Beware…International road trip with Chery

We bought a brand-new Chery Tiggo Pro 7 fourteen months ago and we took the car on a road trip to Namibia at the end of December 2023. One of the shock absorbers started leaking towards the end of our holiday and we were forced to cut our trip short and make our way back to Windhoek with a damaged shock absorber. We went to the Chery Windhoek dealership on the 8th of January 2024, where they confirmed that the shock absorber was faulty and the repairs would be covered by the warranty. They did not have the necessary part and needed to order it from South Africa, which would take 7 – 14 days. We were thus forced to fly back to South Africa and leave the car at Chery Windhoek. On the 16th of January, Chery Windhoek informed me that it would take 60 days to get the required part as it was ex-supply. I phoned Chery dealership in Gauteng, and they confirmed they did not have the part in stock. I then contacted Chery South Africa to escalate this matter. I was told that they would find out about this missing part and let me know about the options for a courtesy car. On the 22nd of January, Chery SA confirmed that the part is available in South Africa and it would be dispatched to Namibia for the repairs. Both Chery Windhoek and Chery local dealership had used the incorrect part number when sourcing the part. I spoke to the manager at Chery SA who apologised for the mishap on the part number and confirmed that they were trying to expedite the part to Namibia.

During this period of around 4 weeks without my car, no courtesy car was provided to me, despite the delays caused by Chery’s own incompetence. They did not want to cover any associated costs in relation to this incident nor assist with the repatriation of the car back to South Africa. We had to book one-way tickets to fly back to Windhoek to collect the car If you are considering buying a Chery vehicle, don’t. Once they have made a sale, they do not care about what subsequently happens to you and the car. Post sales customer care is a joke and the expression that customer is king does not work with them.