Car buyers driven round the bend over faulty vehicles

The lives of two consumers who live more than 1,400km apart have been made a misery after the car dealerships they bought their second-hand vehicles from failed to deliver on their promises.

Permla Matlhaku, 36, of Meadowlands, Soweto, bought herself a Kia Picanto from TTT Wheels in Ridgeway, in the Joburg south, on May 7. She had used her savings to buy the R99,000 vehicle and received a R14,000 discount.

The car started to experience a mechanical fault within 24 hours and she returned it to the dealership the next day. However, for the past three weeks Matlhaku has been pleading with the dealership to replace the car or give her a full refund but the company allegedly threatened it would keep 30% (R29,700) of the refund.

However, the dealership’s threat contradicts the Consumer Protection Act, which states that “within six months after the delivery of any goods to a consumer, the consumer may return the goods to the supplier without penalty and at the supplier’s risk and expense, if the goods fail to satisfy the requirements and standards contemplated in section 55, and the supplier must, at the direction of the consumer, either [a] repair or replace the failed, unsafe or defective goods or [b] refund to the consumer the price paid by the consumer, for the goods.”

This clause took effect despite Matlhaku signing a contract with the dealership on the day she bought the car and accepting to carry any costs for future repairs to the vehicle when she took ownership. The contract doesn’t mention the 30% penalty rule.

Matlhaku now wants to pull out of the deal and get another vehicle elsewhere.

“I don’t want that car any more and I want a full refund. My fear is that if I take it back, it is likely to give me problems in the future and I’m dealing with a dealership that isn’t honest to its clients,” said Matlhaku.

A representative from TTT Wheels, who gave his name only as Zama, told Sowetan Consumer they had already fixed the vehicle and it was ready for pick up. “However, the client has damaged the bumper and sides, so we have given Mrs Permla Matlhaku the option to take the vehicle back due to their initial request, which was for us to discount the vehicle and they will take the vehicle as it is with no duty to repair,” said Zama

However, Matlhaku is still adamant she no longer wanted the car when Sowetan Consumer reverted to her with Zama’s explanation.

“I don’t want that car. I just want all my money back. I’m still using taxis and I’m not getting any benefits out of this deal,” said Matlhaku.

Busie Madolwana of Cape Town had to return her second-hand Polo Vivo to Atlantis Auto after months of struggling to get the dealership to hand over ownership documents. She had bought the car in May last year and she had been driving the car using the temporary vehicle licence she had been given by the dealership.

“The dealership’s reason for having difficulty registering the car on my name at the traffic department was due to lockdown. I kept on doing follow-ups but there was no progress. Then in December as I was persistent on what the holdup was from the dealership, they informed me that the person they bought the car from was out of the country and they can’t get hold of him.

“I informed them that I’m not comfortable driving a car that I don’t have papers for and they gave me a loan car [a Renault Kwid],” said Madolwana. The loan car’s licence disc has also expired.

The dealership also promised to swap the Kwid for a car similar the one Madolwana had initially bought, but they also failed to do that.

Conrad Maans, Atlantis Auto manager, told Sowetan the car they sold to Madolwana belonged to their Congolese and Nigerian suppliers who had returned to their countries because of Covid-19 pandemic. “They took the vehicle’s papers with them and I’m still trying to sort this thing out. I have made contact with them and they will come back. We are fixing this and we have given her another vehicle so that she can be mobile,” said Maans.