My GWM Nightmare

I drive a GWM H6 1.5Turbo and on the 7th of February (Thursday) the turbo in my car blew (89226km). I duly contacted the service department to let them know what had happened and if I could bring the car in to be fixed as it was still under warranty. They said to bring it in right away, which I did. Only for me to get my car back on Tuesday the 12th February as they had to put in a claim through warranty and then wait for the new turbo to arrive.

I had the car for 2 days and when driving the car the turbo would “kick in” and then release and “kick in” and then release repeatedly. I then called the service department again and told them what was happening with the car, for them to say, bring it back and they will fix it. So I took my car back on the 15th February (89546km) where they claimed to have fixed it and they also replaced the cam chain, which I had been riding around with it making a noise because the mechanic, Graham at that time, had said it was a hole in the exhaust box. (Imagine if that had broken.) I had to wait again for a few days as the service department had to wait for warranty to approve it.

A few days later on the 4th March (90348km) I took my car in for the 90000km service where they changed spark plugs as well. There still wasn’t a change in the way the car was riding and they were then going to replace the coil packs and plugs, but couldn’t do so as they needed an approval from warranty. I had a holiday booked and my family and I went away to Mpumalanga on the 22nd March for a week and had the worst drive there and back home. (Hoping that by the time we got back, the parts would have been approved and my car would finally be fixed, but that wasn’t the case. We couldn’t drive faster than 100km because then the turbo would “kick in” and release again continuously. We had to drive behind huge trucks as we could not overtake them as the car did not have the power to do so and would suddenly slow down if we went a little faster. On the way home on the 29th March we called the service department again and told them what was going on with the car during our holiday and they said to bring it back again because they couldn’t get the parts as they needed to send warranty a launch report. So we duly stopped past again on our home, when all we wanted to do was get home and relax. When we arrived at GWM/HAVAL RACEVIEW MOTORS ALBERTON, I then went through to ask to speak to the dealer principal (Cecilia Ries) as clearly she had no idea what had been going on for the past 2 months or simply didn’t/ doesn’t care about customer service. The receptionist said she was in a meeting could I please wait, which I duly did and had no problem waiting as I was unannounced. Trevor from the service department then came through to see if there was anything else he could do to help or not. So we both waited for the meeting to be over. Trevor then went through first when she was done with the meeting, only for her to tell him that she didn’t have time as she was “running off.” Is this the way to treat a customer? So I left with Trevor feeling angrier than I was before.

On the 3rd April the service department replaced the coil packs and plugs and the turbo pressure control valve as they thought there wasn’t enough pressure going into the turbo and that could have been causing the problem. Louis managed to get me a courtesy car so I wouldn’t have to rely on people taking my daughter and I to school and taking us back home as we never had a car. I was then told the car was sorted and I could collect it AGAIN. We then went out that evening and as we were driving on the highway, the same thing happened again, the turbo would “kick in” and then release. I immediately phoned and spoke to Louis again and he said we must bring it in. I then informed him I would bring it back the next morning, which I did AGAIN (4th April)

My car has been at the dealers since the 4th April and I STILL DO NOT have my car back. The service department has replaced sensors after sensors, pedal cables and who knows what else. On the 15th of April I phoned to speak to the Dealer Principal (Cecilia) again, only to be told she was not in. So I then spoke to Ricky (a lady) at the dealership and told her that I would take GWM/HAVAL to all forms of social media because of their lack of care for their customers and clearly their mechanics have no clue as to how the cars work and what is supposed to be done when things go wrong. Their service department also only have 1 courtesy car, so I was still left with people giving me lifts and relying on other people. Also the fact that Cecilia clearly has no idea as to what happens in her service department, because had a customer of mine, brought a car back nearly every week and the problem wasn’t getting sorted, there was something drastic that needed to be done, and she doesn’t seem to care. Ricky then said she would get back to me with regards to a courtesy car, which she duly did and I have been driving it ever since as I still don’t have MY car back. To this day I still haven’t received one phone call from Cecilia to apologise about all the inconvenience or anything to make me feel better and not so angry.

On Monday the 29th April, I was informed that the “new” turbo is damaged and we have to wait again for warranty to approve the claim. I was told I would have received my car back on Friday the 3rd May only to give them a call and get told that the order was processed incorrectly. I really don’t understand what is so difficult to get a car fixed. This type of service is unacceptable and should not be allowed to continue.

I do not and will not recommend any person to purchase a GWM / HAVAL from any dealership and certainly not Raceview motors, Alberton. When am I going to get my car back?