Over the last twelve months the Fair Trading Commission has received some twenty complaints against Key Motors and Crown Motors Limited regarding the dashboards of Hyundai motor vehicles, of model year 1995 through to 1998. The dashboards developed cracks within months of purchase of the motor vehicles. Key Motors advises that as at June 2001, it had registered 147 complaints and had settled 15 complaints. The Company has acknowledged the problem with the dashboards as being a manufacturer’s fault, of which it became aware in August of 1996; and has accepted the responsibility of replacing the defective dashboards.
The average length of time between the Commission’s bringing a complaint to the Company’s attention, and actual replacement is one year. The Commission is continuing to pursue that aspect of the problem, with the Company.
Consumers are advised to report cracked dashboards to the Company immediately upon discovery. This can make a difference.