Introduction
Buying a used car can provide you excellent value for money. However, things always don’t turn out that way and you can end up being cheated also. You should get a copy of a car’s detailed history report from professionals like REVS Check. You can get this car history report in NSW for the car you are planning to buy by sharing the VIN number or registration number and by paying a nominal fee. This will help you to make informed buying decisions and ensure you don’t buy a lemon. The current article provides insights into lemon laws protection in Australia.
What is Lemon Law?
Lemon laws are the laws that are designed to protect car buyers who end up buying a lemon car- a poorly built or defective car. Lemon laws are meant to provide protection to you if you have bought a car that turned out to be dud. Countries worldwide have strong lemon laws that provide greater confidence to car buyers. The U.S. has strict lemon laws that provide significant protection to car buyers. These laws vary from state to state. California has clearly defined lemon laws which state that a new vehicle is protected under the state’s lemon laws for the duration of the warranty period. This ensures that once the manufacturer has made all reasonable attempts to repair the car, they will have to replace it with a new car or refund the total cost incurred by the buyer in purchasing the car.
Need for Lemon Laws in Australia
While buying a car should be a pleasant and exciting experience, it turns out to be a nightmare for many Australians. Surveys conducted in Australia covering new car buyers from 2011 to 2016 reveal that 66% of them reported mechanical problems in the car within the first 5 years of purchase. 14% of these respondents further revealed that the problems were so serious that they severely affected the car’s use and, in some cases, left it inoperable. The data establishes the fact that nearly 14% of all new cars purchased in Australia can turn out to be lemons. Considering the amount which you pay for buying a car, this data is just not acceptable.
This failure rate necessitates having strong lemon laws in Australia for safeguarding the buyers. Strong lemon laws will provide the necessary peace of mind to car buyers before spending a considerable part of their savings in buying a car.
Lemon Law Status in Australia
Queensland will become the first Australian state to have lemon laws in place. The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) will now handle claims of up to $100,000, which is considerably more than the earlier limit of $25,000. Used cars less than 10 years old and have been used for less than 160,000 Kms are covered under an additional statutory warranty of 3 months or 5000Km. Cars older than 10 years are covered for additional statutory warranty of 1 month or 1000Km. The passing of lemon laws will mean that you will be empowered to take legal action against sellers who have sold you a faulty car.
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