Licensed dealers importing dodgy cars

By GREGG WYCHERLEY and NZPA

Customs officials are intercepting about 10 dodgy cars a week, most of them imported by licensed dealers, says Acting Customs Minister Jim Anderton.

Dealers had complained to the Government about shady practices among illegal importers but the figures showed that licensed operators were not blameless, he said.

Licensed car dealers have demanded that the Government crack down on blackmarket used-car traders - including a ban on anyone apart from licensed dealers importing cars for sale.

The Independent Motor Vehicle Dealers' Association yesterday placed full-page ads in two Sunday newspapers criticising the Government for not doing enough to stop blackmarket traders selling imported cars illegally.

The ads claim that the Government is not enforcing laws to stop the illegal sales, estimated at 55,000 in the last year.

But Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton, in his Customs role, said dealers were not blameless.

"Customs is currently intercepting about 10 dodgy cars a week. The majority of importers in those interceptions are licensed dealers.

"Dealers should be careful about blaming everyone but themselves for what they call rip-offs and shady practices," said Mr Anderton.

"People who live in glasshouses shouldn't throw stones."

The ads were a waste of money, he said.

"We're doing everything that's reasonable. Why are they taking out a full-page advertisement attacking the Government?

"It strikes me it either has some political motivation or it's very misplaced and misjudged."

Mr Anderton said some of the association's concerns were valid but the Government was already acting to bring in new laws to deal with the problem.

A discussion document, released in January, proposes replacing the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act with a new act focusing more generally on all vehicle sales, other than private sales.

A new Motor Vehicle Dealer Disputes tribunal was also proposed.

It would cover disputes under the Consumer Guarantees Act and the Fair Trading Act and would not be limited to vehicles sold by licensed dealers.

Motor vehicle dealers would have to meet strict criteria for registration under the new proposals, including a clean sheet on convictions for dishonesty, fraud and odometer tampering.

A list of people banned from any involvement in the trade was also proposed.

Association chief executive David Lynn said he backed the Government initiatives but asked why the law as it stood could not be enforced immediately.

He urged the Government to move now to ban people from importing cars unless they could prove that the vehicles would not be sold illegally on the blackmarket.

"We have legislation dating back to 1975 which governs the policing of unlicensed or illegal trading.

"It isn't being enforced and we can't wait. We want action now to save our dealers, a lot of whom are going to the wall because they can't compete."