Waka Kotahi found Westcity Mechanical & Tyres in Henderson had not been carrying out proper checks. Photo: 123
More than 1400 cars have had their Warrants of Fitness revoked after an investigation into a west Auckland mechanic revealed "serious safety concerns".
A formal observation and a mystery shopper inspection by Waka Kotahi found Westcity Mechanical & Tyres in Henderson had not been carrying out proper checks.
The investigator found the sole inspector at the garage had been issuing Warrants of Fitness (WoF) passes or pass-rechecks to vehicles that were not on site long enough for an inspection to have been properly completed, a Waka Kotahi spokesperson said.
The mystery shop found further issues, the spokesperson said, revealing vehicle inspection requirements were not complied with, particularly since the vehicle inspector began working alone in October 2022.
"The WoFs for these vehicles were revoked as it was unlikely the vehicle safety systems were properly checked."
Since then, the Safer Vehicles Regulatory Assurance Panel has revoked Westcity Mechanical & Tyres' ability to issue WoFs and the shop has gone out of business.
The spokesperson said this year Westcity Mechanical & Tyres was "the only site to have WoFs revoked due to serious safety concerns".
But that has been no solace to those who had paid to get their cars signed off. They will likely be left out of pocket as Waka Kotahi does not cover any losses for revoked WoFs.
As a result, Paul Gray now has two cars without a warrant and thinks either the transport agency or the mechanic should be covering owners' costs.
He also questioned Waka Kotahi's approach of writing to him only after he had discovered his warrant had been revoked when he was getting it updated.
"If it's that important and a health and safety risk, then why couldn't you even send me an email, which you have on file," Gray said.
"What happens if I have a crash and the insurance company comes back and says you're not covered?
"Not to mention that I could have been killed or killed someone else on the road."
Waka Kotahi said they use email for bulk renewal communications, but not for situations like the one Gray is facing.
The agency said it was working towards using email to notify people "for this one-off type of communication", a spokesperson said.
Last year, 5048 WoFs were revoked across eight inspecting organisations, with three quarters of those coming from two sites - the other was also in Henderson.
- This story was originally published by Stuff.