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Hi, My 66 year old father and I have been looking to buy an economical car and found a Mazda Demio at the Manukau Park & Sell but when I found the front wheels shaking when I test driven it. I told the guy in-charge there on my return from the test drive. I also said that I will buy the car if the issue shaking wheels issues are solved. I also did say that I am not an expert in cars but it certainly feels like a wheel alignment issue or the disc requiring machining or something else that is causing the issue. The guy told me that it’s the wheel alignment issue and assured me that the wheel alignment will solve the issue. He told me that he will ask the owner to do the wheel alignment but that I will have to put a deposit of $500 on it, which I did, and only because he assured me that this issue will be resolved. He got me to sign a document which had the condition of wheel alignment written on it. Before I signed the document I asked him if this is a conditional sale/purchase agreement which he assured that it was.
He told me that he will ask the owners to get the wheel alignment done and that I will be able to collect the vehicle on Monday after paying the balance. Because I work very busy long hours and only leave the office after Manukau Park & Sell closes, I told him that I will come on Wednesday morning to pay the balance and collect the car. I waited whole day on Monday and Tuesday but never heard from the guy.
I still went to collect the car today (Wednesday) 09 April as I advised him at 7.40am. On asking why I wasn’t called a commitment was given, the guy said “Oh “they” should have called me! I a short day on Tuesday and they have busy schedule around here”. He showed me a paper with some results and told me that they've done the wheel alignment. I test drove the vehicle but found that the front wheels were still shaking when driven at around 30 to 40kms per hour and pulling to the left side. I didn't even take the vehicle on the motorway.
I came back and advised the guy about the outcome of my test driving. His first reaction was anger and said "you are wasting everyone's time" in a very irrational tone, which I found very unfair and unreasonable. He then took the car for test drive and said that all the Mazda Demio cars will be the same and that the front wheels will be shaking because they are light cars. On asking about the car pulling to the left side which he also tested, he told me that all the cars in NZ pulls on the left side for the safety of the drivers, just in case they fall asleep on the wheels. I found this very unreasonable, misleading and very concerning because I've owned 4 cars so far and none of them pulled to the side unless they had wheel alignment issue. None of them had their front wheel shaking on driving, which the guy tells me is normal. My father owned 3 cars so far and none of them had these problems. As for the front wheel shaking, I am concerned that again he has given me misleading information which could cause some harm and fatal issues both to the car and the drive/passenger of the car. To me they have failed to fix the shaking front wheel issue and so they should refund my deposit, or fix the car further to meet the conditions agreed.
Being a lady and buying a car with my old father I feel being played around so finding it very difficult to deal with this. We feel not being treated well and fear that they won’t refund our deposit. The guy did say that I shouldn’t have put a deposit on the car, when he was the one asking me to put the deposit on it in the first place. Because I was running out of time this morning, I told the guy that I will come back on Saturday and sort this out. I also did tell him that we don’t feel safe driving this car. So I will be going back there to face it but I want to have some facts from the experts so that I don’t get talked over this time.
Please help! Can we get our deposit back or have it transferred should we buy another vehicle from the same place. Also please advice how best to handle this situation so that the outcome is all well.
I will appreciate your assistance, please. Looking forward to hearing back from you asap.
Many Thanks
R Chandra

As per your other post, this is likely to be a balance issue. As long as you signed up on the condition that they rectify the shaking, they either need to rectify the problem or refund your deposit.

I have been driving for 50years, I have never heard of any vehicle that has a tendency to drift to the left, and that would include a 1926 Essex Super Six to a newish shiny red Hyundai