WHAT WOULD YOU DO

[1950landy]

As title says , My son in law bought a second hand ute from a private seller , The vehicle looked very tidy with low km's but was out of rego. He had it advertised for above market value & was providing a RWC. Son in law struck a deal to buy the ute with RWC & PU yesterday & took for rego with no problems. He noticed a slight wobble in the steering so took it for a wheel balance & alignment this morning only to find out one of the tie rod ends was shot. He has replaced that but rang me tonight telling me there is no spare , the passengers door won't unlock with the remote & when he unlocks it with button on the dash the door still dose not open from inside & out. The heater so not working , there is on tool to wind down the spare if there was a spare & one back tyre has a bubble in the side wall.
I told him to ring the RWC guy who passed the RWC I know back when RWC's came into being here in QLD , & I had a RWC licence , if you missed something on the inspection it was up to you to fix it . Anyway told him to ring him 1st & see what he says , if he has no luck send details to Qld Transport. To me looks like it is a dodge RWC . I am yet to have a look at the ute so may find a few more things needing doing.
So what would others do ?

[DieselLSE]

Agree with your approach. Get the person who gave the RWC the opportunity to justify their report. If you don't get satisfaction, then report it to your state authority and seek legal advice.

[V8Ian]

As you've already suggested, but the RWC bloke will claim it was fine when he inspected it. RWCs aren't worth the paper they're written on. Only a proper inspection from an independent mechanic can be relied upon, even then.......?

[RANDLOVER]

As you've already suggested, but the RWC bloke will claim it was fine when he inspected it. RWCs aren't worth the paper they're written on. Only a proper inspection from an independent mechanic can be relied upon, even then.......?

RWC only cover safety items, so not heaters, remotes, etc the tie rod end though is a safety matter. I think the RWC also covers the tyre changing gear, so jacks, wheel brace and pro'ly the tool for accessing the spare.

[V8Ian]

RWC only cover safety items, so not heaters, remotes, etc the tie rod end though is a safety matter. I think the RWC also covers the tyre changing gear, so jacks, wheel brace and pro'ly the tool for accessing the spare.
I don't think the RWC covers jacks etc, but a defective spare is a fail. There is no requirement for a spare though.

[Xtreme]

I think that not being able to open the passenger door from inside & out is also a safety item.

[3toes]

The RWC will have a list of what has to be checked and the standard required. If not on list is really not going to be their problem

[1950landy]

I don't think the RWC covers jacks etc, but a defective spare is a fail. There is no requirement for a spare though.

Back in the day when I had my RWC licence I always took the spare into account , I was of the opinion that they could drive away & 1/2hr later get a flat & fit the spare, but that was my tilt on the RWC. In saying that some new cars come with out a spares relying on run flat tyres Or Road Side Assist to get you out of trouble & a lot of people don't know how to change a tyre anyway & just rely on the RACQ ect.

[1950landy]

The RWC will have a list of what has to be checked and the standard required. If not on list is really not going to be their problem

Son in law sent me a copy of what he was given in paperwork , seams he only got the safety certificate that you display in the window when selling your vehicle which shows a short list ticked off which dose not have RWC guys name & number on it & did not get buyers copy of the RWC. I have told him to ask for the RWC copy. Looks like there is failure on all 3 parties including my Son in law.

[V8Ian]

You no longer need a hard copy of the RWC, it is immediately logged into the Transport Dept's system.
It does need to be followed up, or the RWC inspectors will make a mockery of the safeguard.

[Roverlord off road spares]

RWC only cover safety items, so not heaters, remotes, etc the tie rod end though is a safety matter. I think the RWC also covers the tyre changing gear, so jacks, wheel brace and pro'ly the tool for accessing the spare.
in vic the heater must work as it is a windscreen defroster which is a safety device

[FisherX]

Don't want to be an arse, but when buying a second hand car the onus is on the buyer to make sure of the car's condition. You can't rely on the Safety Certificate to do that for you.

When I buy an older car I expect there to be some issues. So rather than waste time and the stress of finding someone else to blame, I'd take it on the chin and head down to local wreaking yard and pick up what the car is missing and get on the tools and fix the issues.

So what kind of ute is it?

[ramblingboy42]

Agree with above post.

This problem pops up so often I'm amazed people are still susceptible to it.

The seller of course knows he's putting one over.

[V8Ian]

Don't want to be an arse, but when buying a second hand car the onus is on the buyer to make sure of the car's condition. You can't rely on the Safety Certificate to do that for you.

When I buy an older car I expect there to be some issues. So rather than waste time and the stress of finding someone else to blame, I'd take it on the chin and head down to local wreaking yard and pick up what the car is missing and get on the tools and fix the issues.

So what kind of ute is it?
When you've been to the local yard, what do you wreak, havoc? [wink11]

[1950landy]

You no longer need a hard copy of the RWC, it is immediately logged into the Transport Dept's system.
It does need to be followed up, or the RWC inspectors will make a mockery of the safeguard.
RWC I had earlier this year received a copy for me to keep , copy for new owner , copy for Qld Transport & a safety cert to hang in the window of the vehicle , the RWC guy kept one copy. Without the RWC cert he has no idea who did the RWC , he should at least have a licence number some were in the paperwork he was given . My Son in law should have made sure he at least got that .

[3toes]

I would still be following up for a copy and where it was done. Then have a friendly mechanic check condition against RWC. Is the system computerized with the inspection done on the government computer if so can they supply a copy

The concern is that old bad trade habits seem to be present in the work as presented. What if it was someone who did not check and then crashed hurting/ killing someone

Your reporting this even if they cannot prove anything can assist as if they have more complaints their compliance people should investigate if adverse trends emerge

Years ago I purchased a car from NSW without touching metal first. It had just passed their annual safety check and I had it inspected by the state car club. So had 2 independent checks both of which it passed with no problems. Once had collected and driven back to QLD had my mechanic check it over. There were a number of safety issues that needed fixing. Neither of the inspections had reported or failed them. These were issues that were on the list to check and were not marginal calls