Cul-de-sac for Zambezi Drive vehicles buyers
CLIENTS STUCK WITH FAULTY CARS
THE most problematic sale is always of a second-hand vehicle, not because there is normally no warranty but also because there is no history of technical problems apart from those contained in the service book – if it is available.
Though the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) says a consumer has a right to safe and good quality products, some dealers try to circumvent the law and sell the cars “voetstoots” (as it is). Some even offer discounts to avoid their duty to repair the car without cost within the first six months of sale.
Mbalenhle Buthelezi of Mashona village in Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal, and Yonela Tshabalala of Westonaria, Johannesburg, and several other consumers were sold defective cars and made to sign contracts which take away their rights to bring back the cars for repairs within the first six months of taking possession.
Buthelezi, 31, said her friend, who works in Pretoria, told her there were beautiful cars sold by a stream of car dealers at Zambezi Drive and that she could get her dream car from them. “I saved money as I had realised I could buy one for cash,” Tshabalala said.
After saving the money, she found a car she liked at Triple V Motors worth R64 999. She was given a discount of R4 999 to waive any right for repairs she may want on the car in future.
She said she was so excited that she didn’t even read the terms and conditions of the contract. She just signed, only to realise later that she was sold the car voetstoots.
Buthelezi said she noticed defects on the car only a day after buying it and sought legal advice. She was advised to return the car as the voetstoots clause was outlawed when the CPA was enacted in 2008. Within four days she returned it to the dealership with the intention to cancel the contract and demand her money back as it was still within the cooling-off period.
Though they picked up the mechanical problems, they would not let her change it for another one or allow her to cancel the contract.
She tried to assert her consumer rights but “Rian”, who was helping her, told her his decision could not be challenged and chased her away, said Buthelezi. “I told them about my rights and Rian, ‘the boss’, said: ‘What do they know about rights? They think they are the only ones who know about rights, we also have rights’,” Buthelezi said.
“He said nobody challenged him in his business and succeeded. He said I must take my rubbish (the car) and leave,” Buthelezi said.
She tried to resist, but five Afrikaans-speaking men chucked her out of the building, she said.
“Getting police intervention could not help as they too asked me to take the car and leave.”
Tshabalala, 27, is also a victim of the same unfair business practice. She said she was given a discount of R16 000 in lieu of her right to return the car for repairs. The terms and conditions of the contract she signed stated that if a discount applied, there would be no duty on the dealer. “As fate would have it, two weeks later I realised that I bought a skorokoro,” she said. When she approached the dealer for repairs she was referred to the terms and conditions of the contract. Cancelling the contract was also not successful.
However, Triple V Motors’ Pieter Venter said “there was no problem with Buthelezi’s car”, adding that only the vacuum pipes were faulty but that they were fixed by their mechanic.
Venter denied that they chased her away and used racial slurs against her.
He said Buthelezi behaved like a mad person, running amok and was almost hit by a truck. He said her violent action also scared off a number of their customers.
Venter said they were not aware of any other defects on the car. He also pointed Consumer Line to the declaration of knowledge, which among other things states that the consumer is aware that the car is sold as a no-runner.
He said he was willing to take a lie detector test with Buthelezi.
Zakir Hussain Burfat, the sales manager at the Glen Car Mart, said they will also not cancel Tshabalala’s contract. “We’ve already helped the customer by changing the brake pads, plugs and coils on the car without any charges.”
He said all the faulty things she complained about are consumable items which will need replacements again after some time.