German Autohaus

GERMAN AUTOHAUS: CLASSIC CAR SALES: INEFFICIENT AND MISLEADING NON-SERVICE.

On the evening of 6 July 2026 I saw an adverti*****t for a car on Facebook published by this company. I asked whether the recorded odometer reading was in miles or in Kms. This was the first time that the car had been advertised to my knowledge. I received a reply on the same evening stating it was read in miles. At 9:11 am on the following day, I messaged asking if the car was viewable. I was told at 11:09 that it would be viewable "only this afternoon." I asked to be informed when the car was on the premises to be viewed. I was told that this would be done. I was not informed. So, at 9:08 *I* again contacted this dealership with the same enquiry. I was told it was in the workshop and it would be viewable, " I don't know when but any time." I again asked to be told when it was there and available for inspection and was told *again* that I would be notified. Again, I was not contacted. Not having heard again, *I* again contacted German Autohaus and was told to "come on Monday". On Monday 11 July in the morning I duly traveled to this company's premises. I was greeted and began inspecting the car. After about 15 minutes the assistant told me "the car is sold". I then queried this with this assistant's superior and was told first, the car is sold, then told "someone has reserved the car and is coming from Cape town tomorrow to view it, because the owner (of the business) says he can't buy it without seeing it." I then pointed out that I had arranged with this very employee had told me on Saturday to come on this Monday to view the car. That i) I had made this arrangement with him ii) I had now journeyed to see the car as a result of making this arrangement iii) I had been looking at the car for about 15 minutes before a) being told it was sold and b) then being told it was reserved. I pointed out I had come as arranged, that the salesman must surely know I was coming, that he might have told me that the car was sold/reserved, and when I arrived there why not tell me then and there rather than have me spend time viewing the vehicle before telling me it was "sold/reserved". The salesman then told me "if you have the money you can take it now." I said I would wish to test drive it first. He agreed. I drove the car and discovered a number of faults with it - remember I had been told it was in the workshop being checked over. On reporting some of the faults to the salesperson he said he knew of these faults./ I then proceeded to see the owner of the business. I rehe****d the above to him. He told me he knew the car was "reserved" on Saturday and that his salesman should not have interacted with me as he did. He said that his salesperson was "trying to cover his bases" and should not have proceeded like this. I mentioned some of the mechanical faults with the car, and how these had not been mentioned till I mentioned them. The owner said well, I "should not have got that far because the car was reserved." As I write, (14/7/26, 15:36) the car still appears on the company's website and there is no indication on the website that the car is either sold or reserved./ The owner said he would address my complaints with his salesperson. I received no apology from the salesperson at all, until I - today (14/7/26) again voiced my dissatisfaction to said salesperson. I received the response: "sorry". I had no feedback from the owner of the business. So, my time was wasted, my energy was wasted, I was told 3 times by a salesperson that he would get back to me and three times he failed to do so. I arranged a time with said salesperson to view the car only to journey to the business and receive conflicting accounts from the salesperson, including being told - which turned out not to be true - that if I "had the money" I could buy the car there and then. (The owner confirmed, after *I* had gone to see him, that the car was "reserved" for someone pending this person's arrival. There was also no undertaking to contact me should said other potential buyer decide against purchase. The whole experience was a mix of inefficiency, misinformation and in one respect, a deviation from the actual case. No formal apology or follow up was offered.