October 8, 2024 • 8 mins
Ellie bought a car that passed its roadworthy test but turned out to be a lemon. What are her rights as a buyer when the car was purchased from Facebook Marketplace?
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to the Robin and Jeff podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
A Robin and Keep in the morning.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
As a lawyer, Ellie had a burkedout Ellie, Hi, how
are you great?
Speaker 4 (00:16):
Now?
Speaker 3 (00:17):
You've got a question for our lawyer.
Speaker 4 (00:18):
So we bought a car privately from somebody and we
bought it with a road worthy When we took that
car to our mechanics to just have a service done,
they told us that the car should never have actually
passed a roadworthy in the first place. We then got
(00:39):
in touch with the guy who had done the roadworthy
He sort of he sort of said that, you know,
every mechanic is different in how they class are roadworthy.
But we took it back to him and he said
he would have a look at it and fixed thing
to make it roadworthy. Once he did that, we asked
him for a roadworthy certificate all the list of things
(01:03):
that he had done to make it so that it
was actually a roadworthy car, which he refused to give us. Obviously,
when you're buying a car privately, you take these risks.
And yeah, so look, we ended up taking it to
a specialist mechanic and it cost us another five thousand
(01:25):
dollars to get it picked. Yeah, on top of the
purchase price. So really my question is are we able
to get compensation from the road worthy person for that
five thousand dollars because obviously if he had never given
it a roadworthy in the first place, it would never
(01:47):
have been for sale, you know what I mean, So
it wouldn't have bought it.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Yeah. That's an interesting one because it is law in
Queensland you've got to have a roadworthy certificate in order
to sell your car. But whether or not that means
it's got to be a good car, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
It doesn't have to be a good car, but you
would think the road worthy would have to be at
least legit.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Can I ask how much the original price was for
the car?
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Ten thousand?
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Wow? Okay, so fifty of the cost again yeah, so.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Then another five thousand on top, which is now fifteen
thousand dollars car, which was what we bought for our daughter.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
And could you sell it for that now?
Speaker 4 (02:27):
I don't know, Well, probably not.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah, it's probably burnt money. You'd reckon like it's read.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
I mean, we probably lose money on it. And now
that now that the engine, you know, the whole engine's
been redone. Hopefully there's nothing going to go wrong with
it again, and we just have to sort of deal
with that. But I just don't know how many other
(02:53):
people he's doing this too.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, because I know and if we are a lot
of the time, you know, people always say go to
a mechanic before you buy it. Obviously, getime to check it.
But you would think the road worthy, I mean, if
it's worthy of being on the road, it should be
worth something. But who knows.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
Let's yeah, and we did talk for a mechanic before
we bought it, and they said, look, look for this,
look for that, and we did and under the hood
was completely clean and we couldn't see any leaks or anything.
And the car DROs fine. You're kind of doing it
in good faith, yeap.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yeah, and that's possibly where the problem started. Let's ask
Brett from RMO Law and see what he says. Ellie
if Bakdell. Hey, Hello, we've got Brett Trafford here from
RMO Law, So can you just quickly explain exactly what's happened.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
We bought a secondhand car, obviously with a road worthy
which was done like two days before we purchased it.
We took our car to a mechanic they told us
it should never have passed a road worthy took it
back to the original road worthy person for him to
fix everything that our mechanics has said wasn't right with it,
took it to a specialist mechanic and cost us five
(04:04):
thousand dollars extra to make it roadworthy and driveable. Are
we able to get any compensation from the person who
had done the roadworthy.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
So you spent five thousand dollars to bring the car
up to the standard that the person you bought it
from told you it was already at. Yes, therefore the
roadworthy certificate was in that way with nothing worthless.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Yeah, so it was ten thousand to start with. Yeah,
and then yeah it cost us. It's cost us another
five thousand to fix everything in the engine, which is
what is classed under the roadworthy Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Look, it is an a fence under the Fair Trading
Act to sell a car with an improperly prepared roadworthy
certificate right and finds it up to I think it's
two hundred and twenty thousand dollars can apply? Wow, So
you can make a complaint to the Transport Department.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
We've done that.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Okay, what did they say?
Speaker 4 (05:02):
They said that they wouldn't let us know the outcome
because it's confidential.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Yeah, okay, Well, how do you get compensation if you don't.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Get this is where we're at.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
So Transport tell you that their inquiries are still ongoing
or that their matter with them has been resolved.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
They didn't. They just when I put in the complaint,
they just sent the email back to say that they
would look into it, but there would be no other
there would be no either communication. Yeah, how do you
get there?
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Yeah, that's very that's.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Not saying thanks for dogin them and if we can,
we'll find them. But you're not getting any of it.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Yeah, yeah, So what.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Do they do?
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Bratt?
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Well, you can write it's a letter of demand to
this person and say to them, listen, you you you yeah,
you fraudulently completed a road worthy certificate. We purchased a
car from you in good faith, and as we've done all.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
That on a legal letter, not on a llegal letter.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
No, it might be worth a little upgrade, you reckon, Brett, Yeah,
to upgrade it to a legal.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Letter, absolutely, and just put him on not just and
say look, we demand say, fifteen thousand dollars in full
and final settlement of our claim for damage as we've
suffered as a consequence of relying on your dodgy roadworth
the certificate and if you don't pay us this money,
further proceedings will issue in fourteen days.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
The only question I was going to ask that lawyer
was about QUEUCAT.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
So what's q CAT Brett?
Speaker 1 (06:34):
It's the Queensland Civil Administrative Tribunal KIP right, and that's
a tribunal that's set up to hear small claims and
civil disputes. Civil is an area of law that means
basically not criminal, So argument's about money typically and it's
not a costs jurisdiction and generally speaking, they don't allow
(06:56):
lawyers in there unless both parties agree, So that's probably
a good place to start.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
So is it like judge duty without the cameras? That's
what it sounds like.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Pretty much pretty much.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
It could be fun, yea, Ellie.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Is this worth it for you?
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Look, I think it's something that we will pursue only
just for the fact that I'd like a little bit
of justice. Yeah, and I'm kind of like a dog
with a bone.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah, we can see that.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
That's good, right, Like some people need to be held accountable.
And you have no idea how many times this particular
person who has done this before.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
Definitely, and no one.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Has gone to this great length. I know if it
was me, I would have given up ages ago. Yes, okay,
so the is not important, but the fact that you're
right is what needs to be proven.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
That's right, and I don't want him doing it again,
you know, like.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
You protecting other people in the future. Fair enough.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Thanks Ellie, thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
You're listening to the Robin and Kid podcast.
You're listening to the Robin and Jeff podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
A Robin and Keep in the morning.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
As a lawyer, Ellie had a burkedout Ellie, Hi, how
are you great?
Speaker 4 (00:16):
Now?
Speaker 3 (00:17):
You've got a question for our lawyer.
Speaker 4 (00:18):
So we bought a car privately from somebody and we
bought it with a road worthy When we took that
car to our mechanics to just have a service done,
they told us that the car should never have actually
passed a roadworthy in the first place. We then got
(00:39):
in touch with the guy who had done the roadworthy
He sort of he sort of said that, you know,
every mechanic is different in how they class are roadworthy.
But we took it back to him and he said
he would have a look at it and fixed thing
to make it roadworthy. Once he did that, we asked
him for a roadworthy certificate all the list of things
(01:03):
that he had done to make it so that it
was actually a roadworthy car, which he refused to give us. Obviously,
when you're buying a car privately, you take these risks.
And yeah, so look, we ended up taking it to
a specialist mechanic and it cost us another five thousand
(01:25):
dollars to get it picked. Yeah, on top of the
purchase price. So really my question is are we able
to get compensation from the road worthy person for that
five thousand dollars because obviously if he had never given
it a roadworthy in the first place, it would never
(01:47):
have been for sale, you know what I mean, So
it wouldn't have bought it.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Yeah. That's an interesting one because it is law in
Queensland you've got to have a roadworthy certificate in order
to sell your car. But whether or not that means
it's got to be a good car, I don't know.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
It doesn't have to be a good car, but you
would think the road worthy would have to be at
least legit.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Can I ask how much the original price was for
the car?
Speaker 4 (02:11):
Ten thousand?
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Wow? Okay, so fifty of the cost again yeah, so.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
Then another five thousand on top, which is now fifteen
thousand dollars car, which was what we bought for our daughter.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
And could you sell it for that now?
Speaker 4 (02:27):
I don't know, Well, probably not.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Yeah, it's probably burnt money. You'd reckon like it's read.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
I mean, we probably lose money on it. And now
that now that the engine, you know, the whole engine's
been redone. Hopefully there's nothing going to go wrong with
it again, and we just have to sort of deal
with that. But I just don't know how many other
(02:53):
people he's doing this too.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yeah, because I know and if we are a lot
of the time, you know, people always say go to
a mechanic before you buy it. Obviously, getime to check it.
But you would think the road worthy, I mean, if
it's worthy of being on the road, it should be
worth something. But who knows.
Speaker 4 (03:08):
Let's yeah, and we did talk for a mechanic before
we bought it, and they said, look, look for this,
look for that, and we did and under the hood
was completely clean and we couldn't see any leaks or anything.
And the car DROs fine. You're kind of doing it
in good faith, yeap.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Yeah, and that's possibly where the problem started. Let's ask
Brett from RMO Law and see what he says. Ellie
if Bakdell. Hey, Hello, we've got Brett Trafford here from
RMO Law, So can you just quickly explain exactly what's happened.
Speaker 4 (03:42):
We bought a secondhand car, obviously with a road worthy
which was done like two days before we purchased it.
We took our car to a mechanic they told us
it should never have passed a road worthy took it
back to the original road worthy person for him to
fix everything that our mechanics has said wasn't right with it,
took it to a specialist mechanic and cost us five
(04:04):
thousand dollars extra to make it roadworthy and driveable. Are
we able to get any compensation from the person who
had done the roadworthy.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
So you spent five thousand dollars to bring the car
up to the standard that the person you bought it
from told you it was already at. Yes, therefore the
roadworthy certificate was in that way with nothing worthless.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Yeah, so it was ten thousand to start with. Yeah,
and then yeah it cost us. It's cost us another
five thousand to fix everything in the engine, which is
what is classed under the roadworthy Yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Look, it is an a fence under the Fair Trading
Act to sell a car with an improperly prepared roadworthy
certificate right and finds it up to I think it's
two hundred and twenty thousand dollars can apply? Wow, So
you can make a complaint to the Transport Department.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
We've done that.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Okay, what did they say?
Speaker 4 (05:02):
They said that they wouldn't let us know the outcome
because it's confidential.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Yeah, okay, Well, how do you get compensation if you don't.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Get this is where we're at.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
So Transport tell you that their inquiries are still ongoing
or that their matter with them has been resolved.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
They didn't. They just when I put in the complaint,
they just sent the email back to say that they
would look into it, but there would be no other
there would be no either communication. Yeah, how do you
get there?
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Yeah, that's very that's.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
Not saying thanks for dogin them and if we can,
we'll find them. But you're not getting any of it.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Yeah, yeah, So what.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Do they do?
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Bratt?
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Well, you can write it's a letter of demand to
this person and say to them, listen, you you you yeah,
you fraudulently completed a road worthy certificate. We purchased a
car from you in good faith, and as we've done all.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
That on a legal letter, not on a llegal letter.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
No, it might be worth a little upgrade, you reckon, Brett, Yeah,
to upgrade it to a legal.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Letter, absolutely, and just put him on not just and
say look, we demand say, fifteen thousand dollars in full
and final settlement of our claim for damage as we've
suffered as a consequence of relying on your dodgy roadworth
the certificate and if you don't pay us this money,
further proceedings will issue in fourteen days.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
The only question I was going to ask that lawyer
was about QUEUCAT.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
So what's q CAT Brett?
Speaker 1 (06:34):
It's the Queensland Civil Administrative Tribunal KIP right, and that's
a tribunal that's set up to hear small claims and
civil disputes. Civil is an area of law that means
basically not criminal, So argument's about money typically and it's
not a costs jurisdiction and generally speaking, they don't allow
(06:56):
lawyers in there unless both parties agree, So that's probably
a good place to start.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
So is it like judge duty without the cameras? That's
what it sounds like.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Pretty much pretty much.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
It could be fun, yea, Ellie.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
Is this worth it for you?
Speaker 4 (07:10):
Look, I think it's something that we will pursue only
just for the fact that I'd like a little bit
of justice. Yeah, and I'm kind of like a dog
with a bone.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Yeah, we can see that.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
That's good, right, Like some people need to be held accountable.
And you have no idea how many times this particular
person who has done this before.
Speaker 4 (07:31):
Definitely, and no one.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Has gone to this great length. I know if it
was me, I would have given up ages ago. Yes, okay,
so the is not important, but the fact that you're
right is what needs to be proven.
Speaker 4 (07:44):
That's right, and I don't want him doing it again,
you know, like.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
You protecting other people in the future. Fair enough.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Thanks Ellie, thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
You're listening to the Robin and Kid podcast.
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