WARNING TO POTENTIAL BUYERS – MITMAK DOES NOT HONOUR YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS

A warning to anyone considering a vehicle from Mitmak, ensure you know your legal rights and do not back down. I purchased my lemon, a 2016 Jeep in Feb 2022, to date it’s been with workshops a total of over 4 months (half the time I’ve owned it, it’s been in workshops). You will sign delivery and start paying before getting your vehicle.

Do not be blinded by the positive reviews, which I admit I was before I approached MitMak, but go through the negative reviews and you will very quickly identify the trend of experiences, mine is not isolated and should really make you second guess your decision to deal with Mitmak.

My problems started only 2 days after receiving the vehicle, when it broke down in a game reserve with electrical faults. This after it took Mitmak over a month to first deliver following numerous failures to deliver.

I immediately requested the transaction be cancelled, which I was expressly told is NOT an option and they will repair. At the time I was unaware of my legal rights that Return, Replace or Repair are all enforceable under section 52 of the CPA and is your right as consumer to elect which option applies, DO NOT FALL FOR THEIR REPAIR TRAP. The vehicle was taken, not repaired and returned.

Over the following months the vehicle continues to breakdown randomly, I drive it as seldomly as possible as it poses both a safety risk and inconvenience, in the mean time I learn that a disconnect of the battery for 30min, helps reset the computer and I am able to drive on again, even if only a short distance at times. This obviously not very safe in RSA when you have to randomly just stop next to any road and wait 30min before trying to start the car. Concerned for my safety I arrange a tracking device to be installed in the car in May (This only because I feel so unsafe travelling in the vehicle, it’s not related to my insurance at all.) At the end of July 2022, the problem does not want to clear when disconnecting the battery, even for hours, Defeated I arrange to have the vehicle towed to a Jeep Specialist for Diagnosis, upon receiving a large quote to merely strip the car to locate the problem, I make contact with Mitmak and having given up asking them to cancel the transaction, I ask what they will offer me for the car pre and post having the repairs done, Mitmak advise they will NOT even trade this vehicle in (before or after the repairs), which speaks volumes to the faith they have in their products, but do offer to assist with repairs.

The vehicle sits at the dealership for 3 months, in the first month they confirm they cannot identify the problem, during this same period I receive legal advice with regards to the CPA, which I raise to MitMak, and am again told that they will not cancel the transaction or buy the car from me. As such I take the case to MIOSA, which doesn’t seem to trouble Mitmak at all.

After the 3 months, the vehicle is eventually returned to me, along with a MIOSA recommendation, citing the tracking device installed months after the problem started as the cause of the problem, this despite providing a Jeep Diagnosis report confirming the problems started from March and a Job card from the tracking company confirming the installation only in May, there is no logical way they are related. It’s also worth noting that the MIOSA recommendation is received within minutes of the vehicle being delivered, while no communication was shared with MIOSA that the vehicle is even returned to me after 3 months at the dealership, so even this ruling is suspicious.

Any dealership can get good ratings on hello peter when the transaction is smooth and trouble free, the real test for a dealership is how they handle the troubled transactions, the horror stories that tarnish the industry as a whole, this is where the nasty experiences and true colours of the dealership is revealed.

This review only touches on the main issue experienced with Mitamk, but there are many other red flags, from the finance structure they propose (Includes loads of stuff you didn’t ask for), to the pressure they force you to sign deals, even if you have paid their mandatory R5000 holding deposit before you can even see the car, to the warranty they will force you to buy with the vehicle, it is not to protect you from future problems, but for them to fix the existing problems before they even deliver your vehicle, the common trend of delayed deliveries!

This same vehicles warranty was used to claim for aircon repairs before the car was even delivered to me the first time, without my knowledge that the warranty was used.