itemised account from your mechanic stating what was done and what was found to be wrong. Seperate it from the actual WOF check Then go to the dealer in a calm manner -ask for the owner/manager and explain exactly what has happened. They should agree to square you up for the parts. then take it up with their compliance centre. The important point. Don't be mr angry face but be firm in that you expect them to compensate you. In the dealers shoes I would most likely offer to pay for all then parts but would be reluctant to pay for the labour-only because it would be something I would fit myself.
vr4_legnum,
Aug 28, 8:04am
Kaz, Thanks heaps for your reply, Had hope you would reply,
I couldn't take it straight back to them as I'm in Tauranga and they are up in Auckland, The mechanic has taken photos and keep the old parts with giving me a good write up about it, I have been trying to ring the guy, But his phone goes straight to voicemail.
Thanks for everyone who has reply.
vr4_legnum,
Aug 28, 8:07am
Was just google searching their business name and this come up under reviews
"sold me and my partner a $30,000 dump truck with massive holes of rust everywhere it arrived on a transporter as i live far away i asked him if there was any rust ect he said no they used paper and car filler to hide the holes under the tray and in the cab plus it has a bad air leak on the brakes and the side hooks are breaking off as there so rusty his reply was theres no warranty on our trucks its less than a week that ive had it
These idiots dont realise there is a law that states no car dealer can sell anything on a as is were is basis all vehicles are covered by the consumer guarantees act commercial or not
These guys are cowboys and filthy lairs disgusting"
tgray,
Aug 28, 8:38am
Whilst a dealer cannot lie about the condition of the car (fair trading act) you can legally contract out of the CGA if the car is to be used for business use.
elect70,
Aug 28, 9:24am
How was the dealer supposed to know it was faulty . he sold the car in good faith with compliance & WOf . Take it up with those that issued compliance /wof
bigfatmat1,
Aug 28, 10:44am
actually the compliance place has to inspect all seatbelts mounts it should of been picked up on compliance.
supernova2,
Aug 28, 11:28am
BUT only if it was there at compliance. Anything could have happened between the compliance inspection and now.
kazbanz,
Aug 28, 11:36am
For me the obvious next question has to be--What about the other seatbelts? if one is dodgy stands to reason that at least the drivers belt it likely equally damaged. I have to ask --what kind of dealer doesn't have a working phone?
kazbanz,
Aug 28, 11:39am
devils advocate again here. The car went to compliance with seatbelt light on. Passed compliance on everything else. Dealer told to fix it.Dealer goes away and fits resister instead of replacing belt. Compliance guy sees belt light goes out so passes the car off.
tgray,
Aug 28, 11:56am
Interesting theory, but pure speculation mate.
elect70,
Aug 30, 10:06am
Ive found with 2 cars the plug connections for seat belts under the seats to have caused the air bag light problem. After getting them permanantly connnected & fault reset ( at dealer ) no more problems . Told they dont like moisture in them & even dampness can cause it .
vr4_legnum,
Sep 6, 4:20am
Just a update, Finally got a hold of the dealer, He said he went back to compliance place and they advised him at there was some issue with the left front seat belt, His offer was to replace the seat belt, In the end he agree to pay half of the bill from my mechanic.
Thanks
kazbanz,
Sep 6, 4:28am
Have a read of last post =doncha reckon my speculation was likely right?
kazbanz,
Oct 5, 7:08am
that sounds like a fair and reasonable result.
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