He bought his station wagon at auction in October for about $13,000 but faced up to $700 in labour costs for the 12-hour job of replacing a computer unit to prevent nitrogen from leaking and possibly causing his brakes to fail.
Just such a failure happened on Friday when an Auckland motorist was unable to stop at an intersection, prompting Mitsubishi to accelerate recall plans and ask the Land Transport Safety Authority to ground the 1996 and 1997 VR4 automatic transmission models immediately.
Mr Hasanov feared that to pay his repair bill he would have to seek more work at a part-time job he holds on the waterfront, ironically driving imported Japanese cars off ships. But last night, the Russian-born property and commerce student used the well-worn Kiwi phrase "awesome" to describe Mitsubishi's decision to pay all costs, not just $3000 for new parts.
Mitsubishi Motors NZ managing director John Leighton said his company had decided to foot the full bill for all recalls, including those of 843 used-import Mitsubishi Fuso trucks and buses with a design fault in their front-wheel hubs.
Owners have until July 2 to get these inspected. However 29 trucks and one bus have already been ordered off the road as being outside acceptable wear limits since the LTSA issued a recall notice on Friday.
Mr Leighton said his company made its decision irrespective of legislation holding importers responsible for used vehicles, as it became clear people who bought vehicles outside its dealer network would have difficulty recovering costs.
It wanted to show "a total commitment to not only its new vehicle customers but to all Mitsubishi owners. We are 100 per cent behind all Mitsubishi products."#Company spokesman Philip Dinniss said importers made good profits bringing cars into New Zealand independently, but Mitsubishi had a strong brand here "and we are not going to have it torn apart".
Mr Leighton said the company was talking to the Government about "how better to capture overseas recall data" affecting used vehicle imports of all makes and models in New Zealand.
This follows the company's claim that 10,000 Galants and Legnums were recalled in Japan several years ago, but that Mitsubishi in New Zealand was not told about this.
LTSA director David Wright said earlier that his agency relied on manufacturers to advise it of safety defects, a system which usually worked. It was now developing its own information links through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the Mitsubishi lapse.
Auckland motoring writer Clive Matthew-Wilson, editor of the Dog and Lemon Guide, said the safety authority did not need to go to such lengths as the information was freely available on a Japanese website.
He called Mitsubishi's rethink a victory for consumers but said the debacle raised doubts about the LTSA's ability to handle major safety issues, and noted that the associated Mitsubishi Fuso truck and bus company was planning over 40 more recalls.
Independent Motor Vehicle Dealers Association chief David Vinsen, who said earlier that his members would meet repair costs and then seek reimbursement from Mitsubishi, welcomed the announcement as "what we expect of a responsible manufacturer".
But he was disappointed it took so long, and called on other car-makers to join an industry code of practice for recalls promoted with variable success by the Motor Industry Association.
Land Transport Safety Authority:
List of Mitsubishi cars ordered off the road
