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Marshall v Trade in Clearance Ltd [2017] NZDC 18174

Published 30 April 2018

Appeal — Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal — Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 — Motor Vehicles Sales Act 2003. Appeal against a decision of the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal in which the Tribunal dismissed the appellant's claim for $8,322.89. The appellant had purchased a vehicle from the respondent and encountered problems with the vehicle a few months after the purchase. In its decision the Tribunal applied the relevant provisions of the Consumers Guarantees Act and found that the respondent was in breach of the statutory guarantee that the vehicle must be of acceptable quality. The Tribunal however decided that the appellant's claim could not succeed because she had not followed the correct procedure for requiring a trader to remedy the vehicle's defects before taking matters into her own hands. The court found that, as this was a claim under $12,500, the appeal ground was confined to procedural unfairness at the Tribunal which prejudicially affected the result. There was no procedural unfairness here. The appeal was therefore dismissed. Judgment Date: 17 August 2017

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