Purchasing a Vehicle that is not Roadworthy and Dealer refuses to follow Consumer Act

<p> On the 27th February 2016, my husband and I purchased a vehicle from Stormvoel Motor City in Pretoria. We flew in and the vehicle was not there. The Salesperson, Ryno, worked through all the paper work with my husband. When the vehicle arrived, we had to inspect the vehicle. I pointed out that the vehicle had not been valeyed even though we were charged for it. They cleaned the car by hand. </p> <p> </p> <p>The key got stuck in the boot and could not be opened. Both keys provided were *****. However, not being machinic we accepted that the vehicle was roadworthy as we were provided with a certificate that passed the Road Worthy. We drove the vehicle back to Durban that same day. The vehicle drove well on the trip other than hearing noises.</p> <p> </p> <p>On the 3rd trip driving back from work that week, it was raining. The gear slipped out of gear, and had to stop 3 times, of which x2 I nearly caused and accident. The indicators and all electronics malfunctioned.</p> <p> </p> <p>My husband contacted the dealer, Ryno, and we were told to take the vehicle in to check. We elected to pay Bosh to do an electronic test on the vehicle, which cost us R1000.00. The test results were that 4 CV joints needed replacing, the gearbox was leaking, the engine was leaking. the central locking was not working, the boot was an issue to open and various other issues. We were advised that the vehicle should not have passed roadworthy. We emailed the report through to the dealer who advised they will try find someone in Natal to repair the vehicle. We insisted that we receive a document from them that they are prepared to repair the vehicle as per the report. Ryno forwarded this to us and we felt comfortable with the agreement.</p> <p> </p> <p>We suggested we take the vehicle to our mechanic - CV AutoJoints for a 2nd opinion as Bosh's quote was rather high. Ryno agreed to this. Our mechanic confirmed that all CV joints require replacement, there was leaks in the gearbox and engine. The mechanic had to tighten up bolts and replace missing bolts from the front suspensions and had to put 3 pints of oil into the gearbox. In addition the central locking did not work not the boot and various other issues.</p> <p> </p> <p>I forwarded the report and quote to Ryno the dealer. The following day we contacted Ryno to confirm that he had received the 2nd quote. We were told that Ryan was fired and had already left the company. (all telephone calls are recorded). My husband spoke to the Manager Pieter Bouwer who initially offered R7500.00. We rejected this and both parties agreed to get the car to JHB and the dealer would then repair. We have in writing both options, from the dealer. On the grounds that the car was not roadworthy, we got a quote from AA and the cost to get it to JHB would be R5600, plus my husbands airfair to get there and the cost to travel back to Durban. My husband tried to negotiate that both parties pay 50/50 to get the vehicle there and back. This was rejected by the dealer. A few days later, my husband and I then agreed to pay for the costs to get the car there and back again. My husband contacted the dealer, who then told us that this will not be an option and the only option was to pay us R7000.00 for the damages. This doesnt even cover labour to repair the vehicle.</p> <p> </p> <p>We then went to our lawyer who sent a letter to negotiate the option to repair the vehicle. This was rejected by the dealer. Our lawyer then sent a letter to cancel contract. The response from the dealer was not accepting cancellation and only option was to give us the R7000.00 and commented to the lawyer that everyone knows how long the legal system would take not to mention the legal costs. </p> <p> </p> <p>We had contacted the Consumer Council to lodge a complaint and according to the consumer council act, section 56 of the CPA Act 2008, the options to us is to repair; replace or refund. </p> <p> </p> <p>To point out that no copies of documentation or insurance policies were given to us.</p> <p> </p> <p>The dealer pointed out that he has a valid roadworthy certificate and inferred that we had caused the damage after collecting the vehicle. I find it really difficult to belive that driving the vehicle for 3 days had caused such damages to all CV joints and leaks in the engine. In this country it is not unknown for dealers to pay the person inspecting the vehicle to provide a roadworthy certificate when it fails the test. Nor is it unknown that the person inspecting the vehicle actually didnt perform proper inspections.</p> <p> </p> <p>At this stage everything is in limbo, and we have had to be inconveniences to try and run our business with one car, resulting in us loosing one of our clients. Further, our only car, the Condor is now in repairs and we no longer have any car. We are now forced this week to collect the vehicle from our mechanic and drive an unroadworthy car, and we are paying for a car we could only drive for 3 days since February.</p> <p> </p> <p>Please can you assist us to get resolution for the dealer to repair the vehicle and cover all costs incurred todate, and cover the cost to get the vehicle to his workshop, legal fees incurred todate, valai the vehicle and electronics repaird. Further to provide us thereafter with an electronic report that the vehicle is repaired and roadworthy</p>