Disgusting!

I made the mistake of purchasing from Leo Haese Centurion. I am completely disgusted with the service that they provide and the "creative accounting" that they did with my OTP (which I am sure could constitute as *****) resulting in myself being put in a situation where I can never sell/trade in my car. Let me provide you with a bit of history so that you can understand my frustration.

I went in to Leo Haese last year January wanting to trade my 1 series BMW in as my husband had been retrenched and wanted to see if there was a way to alleviate my monthly expenses. I landed up being roped into a deal with a Mini Clubman. I arrived to collect my Mini and was told that it was not ready and would need to come back. I brought the car back for the paint protection to be done. I collected the car and two days later noticed that all of my windows had circular motion scratches almost as if someone washed the car with a dirty rag. I complained and the then sales manager accused my cats of scratching my car needless to say after much fighting they refused to replace the windows. The only solution that they offered was for me to put it through my insurance and they would pay for the excess. I did not believe this was ethical so I declined the offer as I did not want to have a mark against my name and affect my insurance profile for something that was not my fault.

In August last year I took my Mini in for a service and the day after the car had a terrible sound in the engine almost as if something was loose. My grandfather had passed away and I had to fight with them to come and fetch my car. I got called back to come and collect my car and as we started the car the noise was still there. After this happened a few times I told them that I did not want the car anymore as the mechanic had mentioned to my husband that they did not know what was the cause of the problem. I did not want a troublesome car as this car only had 19000km and I feel that the dealership knew that there was a problem with the car and saw me as an easy target.

I told them that I did not want a MINI anymore and wanted to go back to BMW my understanding is that I was basically swopping cars and walking away from the MINI. I collected the BMW and this car was also not ready for collection. There was tar stains on the wheel arches and the car had to be sent to a panelbeater.

Recently I generated a settlement quotation and got the biggest fright on my life when I saw how much I owed on the car. It seems that the money had been loaded on the car. I then started to investigate and discovered that a car that I thought was R399000 had almost R190000 loaded on the offer to purchase. I didn't feel the need to check every single page of the documentation that I signed as I feel that BMW is reputable brand, I have grown up knowing that if you want a reliable and reputable car you buy a BMW.

I have also discovered that I paid well over trade value for the car that I purchased last August which now has also been discontinued which they obviously knew last year. If I had know that I would not have bought the car at all. I have also discovered that current value of that car is R280 000 I do understand that a car is not an investment and that the value does depreciate (which is normally about 3 - 11 %) but I have never heard of a car depreciating by almost half its value in 6 months. I think this is a good indication of how much I was overcharged.

With the way that my deal has been structured in no way was it explained to me that I will never be able to sell this car ever as they have loaded a large amount on the vehicle and I also have a residual.

I am extremely disgusted and request that an formal investigation is conducted with regard to this matter because I am sure that this cannot be lawful to falsify an OTP and load 190 000 onto a vehicle when most banks do not allow more than 10% of a vehicle value to loaded. Surely they are regulated by the financial board?

I feel that I have been taken advantage of and currently do not ever want to own a BMW or MINI again. I am disappointed as I feel that the brand is a professional and reputable brand that is trustworthy but my experience has been everything other than that.

I complained to BMW Finance and they say that there is nothing untoward regarding how the deal was structured. Surely BMW Finance should check documentation that is submitted. Should a dealer submit creative accounting and shocking paper work they financial institution backing them should take this into question.

Since then the issue has been escalated to BMW Head Office that was over two weeks ago with no response or feedback.

BMW is definitely not worth what you are paying for! You would probably get better service from TATA.