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The contract to buy the vehicle is between
you and the seller. In most cases, the operator merely provides a
place for sales to take place.
Although many vehicles sold at car markets
are offered for sale by private sellers, traders may also sell
through car markets
What to check
Trader registration
All car market operators (includes car fair and “display for
sale” operators) must be registered as motor vehicle traders. All
motor vehicle traders selling through car markets must also be
registered.
Registered motor vehicle traders will have a certificate with
their trader number on it and the date their registration expires.
You can ask to see this certificate. We have developed an
example registration certificate so vehicle buyers can see what
it should look like. (The certificate is a PDF file - 90kbs.
Instructions for
obtaining the Adobe Acrobat viewer).
You can check whether a car market operator is registered by
visiting the Motor
Vehicle Traders Register or phone 0508 MOTOR TRADERS (0508 668
678). This service is free.
You can also check the register for a list of people who have
been banned from registering as a motor vehicle trader.
If a car market operator is not registered, you can also report
this to the Motor Vehicle Traders Registrar by completing the
complaint form available online at the
Motor Vehicle Traders
Register website. Car market operators who are not registered
can be fined up to $200,000.
Be aware
It is important to check whether the seller is a trader or a
private person. Your legal rights and remedies will change depending
on what type of seller you purchased your vehicle from.
Consumer Information Notice
Private sales
Car market operators must take reasonable steps to make sure that
private sellers attach a Consumer Information Notice to the vehicles
they display for sale.
Sales by motor vehicle traders
Registered motor vehicle dealers who sell vehicles at car markets
must attach Consumer Information Notices to these vehicles. They
must also get a written acknowledgement from you that you received a
copy of the Consumer Information Notice. This acknowledgement must
happen as soon as is practical after the sale. The motor vehicle
trader’s registration number must be listed on the Consumer
Information Notice.
Read the Consumer Information Notice carefully - it contains
important information about the vehicle you are buying.
If car market operators do not take reasonable steps to make sure
that sellers attach the Consumer Information Notice, they could be
in breach of the Motor Vehicle Sales Act and may be subject to
prosecution.
If the Consumer Information Notice is missing, inaccurate, not
completed or misleading you can report this to the
Commerce Commission.
Quality of the vehicle
Private sales
The Consumer Guarantees Act does not apply to vehicles sold by a
private person at a car market. This means that there are no legal
guarantees about quality with this type of sale. We recommend you
get an independent mechanical check before you buy, because it may
be hard to track down the seller to fix things after you have bought
the vehicle.
Sales by motor vehicle traders
The Consumer Guarantees Act does apply to vehicles sold by
registered motor vehicle traders at a car market. This means that
you may be entitled to a remedy if the vehicle is faulty. But we
recommend getting an independent mechanical check before deciding
whether to purchase the vehicle. If there are problems, you can then
ask the trader to fix them before the sale is finalised, or choose
not to go ahead with the purchase.
Money owing on the vehicle
Private sales
Check that the vehicle does not have any money owing on it before
you buy. If the vehicle has money owing on it by previous owners it
may be repossessed from you by a finance company. See
Checking if Money is Owed for
more information.
Sales by registered motor vehicle traders
Check the Consumer Information Notice for a statement about any
security interest on the vehicle. If there is no such statement, you
buy it free from any prior security interest. This means that the
vehicle cannot be repossessed from you. This protection does not
apply to private sales.
If things go wrong - your legal
protections
Private sales
The Contractual Remedies Act gives you some protection if you can
show that:
- you were persuaded to buy the vehicle by what the seller said, and
- what the seller said was untrue, and
- the seller’s false statements have caused you to lose money - eg,
by having to pay to repair the engine when the seller told you it
was in excellent condition.
Compensation from the seller would be based on the difference
between what the vehicle is actually worth and what it would have
been worth if the seller’s statements about the vehicle had been
true.
Take time to find out all you can about the vehicle before you
buy, as it may be hard to track down the seller to fix things after
you have bought the vehicle. We recommend getting independent
vehicle information and mechanical checks before you buy rather than
relying on what the seller tells you about the vehicle. For more
information see the sections on
Checking whether money is owed and
Checking if the vehicle is stolen.
For more information on buying from a private seller see
Buying Second-hand Goods.
Sales by motor vehicle traders
If the seller of the vehicle is a registered motor vehicle trader
the legal protections under the Consumer Guarantees Act and
Fair Trading Act will
apply.
Be aware
The legal protections under the Consumer Guarantees Act and Fair
Trading Act also apply to sales to consumers by unregistered motor
vehicle traders.
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