warranty not covered by " abnormal use"

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Author Topic: warranty not covered by " abnormal use"  (Read 2735 times)

Offline lloyd88

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warranty not covered by " abnormal use"
« on: December 06, 2022, 01:53:50 pm »
Hey guys, im looking for some advice
so i recently purchased a 2018 ford mustang from the auctions with 21,000km it had the gearbox and clutch was removed in the boot and you could see the clutch was burnt out one side, car still had original tyres no rips or rubber under the wheels arches ect the car was very clean inside and out stil smelt like new inside to, the car has warranty until november 2023, the mustang had a clear title no accident history/ stole recovered etc. i purchased a genuine ford clutch flywheel and slave cylinder had it fitted by a mechanic, recently i noticed it grinds going into 3rd gear when up and down shifting. i could tell it was the synchro was buggered, after a quick google i saw its a very common fault. i took it to ford they agreed the synchro was buggered the oil was full of metal frakes and the gearbox would need replacing and would contact me when the gearbox arrived, i called them a few times and they kept on stalling until i was adveturaly told that its not covered by warranty because it had a red Flag on it as it was in a accident. i then took it up with ford australia where i was stalled for 5 weeks and had to provide the invoice where i purchased the vehicle i even got photos of the car at the auctions to show that it wasn't in any accident. i ended up hearing from the "customer experience operations supervisor" who asked we a series of questions on who installed the gearbox was it calibrated, how did i know it was a genuine ford gearbox etc we got cut off he returned my call the following day where he produced to tell me the car had had a hard life and i pushed to find out more he then proceeded to tell me that the car was stolen and recovered, but that aside the car has had a hard life i asked what makes him think that he said he cant tell me that, i said i am the owner of the car i have a right to know he responded with that it is privileged information. i then asked if it it is stolen recovered why wasn't it on the REVS check/report he said i would have to take it up with them. the following day i received a email stating  "investigations and testing have shown that the transmission concern has been caused by Abnormal use" and they won't be covering the it.

i went to get incontact with a automotive abusman but we don't have one, i then got into contact with fair trading who then handballed me to lawaccess who then handballed me to legal aid. i was wondering if anyone else has had this problem or if anyone has any suggestions on how to fight this

thanks in advance

Offline jiffy

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Re: warranty not covered by " abnormal use"
« Reply #1 on: December 06, 2022, 05:36:30 pm »
While I don't have any experience with this particular problem, or with warranty claims in general, the fact that it had a burned-out clutch and was apart when purchased would make me think that something had happened to it - if the clutch was shot, why was it apart and not fixed under warranty? If it was caused during the theft - why wasn't it fixed under insurance? If it was stolen/recovered, why wasn't it recorded on the REVS check? - so I would be starting there.

Find out if it indeed has been stolen, and if it has it should be on the REVS check, and I bet they carry insurance for missing situations like this one. That would be your most likely course of redress.
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Offline Aussie-67

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Re: warranty not covered by " abnormal use"
« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2022, 09:14:44 pm »
A REVs check won't tell you any history on the car.  It's meant to tell you if it's under finance.

Try the small claims tribunal or ACCC. 

Offline lloyd88

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Re: warranty not covered by " abnormal use"
« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2022, 09:44:51 pm »
i had a mate that worked at ford he could see ford had applied to remove the exhaust gear box etc, i was told by the auction house it was a repo so what i we could work out it went in to have the clutch repaired and that is where they were able to find it to repo it

it was actually a PPSR check i just used the term revs check as a easy reference sorry

Offline Aussie-67

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Re: warranty not covered by " abnormal use"
« Reply #4 on: December 06, 2022, 10:02:09 pm »
Consumer law requires manufacturers to provide a reasonable design life for components.  In this case should be around 5 years.  The issue you have is not being in a position to verify if the component suffered abuse.  In the past I successfully applied for and had an air-conditioner compressor replaced on this basis.

Still worth threatening to take the matter to small claims or the ACCC.


BtW PPRS is a ok so a security/ finance register.
« Last Edit: December 06, 2022, 10:20:50 pm by Aussiecv8 »

Offline lloyd88

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Re: warranty not covered by " abnormal use"
« Reply #5 on: December 06, 2022, 10:15:03 pm »
thank you! i will give that a try :)