************* business. Filthy place. Shoddy workmanship.

In 2021, Rennie charged me over R20 000 for engine repairs to my 2005 Daihatsu Charade three-cylinder engine without really doing any repair work. In hindsight, I should have invested in a replacement engine and selected a more reputable workshop.

The only line item on the invoice was ‘hole enjin’ and there was no transparency about the costs throughout. They shamelessly inflated the price by thousands of rands overnight after only providing a verbal quote. Whenever I needed to weigh options, Rennie became apprehensive. Had they not already stripped so much of the car apart, I don’t think I would have let them continue with the work. Despite Rennie’s verbosity, he was not direct with me about the repairs.

Based on a re-examination of the engine in 2024, it was never repaired in the first place. Plumstead Auto Care just took the car apart, cleaned up some parts here and there, and re-assembled the same worn-out parts with a worthless six-month guarantee. Which I only got because I stubbornly stood in Rennie’s ‘office’ waiting for a written guarantee before making payment.

The play on the pistons three years after Plumstead Auto Care’s supposed work is too severe for a recently refurbished engine. There were other signs that the engine was never repaired, like worn-out o-rings that look many years older and bolts that are as tight as day one from the factory but would need to be removed to perform the work Plumstead Auto Care was paid for.

Furthermore, I’m pretty sure I was charged for engineering to the head gasket that was never done, and I overpaid for a new clutch by at least R1000. I wonder if that new clutch was even really installed.

Someone at Plumstead Auto Care reversed into a wall with my car while I was not there. The yellow paint marks on the body clearly matched their exterior walls. They denied knowledge of this until I identified the matching damage on their wall.

The place was unhygienic and in complete disarray. Tools were scattered across the floor, lying in puddles. At least a dozen ***eons constantly flying around the small workshop exacerbated the problem. The first time I got my car back, the exterior was filthier than it would be after a week outside under a tree with ripe fruits. I insisted that it be washed before accepting it after my next visit. They cleaned the exterior, but someone left oily palm- and fingerprints on the interior. Someone must have smoked a whole pack of cigarettes in my car, as it took weeks for the scent to dissipate.

I suspect Rennie et al. took advantage of my full petrol tank for personal trips while the car was in their care. Someone put close to 150 km on the odometer over the weekend between a Friday afternoon and a Monday. Rennie explained this away by telling me he needed to drive the car to Goodwood over the weekend to ‘test the engine’. Goodwood is less than 30 km from Plumstead. Days after receiving my car back from Plumstead Auto Care, it started regularly cutting out in slow traffic. Rennie tried to convince me this was normal because small cars aren’t built for traffic, and that all small cars cut out waiting at red lights. This was a new symptom. I persisted, and he told me I needed to replace the throttle body. I did not let him and his team touch my vehicle again. Another mechanic helped me treat that symptom without replacing the throttle body.

I never met the owner. Rennie was upset when I made my immediate EFT, because I sent the proof of payment to the wrong Plumstead Auto Care contact. No other contact info was provided. He wanted me to send it directly to the owner. This could be forwarded or re-sent, so it was a suspicious conclusion to an unpleasant experience. I was in their 'office' when I made this payment and no one advised me differently until they found out I sent a PoP.

********.