Car Dealer Cancelled Contract for New Car

Hi, my brother-in-law signed for a new Toyota Corolla petrol model early this year.
He was waiting for a long time to eventually be told they had to cancel as Toyota no longer making/selling the petrol variant in AU.

He has now signed for a hybrid version, which was so much more expensive.
I wanted to know legally where he would have stood, do they have a clause to be able to cancel for this reason?

I told him he should have complained more to at least get a better price on the hybrid.
He didn't and is paying full retail.

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Comments

    • +2

      The main part is that Toyota knew 5 months before he contacted the dealer to be told it was cancelled.

      • +1

        It's not clear in your original post, but I suspect the contract would be on the lines of simply refunding any monies paid to your brother. At that point, given his loyalty to Toyota, he probably agreed to enter a new car contract.

        I suspect your brother would need to demonstrate that the dealer knew and/or acted maliciously or deceptively, plus demonstrate what financial loss or suffering he incurred as result from this, etc etc.

        It's, sadly, not uncommon for people to wait years for purchase contracts then to be rescinded or terminated. For example, the house-and-land packages, some wait for years (!) to only be told there's an issue with item X and here's your original deposit back.

  • +6

    Terrible customer service by Toyota, cutting a car from a line up isn't a decision made over night, they should have honoured every contract written given they would have known exactly when they wanted to stop making it.

    Toyota should have notified dealers after X date sales of petrol wont be fulfilled. Clearly didn't happen until later, and people such as your uncle who bought in the intervening period wont get what they expected.

  • I recently bought my corolla hybrid.. I was prepared to negotiate on price…. Those olden days of negotiating on prices for bran new cars no longer exists. It is standard pricing across the board. Ur BIL is completely out of luck.. the backlog of corollas is actually quite long.. so better he got his name in the que to start the waiting clock … Than later

  • +6

    Oh what a feeling.

  • I bought a 2021 SX petrol, no hybrid but easily gets 6.0L/100km. Very economical. Plus the wait time for a hybrid was crazy.

  • +1

    Is 'brother in law' the new 'my friend' for 2024?

    For next year, i predict 'stop mum' being the character of choice.

    • +1

      “Stop, mum” lol.

      They can use that once the step brother/sister thing gets old

    • -1

      I like your sense of humour, next time I will call him Kevin.

  • +1

    Thank you for reminding me how doomed as a species we are.

  • +1

    I really like Toyota hybrid cars and owned Australian made hybrid Camry in past.

    But remember hybrid cars are not best choice for someone who is mainly a highway driver. and I know few friends who drive mainly on highways and do country roads kilometers.

    So making a blanket statement that hybrid is the best option is not correct for everyone.

  • +3

    When I was looking to buy a new car earlier this year, I decided against Toyota because of all the clauses in their contract. Yes they can cancel, they can even take up the price and there is nothing you can do about it, this is why you always read the fine print.

    • +2

      there is nothing you can do about it

      You can cancel the order and get your deposit back if either of those things happen. It's clearly written in the contract

      • +3

        That’s somewhat reassuring.

        This post is also pointless unless you find out the dealer and ask them why they wasted 5 months of old mate’s time.

        • +1

          This post is also pointless unless you find out the dealer and ask them why they wasted 5 months of old mate’s time.

          The moral lesson is to not agree to 5 months for a car because any number of things can happen. If I'm buying any car, new or used, it better be here and ready for delivery.

          Especially for a Corolla, you can get these new-ish on the used market any day of the week

      • +2

        Doesn't seem like much of a contract if Toyota can just decide they 'aren't making the car any more' and void the contract with no repercussions.

  • +1

    in situations like this, pull out completely, get a better deal elsewhere for non-petrol model

  • -1

    Op stuck in the cave regarding the pending NVES kicking in soon.

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