This extract is from
the
Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission
website
Car need a service?
It’s time to service your car. Where do
you turn? Someone
has told you that if you don’t return to
either the business
where you bought the car or an authorised
agent of that
business, your warranty will be void. Is
that true?
Can you get your car serviced by someone
other than the
business or an authorised agent of the
business that sold the
car without voiding the warranty? The
short answer is ‘yes’.
Though there are some conditions:
New vehicle warranty
Where a problem arises with the vehicle
that is covered
under the warranty, the vehicle should be
taken to the dealer
for repair. These repairs should be done
free of charge under
the warranty.
New and used vehicle servicing
In relation to general servicing, motor
vehicle dealers are
entitled to insist that any servicing
performed on cars they
sell is carried out by qualified staff,
according to the
manufacturer’s specifications, and using
genuine or
appropriate quality
parts where
required. Provided these
conditions are met,
regardless of where you choose to get
your car serviced, your
warranty will remain intact. So shop
smart and shop around.
Qualified staff
Qualified staff is a party or parties,
other than an ‘authorised
dealer’, who is capable of performing car
servicing. Some
servicing venues display qualification
certificates, but if
you’re not sure the staff are qualified,
just ask.
Manufacturer’s specifications
If an independent agent implies that it
can perform general
car servicing to manufacturers’
specifications and does not
perform that function satisfactorily, then
you have rights and
remedies against the agent regardless of
whether the agent
has factory qualifications or not.
Genuine or appropriate quality parts
The issue here is not who manufactured the
part/s, it is
whether the part/s are fit or appropriate
for the purpose
intended. If a part is non-genuine, but is
interchangeable
with the genuine part, it could be seen as
being fit or
appropriate for the purpose and would
therefore not void the
manufacturer’s warranty. However, it must
also be noted
that should the part/s installed fail or
not perform
satisfactorily, the consumer then has
rights against the fitter
and/or manufacturer of those replacement
parts. If the nongenuine
part fails, and causes some other damage
to the
vehicle, the dealer and vehicle
manufacturer will not be
liable for damage caused by the failure of
that part.
Thus, provided consumers do research and
ensure that
wherever they take a vehicle for
servicing, the staff are
qualified and all other provisions above
are met, the
warranty will be safely intact for the
warranty period.
I negotiated an express warranty when I
got my new car.
Does this cover me further?
Express warranties are usually specified
under the agreement
with the dealer; it might state a specific
time period,
maximum liability and limitations. Express
warranties
operate in addition to statutory
warranties, and cannot
restrict the provisions of the statutory
warranty which is
implied in every single consumer sale.
Under a statutory warranty, g
oods
must meet a basic level of
quality and do their job properly, bearing in mind their
price
and the way they are described. Goods, and
services
performed, must last for a reasonable time
regardless of any
extended warranty period, remembering that
what is
reasonable depends on the price paid and
the type of product.
You should expect your new car to run
smoothly for some
time without requiring any repairs. If,
however, your new car
has a manufacturing fault, then under your
statutory
warranty, you should expect the problem to
be fixed by the
supplier or manufacturer free of charge
regardless of any
express warranty. Statutory rights apply
whether the goods
are new, ‘seconds’ or second-hand.
For example, the dealer may provide an
express warranty for
one year or 20 000 kilometres, which
includes free
scheduled servicing and parts. The free
servicing and parts is
an added extra and it is up to you to
decide if it is worth
paying extra for.
Generally dealers will be able to place
certain conditions on
the express warranty given to buyers. A
consumer
may
void
their expressed warranty
if, for example, the car is fitted with
non-genuine parts. However, the statutory
warranties will
continue to apply unless the service of
the independent
mechanic or the fitting of the
non-authorised part caused the
fault.
Dealers are not permitted to limit their
obligations under the
warranty and refund provisions of the TPA
or fair trading
legislation, or make any representations
to this effect, e.g.
that the warranty is void if the vehicle
is not serviced by the
dealer or its agent.
You are effectively covered by both
warranties. The express
warranty may offer you some further cover
above and
beyond the cover you have under the
statutory warranty.
Make sure you do your research and ask
exactly what the
express warranty will cover. If it doesn’t
cover anything that
isn’t already covered in your statutory
warranty, there is no
point handing over the extra cash. For
further information,
see
Warranties and Refunds.
