Friendly and Personal Service at Barloworld Toyota Stellenbosch, going above and beyond what is expected from car dealerships

The Boland still has "old school values" when it comes to business and this is why.

I saw an advert of a Polo Tdi which I was looking for on Gumtree a while ago. This specific vehicle is very difficult to find in a good secondhand condition. (At that stage I was looking for more than 4 months; sometimes driving 350+ km to test-drive such a vehicle).

After seeing the advert, I phoned the listing business (Barloworld Toyota in Stellenbosch) and spoke to the Sales Agent (Richard). He gave me a complete background of the vehicle. Since I lived quite far away, I requested if I could personally speak to the previous owner, knowing that a lot of dealers uses service records of cars which were written off to "build a **** service record" for cars which had high mileage. Richard stated that it is not really allowed, but progressed to contact the VW dealership in Stellenbosch and allowed me to speak to one of the agents who was involved in the servicing of the vehicle for the past 8+ years (Shaun). He gave me a complete breakdown of the history of the vehicle on their system. I thought I'd push my luck and requested to speak to the previous owner. Richard and Shaun (from opposing dealerships) went above and beyond service excellence and contacted the previous owner (Pierre). This old omie agreed to speak to me and we ended up speaking a long time over the telephone. After this, I sent my brother-in-law who lived 30km away to inspect the car and take photos of any dent which the car might have. Being satisfied that the previous owner and VW and Toyota's stories completely lined up, I progressed to explain the predicament which I found myself in (being located in excess of 1 000 km from Stellenbosch, and being unable to travel to Stellenbosch for the next week due to business engagements). I requested if I would be able to put down a deposit and if I did not take the vehicle, Barloworld could keep my deposit. Richard stated that he had to discuss it with the owner (Cliffie Etsebet). Cliffie phoned me back a few minutes later and I explained the scenario to him. I proposed depositing R 5 000. He kept quiet a bit and stated that I needn't do that. R 1 000 would suffice, since he trusted my word that I would fly down and come and look (something which is truly rare these days). He inquired if it would be able to send a flight booking confirmation, which I did not have a problem with (something which I technically could cancel if I wanted to).

Richard spoke to me a few times after that and stated whether or not I would mind if one of his colleagues would show me the vehicle when I arrived since he had a pre-arranged "father/son" day with his eldest (something which in itself is also very rare these days). One of his colleagues picked me up at Cape Town International Airport with the Polo and permitted me to test-drive the vehicle the odd 35km back to Stellenbosch. I immediately realized the car was really in a very good condition. I drove straight to the bank and transferred the money directly inside the bank to ensure that I would be able to return back home asap.

When getting to Toyota Stellenbosch, I met Cliffie, who acted like the typical Bolander, and gave me a bottle of Beyerskloof Pinotage (branded by their dealership) as a gift. I gave them some Kalahari yellow fat biltong to thank them for their help and also met with Shaun form VW across the road to do the same. Which surprised me the most, was the fact that the previous owner (Pierre) drove the 40+km from the neighbouring Somerset West to just come and meet me to ensure that "his baby" is now sold to people who will "look well after her". This is something which is extremely rare, since dealerships always tell you about the "old omie/tannie" who owned the car, but then never allows you to actually verify if it is really an old gentleman or lady who looked well after the vehicle.

Honestly speaking, if I ever were to buy another car, Id phone the dealers in Stellenbosch again and request them to look out for such a "gem in the rough" for me, even if it took 6 months to do so.

You make me miss the Boland. You are excellent dealers! Thank you for your ethical service. It is truly a rarity these days!