Heartwarming twist after Aussie lost $100,000 Nissan Patrol she won in online charity raffle

A young woman who won her dream car in a charity raffle before it was later repossessed has had some good news.

Hairdresser Amelia Conway, from the Victorian town of Colac, flew to Brisbane to get the luxury 4WD but after getting it home found out that it still had an outstanding car loan and wasn’t actually paid for.

Her story has prompted a WA company to step in and give her another car.

Car Hub Australia said it found a new vehicle through a Sydney dealership to give to a devastated Ms Conway.

‘We wanted to do something … to help out in a situation because, we’re know how special it is when someone wins a vehicle … it’s really, really life changing,’ a spokesperson for Car Hub Australia told 7News.

They said it would have been incredibly disheartening ‘for her to go through all that, only have it taken away six months later from a company not doing the right thing.’

Ms Conway was scrolling through Facebook when she stumbled across the raffle for a Widebody Y62 Nissan Patrol, worth at least $100,000 due to custom modifications.

The giveaway company, Hello Lifestyle Australia, promised the winner the fully-kitted out four-wheel drive with all on-road expenses paid.

Ms Conway said she bought $120 worth of tickets to enter the draw, with the company promising to give all proceeds to youth charity Red Frogs.

Then, several months later, Amelia was thrilled to be announced as the winner in an online live stream.

Amelia later discovered there was still money owing on the Patrol (above) and it was repossessed last Wednesday

‘It was unbelievable really, it was just nuts. Everyone was going crazy,’ she told the ABC.

Hello Lifestyle Australia even flew Amelia and her sister up to Queensland from Victoria so they could collect their new car.

But when she returned home, Amelia had to spend about $1,000 to make the car roadworthy, despite Hello Lifestyle Australia promising all on-road costs would be covered.

One of Amelia’s friends suggested that she do a Personal Property Securities Register check as the win seemed too good to be true.

A $2 search on the Personal Property Securities Register allows consumers to check if any money is still owing on anything they own.

When Amelia finished the check, she found the vehicle still had money owing. 

‘I thought maybe they had paid it out, and it’s taken a little while to clear, but that wasn’t the case,’ she said.

Amelia (pictured with her partner) tried to contact Hello Lifestyle Australia about the Patrol, which left her $1,000 out of pocket, but struggled to find help

Perth dad Aaron Edmundson won another Nissan Patrol (ad above) but said he had to fork out $7,500 in on-road costs, roadworthy, licensing and stamp duty

Amelia tried sending texts to Hello Lifestyles Australia to check if the Patrol had been transferred to her name and if all on-road costs had been paid, but received no response from the company.

Then the worst happened, with a man showing up at her property at about 8pm last Wednesday to repossess the vehicle.

‘He said, ‘I’m here to pick up the Patrol for Nissan finance as it hasn’t been paid for’. I was pretty upset, I just froze,’ she said.

In a Facebook post, Amelia said: ‘The Patrol is gone and I am trying to gather information through other people that have won anything through Hello Lifestyle Australia to take it a lot further.

‘It’s not fair on myself or anyone else that has won anything through this company, it’s just heartbreaking.’

Hello Lifestyle Australia (above) has since closed down with charity Red Frogs claiming they received very little from the company, despite its promise that all raffle proceeds would go to it

Red Frog Australia said Hello Lifestyle Australia promised to raise the charity around $150k, but didn’t ‘deliver anywhere near that’.

‘They did pay us a small amount on that (first) raffle, but that was all we ever got off them. They did subsequent raffles, and we never got anything,’ Red Frogs chief operational officer Steve Davies told ABC.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said anyone buying a lottery ticket should check the lottery’s permit number before entering 

‘If a consumer wins a high-value prize such as a car, they should make sure that the lottery organiser provides them with the legal paperwork to accompany that prize,’ the ACCC said.

Several other lottery ticket purchasers left reviews online claiming the company wouldn’t let them cancel their membership, while others simply described Hello Lifestyle Australia as ‘dodgy’.

Perth dad Aaron Edmundson claims he spent $7,500 on a Nissan Patrol he won from Hello Lifestyle Australia, estimated to be worth $120,000.

The company initially said it would cover the $7,500 worth of on-road costs, roadworthy, licensing and stamp duty but after months of emails Mr Edmundson gave up and sold the car. 

It’s understood the company has since closed, with all its social channels, email addresses and website now unavailable.

Daily Mail Australia has tried to reach Hello Lifestyle Australia for comment.

Victoria Police said they have looked into Amelia’s claims but it appears to be a civil matter.