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Hi There!
Three weeks ago I purchased a car via private sale for a “2006” model, as stated on all documentation including the vehicle registration and AA Vehicle report etc. When the new certificate of registration arrived in the mail from the NZTA it stated that the vehicle was actually first registered in Japan in 2002 (4 years earlier). After some investigation it was discovered that “2006” was an error made by the vehicle compliance company – XX in Auckland, (somehow in conjunction with the AA??). The vehicle was first sold in NZ in August last year through XX Actions Auckland to the owner I just purchased the car off, (who now lives overseas). I struggle to see that on top of this error how XX Auctions could also buy/import a car from Japan and yet still sell it incorrectly as a 2006 model year too. The automobile manufacturer continued production of my model from 2001 to 2008 so there was nothing unusual about the advertised year of first registration to me. I have not tried to contact the seller overseas yet but I would believe that he would also have been unaware of its true age due to all the documentation supporting a later year. After owning the car for a week I became extremely disappointed with it having suspicions of its usage with the high level of flaking paint in some parts and subtle sun damage, plus other mechanical concerns for such a ‘new’ car (suspension/transmission). With the parties mentioned above is there a possibility of claiming compensation from them for this error? If so, how would you work out how much? The LMVD - XX Auctions have known about my complaint for two weeks and it will be another two weeks before their Buyer returns to the office to investigate the problem, mean while it is making it increasingly difficult to attempt to contact the seller overseas with each passing day.
Many thanks and appreciate your time on this one!!
I don't understand how the license label on the windscreen can say 2006 when the registration document says 2002, as both are produced from the same NZTA data source.
Please send the vehicle details (reg number, make, model etc) to aatech@aa.co.nz and we will try to unravel this for you.