Gross ********* misconduct: Swoping of car parts to swindle paying customers

Car Care Clinic, Fourways Branch.

They have behaved *********ly by taking out our engine cover and replacing it with a damaged cover from another vehicle in order to swindle more money from us as paying customers. I am also of the opinion that they may have been ********* with regards to the service they have offered us thus far.

Below is an account of the events and dealings with Car Care Clinic Fourways.

Our first contact with Car Care Clinic. We took the car in for service July 2017. We met Rudy and he took the car in. He then advised me on extra work that needed to be done on the car, the price kept climbing until we capped it at R12 500.00, leaving out the tappet cover job. We approved the work and the invoice amounted to just over R12 500.00

Our second contact was for a water leakage in November - and the problem diagnosed was the water pump and thermostat. The invoice amounted to about R8 800.00. We told them that we didn't have the money at the time, however we would park the car and use the other one until we had the funds. Which we did.

We then sent it in on Thursday the 4th of January, expecting to pick up the car on Saturday/Monday the latest as per Rudy's advice.

Rudy then called for in to report that the water flange had a hairline crack and we were told that it would cost an extra +-R2000. We asked if it's possible to fix the flange at a later date as the cost was beyond our budget. They said yes, because the car would be able to run for a while but we'd have to fix it soon. So we agreed that we would bring it in month end. They advised that we regularly check the water.

I picked up the car in the afternoon Tuesday the 9th of January. Went home and parked it. When I picked up the car, I noticed that the engine cover was not the same, and I meant to ask him why he felt the need to change it. Because we had a silver metal cover, and now there was a black "Ecotech" plastic cover. But I was thrown off because I was trying to negotiate to pay them R7 000.00 on the day, and the balance of about R1 800.00 at the end of the month, as we needed the car urgently for my partner to use to go to work and we didn't have more money. After a long back and forth discussion, and promises that I would keep my word and make payment, we eventually reached an agreement.

Wednesday 10/01 I checked the water in the morning and noticed that the car needed water. I filled up the water and my partner used the car to go to work. While she was at work I asked her to pass by the garage on her way back to check out the water. (I wanted to establish the frequency of the problem)

When she got to the garage the anti freeze was gushing out of the pipe, the attendant discovered that the flange pipe was severely torn and the water in the car was boiling. They poured more water in the car and she drove the car home and parked it.

The next morning (Thursday 11/01 I took the car in. Rudy told me he'd fix the flange pipe on condition that I pay for the flange repairs at the end of month. I agreed. And he told me the car would be ready the next day, Friday the 12th.

On the 12th I get a call from Rudy to tell me the "bad news" My engine gasket had blown from "driving the car without water"

At that point everything became clear for me: Rudy had told me that the car is in a drivable condition and that the water would need to be checked from time to time because it had a "hairline crack". However when my partner got to the garage (Wednesday the 10/01) it was discovered that the pipe was severely torn.

On Thursday 11/01 when I took the car back, one of the mechanics gave me a ride back home. And he told me that they had worked on the car and he (noticed) the problem in the flange after they had fixed the water pump. He said when they checked the car, all the pressure went into the flange. Now I'm not a mechanic but I understand that if a pump is working and a pipe has a small leak, it's inevitable that the pressure willlead to a pipe burst. But I'm of the opinion that pipe was torn all along, because there was no water when I checked in the morning.

So when I got the call that the gasket was had burst and it was leaking oil and water, it all made sense. Our engine top cover was changed for a faulty cover(most likely from a car they were having trouble with). And in order to justify our faulty engine, they used the flange with a "hairline crack" as an excuse, the set up.

I also recalled a conversation I had with Rudy about a car that owned by a guy he knows that was in the garage that blew a gasket cover, & it's costing him a fortune to fix. He even showed me the car, it was also a white Corsa D. I then realised that he must have swoped into another car. This was a set up, and the engine covers were not differe I would have not figured it out.

And now we would have bear the costs because of our overnight "irresponsible behaviour" by driving a car without water. And bear the enormous costs of fixing the engine. Which is a highly ********* way of ****ing two birds with one stone.

I have approached Rudy, the manager and the mechanic, and they flatly deny their actions, and **** to my face, claiming that the engine cover that is in the car is the same engine cover that was always on the car.

I've since had to seek legal assistance and I'm hoping that I will fund recourse through the legal process.