WILL DAMAGE YOUR CAR - RATHER GO TO BOSCH
Branch: Kyalami
Summary: Lack any real expertise, will damage your car and make false suppositions without backing in an attempt to redirect fault all whilst being either neglectful or deliberately sabotaging your car.
10 July '25 - As I'm parking my car (from a slow drive in traffic) white smoke or steam comes from my bonnet. Call towtruck to take my car to their Kyalami branch. They deduce that a water pipe has burst due to a faulty Water Pressure Pump and Thermostat (an apparently common problem in Ford Fiestas - when I explained I had a Ford Fiesta for 7 years prior to this one with no issue he said I got lucky). I was also due for a minor service the next month as it would be 1yr since they carried out a major service and had not yet gone anywhere near the next service mileage so I asked them to include it. They quoted me R13796.10 which included a minor service valued at R1545(incl VAT).
14 July '25 - Arrived to fetch my car after confirming a price of a part came in cheaper so it would be a total of R13000, only to arrive and find Robert mistakenly left off the minor service even though it was accepted as part of the initial quote. He fought me on it so I quoted his pricing on every item which matched his invoice and questioned how he got to 13k without a service. He apologized and told me to bring it in on Saturday. I couldn't manage it and booked it for Wednesday 23 July '25. Upon collection of my car there was black oil marks on the felt ceiling of my car by the driver door and my drink holder separator was missing. Decided to address it when I came for the service.
23 July '25 - Called to say I wouldn't make it for my booked service first thing as I had an urgent meeting to attend, but would arrive at 10:00, they said it was fine. Arrived at 10:00 and Robert says they can't service my car as there's too many cars in front of mine. I argued I wouldn't have to drive all the way from Randburg to service my car if they serviced it in the first place when they had it. He gave in and I collected my serviced car at 13:00.
28 July '25 - my car won't start. It cranks but the engine doesn't turn. I call Robert who says it's nothing they did because all they did was change the oil and oil filter. Suggests it could be anything from the starter motor to the alternator to the battery. My battery seemed fine coz all lights were fine but I decide to humour him and jump start my car only to find the bonnet cable disconnected from the bonnet latch. I tell Robert this and he tells me it could have slipped out. This is a very common problem with Ford Fiestas he says. I then climb under my dash and reconnect the cable myself, no part of which is broken, and in doing so establish that there's absolutely no way the cable just "slips out" given that there's a pill that slips in the side and the cable has to be pulled with considerable force to slip it into a groove to hold it in place. I now become irate and call head office who calls them and they agree to tow the vehicle at their cost to their centre. I'm reluctant because now I have trust issues but I don't have anymore money coz I just paid them 13k
31 July '25 - I get my car back after they kept it for 3 days struggling to find the cause of the non-start and then claiming it was because my shocks (which they replaced on 13 August '25 and only 6766km ago) were rusted. They claimed that this was likely due to water in the engine and that while my head gasket wasn't blown there was likely a small hole somewhere and it's only a matter of time before it blows, but they can't confirm as they don't have the required liquid to run a proper compression test and blame it on the earlier burst pipe which I feel formed part of their scope to check if this is such a plausible possibility. I didn't know what to believe at that stage but my car was starting and I was completely out of money so I decided to run full diagnostics at a Bosch service center as soon as I was able. Drove to Builders Warehouse Rivonia, then to site in Woodmead, then to storage in Centurion and as I was parking my car back on site in woodmead my battery died. Checked under the bonnet to find my positive battery terminal completely loose. Tightened it and it started fine so I thought nothing of it and just didn't want to get into another fight as I had far too much work stress that required my attention.
13 August '25 - Drove to a client in Laudium from Observatory, then to a petrol station in the same area, before another meeting at Mall@55. When I make to leave my meeting, my car won't start. I found a technician who had a look at my car and got it to start using Quick Start claiming there would be no further issues. But my dash tells me my car is due for a service and to check the engine oil, but I know it was serviced. They said that CSC probably forgot to reset the date and not just the mileage (I'm still nowhere near the mileage so who knows what was or what was not reset).
14 August '25 - Car starts fine in the morning at work, fine in the evening to go to the shops, then struggles to start when I want to leave the shops but reluctantly does, then refused when I wanted to leave for an event. At this point I can't and I just leave it. I looked it up and it says the battery may be damaged and struggling when the engine bay is heat soaked. So I resolve to go to a battery centre after work or on Saturday first thing to replace the battery.
15 August '25 - car starts fine, I drive to site in Laudium, but it doesn't feel right. There's no power when hitting the accelerator. I'm not sure if I'm imagining it at this point. After work I tried starting the car, but nothing. Check the engine and find the coolant reservoir is completely EMPTY AND it's broken. Not the reservoir itself, but one of the two loops that allows it to sit properly in position by hooking on to two metal things it slides on to which has also caused it to rub against a ***** on another part which has rubbed a dent in the side wall of the reservoir. It hasn't broken through the plastic YET, but it's inevitable.
I had to abandon my vehicle in Laudium with a technician who will run full diagnostics and get back to me as to what my start issue is.
But my complaints are these:
1. How does a water pipe burst and you don't check the reservoir and everything coolant related when determining what the problem is? 2. How do you neither have nor obtain the necessary fluids required to determine if the head gasket has blown or lost compression and instead rely on thumb sucks and telling me there's no way to know these things until something happens - then what exactly is the point of your business if you just rely on cars breaking down to determine there's a fault and what it is? Is your business not meant to be PREVENTITIVE???? 3. Why are you disconnecting bonnet cables and battery terminals without ensuring they are firmly secured after working on a vehicle? 4. Why aren't you noting the service on the vehicles computers after EVERY service completeted?
I'm so upset and have lost all faith in your business. I had ZERO ISSUES until I took the car in to your center for repairs. Not so much as a warning light and now god alone knows the extent of the damage.
I will be taking this to court because I am firmly of the opinion that your centres negligence has directly resulted in my vehicles ongoing issues. Had your technicians done their due diligence and carried out their job professionally at all 3 times my car was at your centre I would not be where I am today with a likely far worse problem!