With a quick 20 minute phone call Karl quickly resolved what was fast turning into an incredibly frustrating situation.

I brought a car for $5500 from a Toyota dealer off Trade Me. 7 weeks later the cars ‘Check Engine’ light came on. Not realising that we were covered under the Consumer Guarantees Act (as the car was brought on Trade Me) I engaged a transmission specialist to fix the car. A transmission replacement was required so they set about trying to find a second hand option. After we’d spoken a few times it came up that I’d only just brought the car from a dealer. The transmission specialist advised me to approach the dealer to see if they would assist, as we were faced with a $2500-$5000k repair job. Initially the Toyota dealer was good to deal with. He communicated with my mechanic to understand the situation and he made arrangements direct with them to transport the car to his own specialist who advised a new transmission out of Korea ($5k) would be the best way forward. This is where the problems started. First I was asked to contribute $2500 towards the cost as this is what I was looking to pay if I was going to get a second hand transmission from my own mechanic (and before realising I had any protection under the Act). Then I was asked how much I would be willing to pay for a new transmission with no guarantee on delivery date from Korea. There were several other email negotiations that went on until I pushed back at which point I was offered a full refund. Delighted, I signed and returned a purchase agreement and waited for the money to be deposited into my account. Then came the real blow, the Toyota dealer emailed to suggest that because I hadn’t ensured that the transmission was fully reassembled before they picked it up from my mechanic, I was in breach of the Consumer Guarantees Act! Gutted, I reached out to Karl. We had a ten minute phone call, he trawled through the pages of emails I forwarded him, he made one 20 minute phone call to the Toyota dealer, and all was sorted! To say I was relieved is an understatement. The time and emotion wasted on this issue was really taxing on me and my family (being down to 1 car with a large family is very tricky). Karl is an expert in this field. He was very friendly and understanding and quickly came to the conclusion that he’d be able to get me the result I needed. In the end one 20 minute phone call is all it took and it really highlighted to me just how manipulative and unprofessional even the most reputable dealerships can be. Thank you Karl, I only hope that after dealing with you this dealer takes on board the learning’s and doesn’t continue this sort of behaviour going forward.