I bought a 2001 MERCEDES kompressor coupe from Trade Prestige in south Melbourne on 20th December 2017. The car was immaculate for its age on the outside and on 10 min test drive it seemed to be fine mechanically. Got back to the dealership and told Trade Prestige I would like the car but subject to an inspection. They said "don't worry. You won't need one as it's just recently been serviced". Took his word for it ( shouldn't have). I also found it enticing that the car came with 6 months rego on it as per the advert. Thought I had a bargain.
Not long after I bought the car the sun roof/moon roof stopped working (it eventually fixed itself), the brakes started to have problems and the standard light on the car didn't work (and probably didn't prior to me buying it according to my mechanic) and the Exhaust Gas Recirculation became inefficient causing the car to lose power and therefore petrol too. Since then the keyless entry battery died too. Further, On April 21st I got notification of an unregistered vehicle fine ($800). I was shocked as the 6 months wasn't up - still a few more months left. Contacted Vicroads and they said Trade Prestige only paid for 3 months. Contacted Trade Prestige about the rego/fine and mechanical issues and they denied everything and tried to put the blame on me and the age of the car. Some of the things above should've been fixed as part of the service and RWC before selling which they clearly didn't do. They also lied about the registration and said it was never advertised for 6 months. They haven't been able to prove otherwise as we went through a mediation type process with Australia consumer affairs (who said they broke AUstralia Consumer Law section 18 - misleading and deceptive conduct). However Trade Prestige was able to worm their way out of it by showing ACA a copy of the car ad with rego missing and a made up spreadsheet showing rego date (not the original ad which I state showed the 6 months). Given that ACA did not conduct a full and proper investigation of the facts I am now going to take Trade Prestige to VCAT where I hope justice will be served. I now have the original car ad so can demonstrate my case white strongly.
Be wary of Trade Prestige. I recommend not using them at all bc they're dishonest and deflect blame when something goes wrong. Do your homework bc there are way better (and ethical) dealerships out there. read more