Dealership Disabled Check Engine Light before Purchase of Used 2012 Mazda 3

LAussar on 01/11/2017 - 08:02
Last edited 01/11/2017 - 11:04 by 1 other user

Purchased a second hand vehicle recently from a NSW dealership. Naturally, a warranty was included as part of the deal. I was told that it needed to be serviced by them for the warranty, which was fine with me. Took it in when the maintenance light popped on and they serviced it.

Shortly after, the lovely little check engine light came on. So I took it to my usual mechanic (not the dealership). Then came the interesting news, after they checked what was causing the light to appear. Apparently the car needs a new catalytic converter, and has needed one since before I purchased it. The service light came on at about 3,400km (timing is off according to mechanic) since the last service (according to the logbook), and apparently might have been modified to turn on earlier so as to allow the dealership the chance to turn the "check engine" light off again. Seeing as it's been disabled twice now.

Is this something the dealership should have discussed or mentioned to me before purchase? They claim to have done a full mechanical check before confirming my purchase. Do I have any options other than to fork out the $800+ for a new part?

TLDR: Bought car from dealership. Needed new catalytic converter since before my purchase. Made no mention of this fact and turned check engine light off in regards to this. Is there anything I can do, or just fork out the cash for a new part?

Automotive

Comments

  • Quantumcat on 01/11/2017 - 08:07

    Can't you use the warranty to have it fixed?

    • Aussar on 01/11/2017 - 08:11
      +1

      According to the "Parts covered" section of the warranty book, the catalytic converter is not covered.

      • Quantumcat on 01/11/2017 - 08:12

        If it were me, I would take it back to the dealership and ask to return it for a refund. There are probably smart ways of doing this that other people will know (that will give you a higher chance of success).

        • Aussar on 01/11/2017 - 08:30

          Considering that, but I've already put a bit of money into the car that I'd rather not lose out on.

        • Quantumcat on 01/11/2017 - 08:31

          @Aussar: that's fair enough. I hope you can get it resolved. What chumlee said is probably best.

  • chumlee on 01/11/2017 - 08:14

    Enable the check engine lighlightg engine. Get a report fttom your mechanic as to problems then go back to the dealer and asked for it to be repaired under warranty.

    • Quantumcat on 01/11/2017 - 08:16

      That's a good idea, but, what if there are other things wrong with it? The dealership hid this problem, what if there are others?

      • chumlee on 01/11/2017 - 08:37
        +1

        That's the risk buying used cars

  • steven6 on 01/11/2017 - 08:15

    What is the year/make/model?

    • Aussar on 01/11/2017 - 08:29

      2012 Mazda 3

      • steven6 on 01/11/2017 - 12:12

        I don't know much about OBDII, but I'm guessing that's what your car uses? My 2006 Adventra uses OBDII and I can clear the fault codes with a scanner, but they will come back within a couple hours of driving.

  • BertieBrown on 01/11/2017 - 08:19

    Urgh. That sucks.

    I'm not 100% sure about NSW but in SA you have a 3 month statutory warranty, I'm thinking there would have to be something similar in NSW? Our previous car was bought second hand and we thought that there was something wrong with the air-con, fortunately there wasn't, but I rang consumer affairs and they said that if the car was advertised as having an air-con it should be something that's covered, and that was from the manager at CBS. So, although yeah you probably won't find that a used car dealer that advertises that a car has a catalytic converter in their ad, it might be worth checking with your consumer affairs to see if that is something that would be covered?

    • BertieBrown on 01/11/2017 - 08:20

      Edit: I wasn't sure if the dealer was offering some 'extra' warranty, which is why there is some confusion about whether the part would be covered rather than the stat warranty that you get by default.

      • Aussar on 01/11/2017 - 08:30
        +1

        Sorry about that. The "Warranty" that I have from the dealership is a "Mechanical Protection Plan" from them.

        • BertieBrown on 01/11/2017 - 08:36
          +2

          No worries. I'm not sure if this helps but this is some more information about the stat warranty http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/ftw/Consumers/Motor_vehicles/Warranties.page#Second-hand_vehicles_(other_than_motor_cycles).

          Yeah, I mean I guess if it's a private warranty then they can sort of put whatever they want in the conditions but I don't think anybody regardless would accept that disabling the check engine light is ever acceptable.

  • Quantumcat on 01/11/2017 - 08:45
    +12

    This whole thing reminds me of Matilda's dad from the Roald Dahl book.

  • ozbargainoid on 01/11/2017 - 09:13
    +2

    Make sure you get a permanent record of the CEL before the dealer gets to see it, as they may reset the ECU memory and you won't have any evidence to support your claim.
    Also the car should have come with a statutory (government) warranty that you should be able to claim on.

  • whooah1979 on 01/11/2017 - 09:24

    Bought car from dealership

    Was this from a dealership or a used/second hand dealer?

    • Aussar on 01/11/2017 - 09:45

      Holden dealership, but they sell used/second hand cars too.

      • davel on 01/11/2017 - 17:20
        +1

        You can probably make a complaint to the MTA but i would have the CEL data printed by a licensed mechanic.

        Things like this i assume would be covered under 3 month stat warranty under nsw laws but depends on year/km if memory serves me correct.

        • jhmtaylor on 02/11/2017 - 09:17
          +1

          I would not waste my time reporting it to the MTA. They are there to protect their fee paying members interest, not the consumers. The unofficial motto of all these trade associations is "Members first"

      • whooah1979 on 04/11/2017 - 11:50
        +1

        Holden dealership,

        you could give holden hq a try. their clout could be enough to persuade the franchise to do the right thing. holden need all the good pr that they can get now that the factory closed.

  • Aussar on 01/11/2017 - 09:44

    =

  • ThithLord on 01/11/2017 - 09:54

    Fight tooth and nail with the b*stards, mate. They have fleeced you knowing full well what they've done, my dude. Something very similar has happened to me and I did nothing about it and I wish I had when it happened. Dealers will raw-dog ya without a seconds thought.

  • Euphemistic on 01/11/2017 - 10:11

    Sometimes you get the check engine light and after a while it goes away, or it is possible to reset it and it doesn't come back.
    It is also entirely possible that the person who traded it in cleared the light and it hadn't come to the attention of the dealer at all. It isn't hard to reset the light, I've done it to our cars on occasion when the fault has been a once off.

    Buying a used car comes with risks.

  • Terocket on 01/11/2017 - 12:04

    As I see it, if the check engine light was on when OP had a look at the car (and presumably had a test drive) - would he still have bought it?
    If no, then what the dealer has done was to conceal the true condition of the car to make a sale. As suggested above, obtain a report froma third party and take it right back to the dealer and ask this (or any other issues) to be fixed under warranty

  • Gronk on 01/11/2017 - 12:07
    +1

    Problem is, unless you (or your mechanic) can prove that the dealer had the modification made, the dealer could just as easily argue that the previous owner arranged the modification to save themselves a few $$$ or just deny any knowledge of the modification in the first place - because it's a used vehicle.

    • Terocket on 01/11/2017 - 12:10

      Good point. Maybe the software will show the date it was first disabled?

  • spackbace on 01/11/2017 - 12:16
    +3

    "Mechanical Protection Plan" from them.

    That's one of those freebie warranties, normally offered by AHG and the likes. Very limited.

    Once again I'll say for those that don't know, I'm a car salesperson.

    Contact the dealership. First and foremost. Talk to the Used Car Manager (don't deal with the salesperson that sold it to you). If no love from him, talk to the General Manager/Dealer Principal. Be reasonable, don't raise your voice. They'll want to look at it themselves (which is reasonable). Confirm that you won't be charged for the inspection, and get it booked in to look at.

    How long ago did you buy the car in terms of months and kms?

    With used cars, you can be up the proverbial creek, but now with social media, ACCC etc etc, major dealers don't want to deal with the headache of bad publicity. So before you whinge on their FB page or something, contact them! Doesn't seem like an expensive repair so they'll hopefully come to the party. The longer you leave it however, the worse it will be.

  • cyssero on 01/11/2017 - 12:49

    When did you buy the car? As others have mentioned there is a statutory warranty that cannot exclude this.

  • [Deactivated] on 01/11/2017 - 14:06

    This will take some effort, and in the QLD context (was it blue slips in NSW?)

    Go to repco (or any other mechanic chain with a cheap road worthy ($70-$100)), get a roadworthy cert on the car. The mechanic is bound to give you a list of stuff that needs to be done on the vehicle. They always do.

    Go back to the dealer and ask them to fix it. You'll then have a week or two to bring the car back to the roadworthy mechanic for a re-check covered by the initial road worthy cert payment.

    If it does not get resolved to your satisfaction, report the dealership for selling you a non-roadworthy car (Their previous inspector will eat it I think).

    Note, Road worthy often does not cover the powertrain portion of the car. You can get that checked to a somewhat limited degree by your regional RAC (they won't open your engine, a lot of these checks are electronic, radiator/chamber pressure, visual underbody and drive tests). That check will cost a lot more >$200-300 and might not have the strength of "selling a non-roadworthy car" in giving the dealer a kick in the bum.

  • alxr0101 on 02/11/2017 - 07:53

    So would the faulty CC have been known to the dealer prior to sale to you?

    If you made aware of the faulty CC, would you have purchased the car or negotiated a different price?

    Your grounds for repair/replace go beyond what's in the stated warranty. You have a case under Consumer Law however it could be argued that you should seek independent inspection/report prior to purchase to confirm condition.

    Was the CE light switched off during possession of the dealer or perhaps they were genuinely not aware of the faulty CC?

  • HeWhoKnows on 02/11/2017 - 13:51

    All here say and coincidence. You have no argument. Unless the car is still under thier waranty. Then they must fix.

  • Klevakiwi on 04/11/2017 - 12:20

    Your car has a 3 month Stat Warranty. You should have received this. Its a form 11 now i think. Your mechanical protection plan, is extremely limited and is of little value. provided the car is within the 3 month period, take it back to the dealer.

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