Disputes Tribunal orders refund of $6000 for car repairs that didn’t fix the problem

The man was charged over $6000 for what was actually just a $147 fix. Photo / 123rf

A man who was charged nearly $7000 to repair his motorhome, only for it to still not work, has won the money back from a dealership after they misdiagnosed the problem.

Instead, an auto electrician managed to fix the problem for just $147.

Unhappy with spending thousands on redundant repairs, the owner of the motorhome took the dealership to the Disputes Tribunal to reclaim the cost of the repairs they recommended would fix the problem.

According to a recently released ruling from the tribunal, in which all names were redacted, the man had trouble with his motorhome on the road and had it towed to a depot that sells the vehicle in New Zealand. He was quoted $11,000 for a new high-pressure fuel pump and glow plugs needed to fix it.

Instead, the owner had the motorhome towed back to where he lived and to a different mechanic who completed the repairs, as diagnosed by the first mechanic, for $6949.

But the repair didn’t work. Subsequently, the fault was identified as an electrical problem that was fixed by an auto electrician for just $147.

The man then took the first car dealer who diagnosed the problem to the tribunal, on the basis that the mechanic who carried out the repairs was merely following the advice of the dealer.

He told the tribunal that the mechanic should have been able to rely on the diagnosis from the dealer’s specialists.

The owner of the motorhome said the Motor Trade Association (MTA) told him there was no industry standard about a mechanic taking another repairer’s diagnosis at face value.

He also spoke to three other mechanics who told him the same thing, and that they would have also relied on the specialist’s diagnosis in the same situation.

A lawyer for the dealer accepted that the diagnosis was incorrect, and if they had been the ones to carry out the repairs, then there would have been no charge for the work if it hadn’t fixed the issue.

However, they were also of the view that the mechanic who carried out the repairs should have done his own diagnosis first, rather than relying on theirs.

The dealer also asked for clarity from the MTA about whose responsibility the diagnostic assessment was and said their response was “wishy washy” and inconclusive.

Tribunal referee Carolyn Murphy said the evidence showed there was no widely accepted practice in the motor trade industry about whether or not a repairer should rely on another’s diagnosis.

“It is completely foreseeable that if another repairer relied on this incorrect diagnosis, the work specified as being required to fix the problem would be unnecessary,” Murphy said.

“Because there is no widely accepted practice in the industry and this diagnostic report was completed by a [the dealer], I find it was acceptable practice that [mechanic] could and did rely on [the dealer’s] diagnosis.”

Murphy said that the owner of the motorhome was entitled to be compensated for the unnecessary work completed by the mechanic.

However, she ordered the dealer to pay that, not the mechanic who did the repairs.

In total Murphy ordered that the man be refunded $5959, which accounted for his total minus 20% because his motorhome had been upgraded with new parts during the repairs.

A spokesperson for MTA said it couldn’t comment on this specific case, and said that while there was no standard process for diagnostic responsibility, it suggested repairers undertake their own diagnosis rather than rely on a previous one.

MTA offers a mediation service to help MTA members and customers resolve disputes, however when parties are unable to reach a resolution, it suggests they take their case to the Disputes Tribunal.

Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū, covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.