Three weeks after taking delivery of a new Nissan Qashqai July 2025 unfortunately my wife hit a kangaroo damaging the left front pushing the front left bumper bar in and headlight down as well as losing some trimming. The insurance company, Budget Direct promised us a quick repair advising September then each month until now 4th February 2026 without repair. The crash repairer told me that Nissan do not have the parts and we’ll have to wait. And wait we have. I contacted Nissan Australia as to the where about of the parts they initially told me they’ll investigate and get back to me. They got back to me and told to never contact them again! Wow!! When you buy a new car the relationship with the car company doesn’t end in the showroom, it continues for the life of ownership and beyond to subsequent owners. Nissan’s lack of support in unfathomable and a total snub for their customers. When a car company sells you a car they agree to supply parts as required under consumer law they cannot leave you hanging without a car. We told them of the importance the car is to us as we live in the country where public transport is non existent so cars are of utmost importance. They did not care to listen or act. Luckily the car is still drivable all be it with damage and headlight pointing to the ground making visibility poor to say the least. Imagine if the car had more damage and was undrivable we would have been without a car from early August till now. Ouch. Nissan Australia has zero concern for after sales service and are only concerned for making the initial sale. Follow through service and parts is totally lacking. This is our story and do not allow this to happen to you.
Hi @Blackdb7, welcome to the community.
There are online reports from other consumers, that Budget Direct have taken unreasonable amounts of time to approve claims or arrange repairs.
It is possible that the delays are not Nissans fault. Blaming someone else for poor service is a common tactic of businesses which don’t prioritise their customers interests.
I would be formally writing to Budget Direct stating that waiting 6 months for the vehicle to be repaired is unacceptable. I would state the delay isn’t anything cause by you and lies solely with Budget Direct. I would also be asking for a equivalent replacement vehicle for use, covered hy Budget Direct, until such time your vehicle is ready for collection. If an amicable resolution isn’t reached, you will be lodging a complaint with the:
https://www.afca.org.au/make-a-complaint/insurance
Let us know how you get on, and please post again if you have any questions or need additional advice.
Thanks for that information. Budget Direct informs us there no parts as does the repairer and Nissan Australia told me parts are on order, that was September last year before flogging me off.
I have complained countless times and in writing to Budget Direct and seem be getting know where.
so who do I believe? I will be lodging a complaint via the information provided.
By the way, the car from day 1 has had dash rattles and squeaks and at times the transmission surges.
Thanks.
It might be worth asking about sourcing 2nd hand parts from a wreckers and having the work done to sell it, although in my experience with Budget Direct, it will take an extremely long time to get them to do anything useful.
It is still possible that the issue lies with Budget Direct and their repairer. They could now have the parts but haven’t approved for the repair to be carried out. The repairer could also be in limbo.
I would still write to them again with a formal complaint as outlined above. It then gives them a last chance to respond before escalating the complaint to AFCA. Such a complaint may also be seen in good light by AFCA, as it shows that you are willing to negotiate an acceptable and reasonable resolution until such time the repairs are carried out. It is also gives AFCA information in relation to the type of resolution which may be acceptable to you.
Already written several times and filed complaint as described above. We have repair approved email and letter. Issue is either Budget direct or Nissan or both.
It is a possibility (not sure if it would work or not) that an alternative is to seek a replacement or refund for the vehicle as this might meet the “you wouldn’t have purchased the vehicle if you had known of the lack of spare parts” issue you face. 6 months (and counting) for delivery of spare parts would seem outside the requirements of the ACL regarding having sufficient spare parts.
What makes a product problem major
A major problem means the product:
- is unsafe
- is very different from the description or sample
- has either one serious problem or several smaller problems that would stop someone buying the product if they knew about them beforehand
- can’t be used for its normal purpose, or another purpose the consumer told the seller about before they bought it, and can’t easily be fixed within a reasonable time.
It would require a letter to the car sales business with your request for remedy under the ACL, and it would most probably require that it would eventually be sent to the Civil and Administrative Tribunal for your State. Before doing any of this, getting proper legal advice about what you should do is very strongly recommended.
When a consumer buys a product, the manufacturer or importer must provide spare parts and repair facilities for a reasonable time after purchase. This applies even if the consumer did not buy the goods directly from the manufacturer or importer.
This guarantee does not apply if the consumer is told at the time of purchase that repair facilities and spare parts will not be available after a certain time.
You could also request a suitable car to use until the damaged vehicle is actually repaired, this is something else to get legal advice on. It might be possible to have either the insurance company or the car sales business to provide the alternative vehicle. As it stands as your headlight does not work as intended (does not provide light at the correct height and angle), your vehicle might be considered unroadworthy/defective and therefore not legal to drive.
Possibly not, as everything is in control of Budget Direct. @Blackdb7 should only be dealing with Budget Direct as the are solely responsible for repairing and making the vehicle good again. Budget Direct, and their repairer, also have the ability to source spare parts from avenues other than Nissan. As @gordon, they have also have the ability to source second hand parts, if they exist, or other suppliers through standard spare parts supply chains. Blaming Nissan is ‘passing the buck’.
Budget Direct are fully responsible for resolving, not Nissan.
Thank you very much for your feedback.
Having done more research on this matter I believe this is the correct path to follow. Thanks.
Thanks for the link as was unaware of this avenue.
Although you are in a hard place, if your vehicle is technically not roadworthy because of the damage and you are in an accident you might not be insured! Ask the question and get the answer in writing.
The car has been repaired. How on earth the one part was manufactured then packed into a shipping container then traverse the seas half way around the world then be unpacked from the shipping container then transported to the distributor then passed onto crash repairer then have the repair completed all inside a fortnight is totally amazing! Ready to pick up tomorrow. Only took seven months…hhmmm.
Thank you for the update. Hopefully others do not have a similar bad experience. The opportunity is for others following the Choice Community to add their experiences to this topic.
We were waiting on a set of windscreen retainer clips - part of what would normally be a windscreen replacement kit for a Honda 12 months past. The windscreen had a major star crack on the drivers side. Both the repairer and insurer were aware of the delay and nature of the damage. A risk if the vehicle had been pulled over as to whether it would have caused a police action. Suncorp the insurer had been excellent in how they managed a related repair to damage to the bonnet caused by the same rock. The body work and paint repair was carried out pending the windscreen repair, however the car was subsequently returned waiting on the windscreen part from Japan.
To suggest that there needs to be greater clarity - and if necessary through regulation. IE A requirement - obligation of insurers in respect of whether a vehicle on inspection is legal to use on the road. In the absence of a written assurance from the inspection, the owner/driver on the day is fully liable if the vehicle is found in some way not to comply pending repair.
One can see where those with an interest in the industry (includes automobile membership/clubs - AAA, RACV, NRMA, RACQ etc) may be less keen to do so knowing that there may be many more days where insurers need to provide replacement/loan vehicles pending repair. OTOH regulating a need may give cause for insurers to place more pressure on the OEM re availability of replacement parts. Perhaps also too few consumers have raised complaint to cause the ACCC to be interested?
Absolutely agree. The more affected or misled (like we were) whom raise complaints the more likely the powers that be will act. Our voices can be heard on forums such as this in the mean time encouraging potential customers to be cautious of companies which do not act as they are contracted encouraging them to do so. It takes much more effort to obtain a customer than lose & much much longer to recover. Apply more pressure people.
With the growing number of Chinese vehicles being sold in Australia, roughly 250,000 in 2025, and set to grow in 2026, some makers are considering their presence in the Australian market. Some are banking on the introduction of new Hybrid and EV vehicles to help regain their former position as major suppliers to our market .
With one in five new car sales originating from China, that “banking on” includes some Teslas, Volvos, and Nissans. Future standing in our market being uncertain, dead stock like spare parts inventory is usually one of the first things to suffer .
Nissan is no longer the sales force it was in the 70’s and 80’s . Carrying a large amount of spare parts is dead money if you are not shifting new vehicles. If what I am being told is true we will be seeing a number of manufacturers evaluating their position in the Australian market over the next few years .
Just by the by, I purchased a new vehicle 6 weeks ago. I decided on a Chinese made hybrid . Very happy with it .
