Do Australia’s Lemon Laws Provide Protection When Buying Skoda Used Cars?

Most people give very little thought to the lemon laws in this country. These laws are in place to provide protection if you’ve bought a defective or poorly build vehicle. After all, most of us avoid cheap brands and do our research. Besides, modern vehicles are designed and engineered with precision and rigorously tested, so what can go wrong? Unfortunately, there are no guarantees, and you may find yourself buying a lemon, so are you protected?

The Extent of the Problem:

Choice conducted a major survey between 2011 and 2016. 1505 new car buyers from around the country were polled, and the survey team discovered 66 percent of drivers reported mechanical problems in the first five years ownership. While many of these related to minor and easily corrected issues, 14 percent reported major problems that left the car unusable or "seriously impaired" the operation of the vehicle.

This means that 14 of every 100 new cars have serious problems and this adds up 155,000 serious vehicle issues out of the 1.1 million cars sold here in 2016.

The Lemon Laws:

Unlike many countries in the world, Australia doesn’t actually have concrete laws to protect car buyers. There are regulations that apply to different states and territories, but campaigners are pushing for nationally applied rules to cover the entire country.

Currently, drivers need to rely on the Australian Consumer Laws. These were upgraded back in 2011 and have recently been reviewed again, but critics argue that these rules don’t go far enough. There is a pretty simple idea behind the ACLs; the consumer can demand a refund if a major failure is identified. Unfortunately, there is a grey area on what actually constitutes a major failure. This varies from a situation where a reasonable consumer would not have made the purchase if they had knowledge of the full extent of the problems to the vehicle significantly differing from the sample, demonstration model or description.

What About Used Skoda Cars?

Although the ACLs don’t directly refer to used vehicles, there are "Dealer Guarantees" that can act as a used car warranty. When buying Skoda used cars, you need to be aware that the statutory warranty covering your purchase will be limited to three months or 5,000 kilometres, whichever occurs first. However, there are some caveats; the vehicle should be less than 10 years old at purchase with less than 160,000 kilometres on the clock. This is far less generous compared to the new car dealer laws which provide 12 months or 20,0000 kilometres if there are less than 15,000 kilometres on the clock at purchase.

For the greatest protection when buying Skoda used cars, you should choose a reputable dealer. We offer a range of vehicles including Skoda used models and you will find our sales team ready to answer any queries or questions.

Daniel Skoda is a writer across several reputed industrial web posts. He writes for many online journals and portals that are related to Perth City Skoda.