Norwest.
Suite 218 Nexus, 4 Columbia Court
NORWEST NSW 2153
P: 1300 83 13 22 F: +61 2 9012 0283
E:
[email protected]www.rockdenelawyers.com.au
17/05/2024 Our Ref: AJ:SA:24:0785
Your Ref: Darren Smith
Mr Smith
The Manager
Heartland Motors Chullora
206/220 Hume Highway
Chullora NSW 2190
Dear Darren,
Re: Certone Building Certifiers Pty Limited trading as CertOne Building Certifiers -v-
Heartland Motors Chullora
We act for Curtis Prior, Director of Certone Building Certifiers Pty Limited trading as CertOne Building
Certifiers.
Vehicle faults.
We are instructed that our client purchased a 2021 Jeep Gladiator Rubicon V2 3.6L V6 8Spd Auto
Pick-Up (Registration Number: CERT1) from Heartland Motors Chullora, which was delivered to him
on Thursday, 5 May 2022. His sales representative was Mr Leslie Webb. Kindly see the attached
vehicle order form evidencing his purchase.
Following his purchase, our client observed numerous electrical faults with the vehicle and promptly
notified your associate Mr Webb and former service manager, Mr Ronald Rahiman, via email on 13
December 2023 and 15 February 2024. He requested an inspection and the prompt rectification of
the faults. The vehicle was then serviced on two occasions by Heartland Motors Chullora on 22
December 2023 and 20 March 2024. Following the services, the electrical faults were diagnosed, and
our client’s photographic and video evidence of the faults were acknowledged. However, the faults
were not rectified.
These are the following existing faults with the vehicle, which have persisted and occur to date:
• Engine is unable to turn on immediately when our client is driving the vehicle.
• Transmission is defective causing the vehicle to remain stuck in first gear and/or lose gears
when our client is driving the vehicle.
• Safety sensor features, especially traction control, automatically disable when our client is
driving the vehicle.
• Power steering is defective and fails when our client is driving the vehicle.
ABN 89 620 040 931 | www.rockdenelawyers.com.au
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation.
Consumer law.
We put you on notice that the vehicle’s existing faults constitute a major failure to comply with the
consumer guarantees protected under Australian Consumer Law set out in Schedule 2 of the
Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth). Specifically, these faults constitute a major failure to
comply with the acceptable quality guarantee stipulated under section 54 of the above legislation, as
the transmission, traction control and power steering defects render the vehicle unsafe and risk
precipitating a major accident.
Australian Consumer Law stipulates that if a product or service fails to meet a guarantee, consumers
are entitled to the following remedies from the retailer set out under section 261 of the above
legislation:
• refund;
• repair;
• replacement or exchange; or
• compensation.
Further, we draw your attention to the recent decision of the Federal Court of Australia in ACCC v
Mazda Australia Pty Ltd (No 3) [2024] FCA 83, in which the Court held that Mazda had breached
consumer guarantees by refusing to refund the vehicle purchase price due to failed remediation of
serious defects.
Additionally, we note that Stellantis (Australia and New Zealand) Pty Ltd ACN 125 956 505 (Stellantis
Australia) has provided the ACCC with a court-enforceable undertaking on 25 October 2023 under
section 87B of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) that it will review its procedures for
handling customer complaints and make any necessary changes to:
• ensure that consumers who experience a ‘major failure’ with their vehicle are given the
refund or replacement they are entitled to; and
• review its training for staff and dealers and make any necessary changes to ensure staff and
dealers have sufficient information to achieve compliance with the Australian Consumer Law.
Remedy sought.
As such, we are instructed that our client seeks a full refund for his purchase of the vehicle. We put
you on notice that if you do not comply with our client’s request for a full refund, our client reserves
their right to seek any remedy at equity or law. No further notice will be given by our client before
enforcement proceedings commence.
Yours faithfully,
Rockdene Lawyers
Sarah Abraham
Solicitor
[email protected]
