Carefull of Fremor Motors Welkom

Read this before you spend money with these sharks.

This started on the 13th of Oct 2022 when I purchased a 2010 VW Polo 1.6 Trendline from Fremor Motors in Welkom for the amount of R53500.

Firstly, the car wasn't on the name of the dealership, which means the car wasn't put through the test and is still on the name of the previous owner. When I ask about it, Tania, the receptionist, tells me that it won't be a problem and that it isn't anything to worry about. This was a weird thing for everyone I dealt with after I bought the car, saying that it isn't lawful to sell a car that isn't on your name. She said that the car isn't on their name because the previous owner had to sell the car because he's father had passed away and he needed money for the funeral arrangements. But they won't be making a lot of money from the deal because they tried to help him get as much as he can.

After purchasing the car I drove to the Checkers in Welkom to get a few things before I head back to Winburg where my mom stays, about 80km. Before I left Welkom I felt the car lose power in 2nd Gear and I decide to go back to Fremor Motors for them to have a look. They suspected the petrol filter might be faulty and I volunteered to go buy a new one if they can just fit it for me. They agree and I go get a new petrol filter from the Midas across the road from the dealership. They fit the petrol filter and sent me on my way.

After driving the car to Winburg and driving it around there for a bit the car started overheating. I immediately drove home and phoned Morne to inform him about the car overheating. When I opened the bonnet I realized that there was a crack on the pipe supplying water to the radiator. He tells me that I can't expect them to have to fix everything that is wrong with the car. I tell them that this was not on the assessment form and that if it was I wouldn't have bought the car. Morne says he first has to speak to his father, Freddie, to get some advice. On the 18th I received a phone call from Freddie informing me that they have decided that they will have a look and that I have to take the car to them early on the 19th of Oct to have a look and fix the leak on the radiator pipe. They asked me to bring the car back to them to have a look. After they had the car for 2 days, they said I can come fetch the car and it is working now, with the pipe being fixed and the radiator apparently in working order. They also did an oil change, oil filter change, replaced the timing belt and the fan belt. I fetched the car again on the 21st of Oct.

The car however was still overheating the whole time. I phoned them again and they came to fetch the car for another day. I told them that I need to car back urgently as I was waiting for Netstar to come fit my tracker and that I had to leave to come back home on the 27th of Oct 2022. They brought the car back to me and I was in time for the fitment of the tracker.

The 27th we left Winburg, Free State to come back home to Port Shepstone, KZN. On the way down the car overheated just outside of Howick. We were stranded next to the road in the middle of nowhere with no means of fixing the car ourselves. I couldn't afford a tow truck and phoned Morne again to tell him about the new develpoments. Not having any sympathy for the situation he had placed me in by selling me this car, he said I would have to get it fixed. A tow truck driver stopped next to me and helped me breach the relay for the fan to stay on till I managed to get home. When I got to Port Shepstone I was so tired of this car that I just parked it and left it there for a few days while I looked for an auto electrician. I took the car to a auto electrician on the 3rd of Nov 2022 to repair the fan and the relay. I told Morne that he will have to pay for it as they were the people who was supposed to fix this before they gave me the car. The auto electrician almost had a stroke when he saw the state of the wiring from the battery that he suggested we take all the wires off and have it redone to ensure this doesn't happen again. The fan burnt out and I had to pay for the new wiring and a new fan. This was R3200.

After leaving the car with them for the afternoon to fix it, I drove home and put the car under the car port. The next morning I had an appointment a few kms away, but the car overheated again on the way. After all the work they did the fan was still not engaing at temperature. I took it back to the auto electrician and they tested the work they had done and everything was good. They couldn't understand why it wasn't engaing. They opened the water cap and it suddenly squirted out all of the water in the car and then the fan went on. They suggested I get a chemical test done to see if there is a leak on the head gasket. Leaving from there I drove about 3km to get to the highway when the clutch hydraulic pipe shot out of place and messed brake fluid all over the road. There was no clutch. I had to phone my insurance who were nice enough to send me a flat bed to tow it to a mechanic. I had no other option but to have it towed there as I was stuck next to the road once again with a car that has no clutch. This was on the 4th of Nov 2022.

I had the car towed to our mechanic that we always used to take the car to. His name is Gunther. He's a german car specialist. He kept the car there over the weekend as it had broken down on a friday night. On Monday morning he had a look at the clutch fluid that had leaked out and bled the clutch to have it working again. He told me that just from what he can see with the naked eye I overpaid massively for the car and that he wouldn't even have paid R18000 for the car. He also suggested doing the chemical test to see if there is a leak on the head gasket. There was. Morne asked that Gunther phone him to explain what he found. After Gunther finally managed to get ahold of Morne he explained that the head gasket had a leak that in return is pushing air bubbles through the cooling system of the car and this is causing the fan to not engage. He told Morne what he had told me about overpaying and that he knows he sold me a piece of garbage. Instead of arguing with Gunther about the price, he instead went on to say that it was a trade in that they had gotten and he thought the car was fine and was just reselling it. He said to him again that he can't inspect all the cars he gets in as he will never make money this way. A long off story from the one I got when I purchased the car about the poor man having to bury his father. This was on the 7th of Nov 2022.

I decided that I was going to ask for a refund. By this point the car hasn't even been for the roadworthy test. I've just had to put out fires from the first moment. I took the car for the test and it fails. The brakes aren't strong enough, there is oil stains under the engin block and there was an issue with the rear lights and license plate lights. This was also on the 7th of Nov 2022.

I phoned Morne again and decided to ask for a refund. If the car can't even pass the roadworth test, then what was I supposed to do with the car? Morne says that he'll have to seek legal advice and speak to his father again, I'm assuming his father is the actual owner of Fremor Motors. I take the car back to Gunther to set the brakes, change the bulbs and the license disk light. The lights on the license plate was spray painted over and had to be cleaned off to work again. The car stayed over at Gunther on the 7th and I go back on the morning of the 8th of Nov 2022 to fetch the car to take it back to the roadworthy testing facility. This time it passes by the skin of its teeth and I finally put the car on my name after almost a month of fixing it.

Gunther advices me that I need to get my money back from Fremor Motors asap. I phone Morne again and he just gives me the same old nonsense about having to speak to his father. Up until now I haven't heard from them regarding my refund. I decided to sell the car to We Buy Cars on the 11th of Nov 2022 after 4 days of waiting for Morne to answer me for R45000. R8500 less than what I paid for it, and after I spent more than R6000 on fixing it less than a month later.

After all the times I've asked Morne who their bargaining council is, I've come to the conclusion that they aren't registered with one. If they did this to me, I definitely am not the first person to be done in by them.

So after all of our effort and the lies we were told about this car, all I have to show for it is a contract with Netstar for the next 3 years @ R200 pm and no car for them to track. This is not fair on us. We trust these people to give us the right advice and not just throw us down a dark alley with who knows what waiting on the other side.