Cars and car dealers / Sample letter
Sample letter to a car dealer
A sample letter to a car dealer, rejecting a faulty used car under the Australian Consumer Law, with the sections cited. We invented the people, business, car, dates and amounts.
About this sample letter to a car dealer
This sample shows the kind of letter we send when a used car has a major failure. We invented the people, business, car, dates and amounts.
Every matter is different. Before we write, we read your contract, repair history and any reports, and tell you whether you have a case. We write your letter for your facts, and a solicitor signs it.
For the law behind it, see Cars and car dealers, Major and minor failures and the Australian Consumer Law (schedule 2 to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth)).
$1,320 for a review and a letter to the dealer or manufacturer, including GST.
Sample letter
Consumer Lawyers
A service of Professional Edge Lawyers
435 Nepean Highway, Frankston VIC 3199 · 1800 776 529 · info@consumerlawyers.com.au
28 October 2026
The Manager
Sampleton Car Sales Pty Ltd
1 Example Road
Sampleton VIC
By email
Dear Sir or Madam
Jane Citizen: rejection of a 2019 hatchback under the Australian Consumer Law
We act for Ms Jane Citizen. Please direct all further communication about this matter to us.
The facts
On 3 August 2026 Ms Citizen bought a used 2019 hatchback (the car) from you for $18,500, which she paid in full. The odometer read 62,400 km at delivery.
Within three weeks the transmission began to slip and jolt between gears. You repaired it on 24 August 2026 and again on 29 September 2026 under the warranty in section 54 of the Motor Car Traders Act 1986 (Vic). Each time the fault returned.
On 16 October 2026 the car lost drive on a freeway and had to be towed. An independent mechanic inspected it on 22 October 2026 and reports that the transmission has failed internally and must be replaced. A copy of the report is enclosed. The odometer now reads 65,100 km.
The law
You supplied the car to Ms Citizen in trade or commerce, so it had to be of acceptable quality, which includes being safe, free from defects and durable (Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) sch 2 (‘ACL’) s 54(1), (2)). A transmission that fails twice, and then stops working altogether within 2,700 km of the sale, is not of acceptable quality.
This is a major failure. A reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the failure would not have bought the car, and the car is unsafe (ACL s 260(1)(a), (e)). The repeated failures, taken as a whole, are also a major failure (ACL s 260(2)).
Ms Citizen is therefore entitled to reject the car (ACL s 259(3)(a)). The failure became apparent within weeks of supply and after modest use, so she is within the rejection period (ACL s 262(1)(a), (2)). Her rights under the ACL apply as well as the section 54 warranty.
Rejection
Ms Citizen rejects the car because it is not of acceptable quality and the failure is a major failure. She elects a refund (ACL s 263(4)(a)). She requires you, by 5 pm on 11 November 2026, to:
- refund the purchase price of $18,500;
- pay $530 in damages, being the towing cost of $180 and the cost of the mechanic’s report of $350 (ACL s 259(4)); and
- collect the car at your expense, as it cannot be driven (ACL s 263(2)(b), (3)). Please contact us to arrange a time.
The total payable is $19,030.
If the matter is not resolved
If you do not do these things by that date, we are instructed to apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, without further notice, for orders for the refund and damages (Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012 (Vic) ss 182, 184).
Yours faithfully
Radek Dajer
Principal Solicitor, Consumer Lawyers
Enclosure: mechanic’s report dated 22 October 2026
Sample letter. We invented the people, business, car, dates and amounts. Every matter is different, and a letter for you would be written for your facts.
Tell us what happened
We reply within one business day.
Your enquiry is read by a solicitor at Professional Edge Lawyers (practice number E0024395, Victorian Legal Services Board). Every letter is written and signed by a solicitor.
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Phone: 1800 776 529
Email: info@consumerlawyers.com.au
Hours: Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5:30 pm
Office: 435 Nepean Highway, Frankston VIC 3199 (by appointment)
We act for consumers and for businesses, but never for both sides of the same dispute. Before we start, we check that we have not acted for the other party.