Auckland car dealer must pay back $10k for selling used Jaguar with tampered odometer

Thursday, 5 August 2021

An Auckland car dealer must repay nearly $10,000 to a customer after he sold a used Jaguar with a tampered odometer.

David Jaques purchased the 2011 Jaguar XJ in March for $30,000 from Jamal Nasser, also known as Jamal Mason, of Seven Seas Motors Ltd, which has its registered office in Eden Terrace.

Upon purchase, the car’s odometer read it had travelled just over 17,300 kilometres. However, Jaques discovered the vehicle had wear and defects which indicated it had travelled significantly further than advertised.

A Jaguar manufacturer’s warranty record obtained by Jaques showed the car’s odometer read 103,325 km when the last warranty claim was made in Singapore in August 2015.

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The Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal found Nasser breached the Fair Trading Act by misrepresenting the vehicle's odometer reading. He must repay $9529 to Jacques for costs incurred, including credit agreement fees and towing payments.

Jaques was surprised at the condition of the Jaguar upon picking it up, saying it looked “shabby”, the tribunal’s decision said. He added the car was “sluggish” under acceleration and smelled strongly of fumes.

Jaques also noticed oil leaking from the vehicle after driving it to his house in Puni in rural south Auckland.

A workshop later discovered a “bad oil leak”, with a mechanic noting he had “never seen any Jaguar, ever, with so many parts replaced … until now, let alone a modern one”.

Nasser denied the vehicle's odometer readings were misleading. He told the tribunal Jaques must have damaged the vehicle by driving it in a manner which caused the leak.

Tribunal adjudicator Brett Carter said there was no evidence Jaques, or his family, had unreasonably used or damaged the car.

“It is much more likely that the oil leak and other issues with this vehicle were pre-existing and are a result of wear and tear consistent with the vehicle’s age and true mileage, rather than any misuse since purchase,” Carter said.

He also noted the odometer’s real reading was likely to be far higher than what the warranty claim found.

“If the vehicle was then used to the same extent before it was imported into New Zealand in late 2020, its odometer reading would now be approximately 200,000 km.”

Motor Trade Association sector manager Tony Everett said the tampering was likely done in Singapore before the vehicle was shipped to Aotearoa.

“It is relatively unusual – we haven't seen an odometer fraud case for quite a long time. It wouldn't be your normal motorist flicking dials or anything, I think it'd be more of a computer-based adjustment of the car,” he said.

There are various ways for consumers to protect themselves from such frauds when buying a used car, he said.

“It's a good case to highlight that and people should always be alert.

“The consumer, unless they were pretty particularly skilled at looking at cars themselves, should always look at getting an independent mechanics report – what we call a pre-purchase inspection report.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Nasser was fined $9529. He had to repay the money to Jaques to cover costs incurred as a result of the sale. Updated 5.30pm on August 10, 2021.