What are my rights!!!!

[klugerfam]

Hi everyone.. any help would be appreciated. We bought a 2010 Toyota Kluger about 3 months ago from a reputable car dealership. We initially went there looking for a 4x4. The salesman convinced us that the Kluger was very family friendly and safe and that it was an AWD would be efficient for what we wanted to do with our driving. It's a great car, don't get me wrong BUT!!!!! We have just found out that it isn't an AWD at all. It's a Kluger Altitude 2WD. Do we have any legal rights here?? Our contract states that it is an AWD

Thanks in advance

[CROCO]

Hi mate welcome to the forum, mate what I would do first is go and approach the dealer with the contract or better still find the salesman that sold you the kluger and see what there got to say about the issue, if the salesman said it was awd and its only 2wd, I think you got some legal right,you should be intilted some sort of refund because theres 4 or 5 thousand dollar difference beetween the two, especialy if it states on the contract awd, the salesman should beable to tell the difference between the two, if its awd there is a little badge below the v6 vvti badge saying awd,and inside the theres a DAC button near the centre consol, so the salesman at fault,not you, if the sales people cant tell the difference between the two ,they should be selling them fullstop.

[klugerfam]

Thank you for the comments Croco! We are visiting the car dealer today. I'll let you know the outcome.

[adizz131]

What did the dealer say?

[wanna.spoon]

did they say it was 4WD or did you just assume it was 4WD???

scenario changes dramatically depending on whether they told you or not...

[Steven]

If it's in the contract then that gives your word a lot of weight when you claim that's what you were told.

AWD is different from 4WD in that it's normally full time, which means it's quite plausible for a buyer to claim they didn't notice it was actually just a regular 2wd (ie no obvious 4x4 shifter near the gearstick).

The fact is that they've misrepresented the vehicle and sold it to you on false terms. This would normally invalidate the contract, but that usually requires a court or tribunal to happen. Approaching any fair trading offices would result in them acting as a mediator for you but there is a minimal chance they'd actually take any action (they're mostly useless)

The dealer has the option of

a) refunding the market value difference between models to you (only if you agree to that btw)

B) replacing the vehicle with one of which you were led to believe you were purchasing

c) refund you and take back the vehicle

or

d) work out another arrangement that BOTH parties agree to (they can't dictate to you).

Although I said fair trading are useless, they do however provide useful advice and are worth talking to. Even if you have no luck talking/mediating with the dealership, any court or tribunal will want to see you have at least tried before they hear your matter.

It's also strongly recommended to cease driving the vehicle whilst the matter is being sorted out.

If you've spoken to the dealer, what did they say?

[klugerfam]

Hi everyone and thank you for your responses. I have posted this in 2 different parts of the forum so I’m directing the other people who have replied to this conversation so I can answer all your questions.

Yes it is definitely a 2wd.. Yes it does say in our contract that it is an AWD

Yes the identification numbers on the contract are the same as the ones on the car

It was a genuine although stupid mistake by the car yard!

We purchased this car from a Toyota dealer so maybe they need to review their salesmen.

In saying that they have been extremely helpful and apologetic.

We have been given the option of a replacement AWD or a refund of the entire purchase or if we decide to keep the car.. the money difference between the 2 models refunded.

Couldn’t really ask for more I guess!!!!

Thanks again for all your advice

[Hikaru Sorano]

I was following your story and I was waiting you tell us what happened! Glad to hear everything was sorted out. What will you choose???

Cheers

AB

[CROCO]

Hi everyone and thank you for your responses. I have posted this in 2 different parts of the forum so I’m directing the other people who have replied to this conversation so I can answer all your questions.

Yes it is definitely a 2wd.. Yes it does say in our contract that it is an AWD

Yes the identification numbers on the contract are the same as the ones on the car

It was a genuine although stupid mistake by the car yard!

We purchased this car from a Toyota dealer so maybe they need to review their salesmen.

In saying that they have been extremely helpful and apologetic.

We have been given the option of a replacement AWD or a refund of the entire purchase or if we decide to keep the car.. the money difference between the 2 models refunded.

Couldn’t really ask for more I guess!!!!

Thanks again for all your advice

Im glad mate they worked somthing out for you, I quess its a honest mistake and they have taken responsibility for ,which I admirer there honesty, that shows there customer loyality, I wouldnt like to be the salesman though, I bet they got there butt kicked, but hopefully now mate you can get the outcome you were after, keep us posted.

[Rumz]

Grab the cash refund, there's awsome deals going around at the moment on new cars, you might only have to pay a bit more and you'll be driving around in a 2012 Kluger!!!

[Ronnyboy]

That's a very good outcome. congrats :)