Lawless v Austral Pty Ltd trading as Brisbane City Land Rover

Gregory Lawless (the applicant) filed an application against Austral Pty Ltd trading as Brisbane City Land Rover (the respondent) seeking a refund for a 2017 Land Rover Evoque that he purchased from the respondent. The motor vehicle came with a five-year warranty, expiring on 15 December 2022. The applicant had multiple issues with the diesel particulate filter system, resulting in the motor vehicle being towed on five occasions and being off the road for a total of four and a half months. The respondent did not file any evidence. The legal issues that the Tribunal was required to decide were whether the motor vehicle was of acceptable quality, whether the failure to comply with the consumer guarantee was a major failure, whether the goods were rejected during the rejection period, and whether the applicant was entitled to a refund. The Tribunal found that the motor vehicle was not of acceptable quality, the failure to comply with the consumer guarantee was a major failure, the goods were rejected during the rejection period, and the applicant was entitled to a refund. The Tribunal ordered that the applicant must return the motor vehicle to the respondent within 14 days of the date of these orders and that the respondent must pay the applicant the amount of $62,000 within 28 days of the date of these orders. The reasoning behind the decision was that the applicant's evidence, including the service invoices and the report from Bill Woods of B&M Diesel Repairs, was accepted in its entirety, and the respondent did not provide any evidence to the contrary. The Tribunal found that a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the state of the motor vehicle at the time of purchase, particularly having regard to the presence of defects with the diesel particulate filter system, the purchase price of $62,000, and the motor vehicle being new, would not regard the motor vehicle as free from defects and durable. The Tribunal also found that the defects relating to the diesel particulate filter system were not remedied within a reasonable time and that the applicant rejected the motor vehicle within the rejection period.