| Tuning your straight on voetstoots |
The act prohibits any official car dealer from selling a vehicle voetstoets, irrespective of whether they disclose what is wrong with
the vehicle or not. Private sales can be voetstoets, if a full
list of all known car defects has been provided to the buyer, who has to sign
the list.
This implies buyers can now take a dud car back to a dealer, as two
readers, who complained to Weekend Witness about buying what they
say were problem cars, tried to do.
Mr M, who bought a Toyota, wrote that “ever since I bought it [the
car] I have never used it for one calendar month without it having
problems”.
Mr P, who bought a Jeep, said his saga with the dealer was
“becoming a huge joke really”. The matter is, however, no joke for the dealer in
question, where the sales manager promptly answered questions from Weekend Witness. He said he was well aware of the two cases, as they
formed the one percent of clients among four branches who had ongoing issues
with a vehicle.
Mr M said his issue started with a warning light from the day he
bought the Toyota, but after checking it, the dealer assured him there was
nothing wrong and “I must keep on driving, maybe the light will come off”.
Mr M drove it for “a week or two” and on the N3, “I had a problem,
my car couldn’t go and I had to stop, and when I stopped the oil was leaking in
front”. The dealer’s side of the story is that Mr M brought his car back after
driving it for 7 000 km, with a big dent in his exhaust, as if the car had been
driven over a sizeable, hard object, like a rock.
The CPA views such damage at best as wear and tear or as
negligence, neither of which will be covered by any warranty.
As for the Jeep, the dealer said Mr P brought the Jeep back with
complaints after driving it some 2 000 km. A second independent test by the
dealer revealed worn bushes, which the first list of faults did not show. The
dealer fixed these. Mr P, however, wanted to trade the Jeep for another model,
but the dealer policy is not to cancel done deals; and they could only offer to
sell Mr P’s Jeep at no cost. Mr P meanwhile is getting more and more frustrated
both with the Jeep and the CPA.
The dealer said when buyers of a car discover any defects not
listed on the fault sheet within six months of the sale, the CPA does give them
the right to insist on repair, replacement or a refund for the vehicle, but this
does not mean buyers can trade a car back every five-and-a-half months.
Ronald said what is clear from the CPA is that this doesn’t mean
that you can return the car because it’s lost that “new car smell”. There are
clear rules on when you can return your vehicle, most critical being when
there’s a material defect, failure or hazard that’s not due to any alterations
you made after buying it.
Tuning you straight
• When buying old cars, steer clear of marques from countries where cars are disposable items. If they are not made to last there, they won’t last here. This goes for grey imports from Japan as much as it does for American mass market engineering, which is built on a premise started by Henry Ford that all parts of the car must break together. That way, new car sales were guaranteed.
• Look for the Retail Motor Industry’s (RMI) sign on dealerships and even then, check out that dealer’s reputation on Hello Peter before walking in as a willing buyer for your car.
• Buyers who are having difficulties after buying or selling a used car, can call the National Consumer Commission in Centurion on 012 940 4450 or e-mail
complaints@thencc.org.za
