SMD totally ****med me

I feel so ****med by the Durban branch, I won a bid on a car that had a comment of a starter, pictures looked good, kilos were low at 10100km for a 2017 model (if I remember well)

I left Pretoria to get my car, I got there on the 13th of April 2023, I asked to view my car before making payment, they agreed to show me the car but refused to start it up before payment, they told me that they do not start up cars inside their premises meaning I can only confirm the car once I made payment and have the car removed from their premises (this according to me is a red flag that they don't want one to change minds on a car and only forfeit the R5000 deposit, this is their way of making more money out of one).

I made payment, they carried the car out, started the car, which started up, the gears were not smooth while trying them before the car was started up.

The car did start up, started hearing a sound of something spinning, when I push the clutch the sound went off, I investigated only to find that the CV joints were not on the wheels which is the reason I felt a sound and also that the sound didn't need to have the car on gear meaning gearbox is a problem as well

I scrutinized the engine only to find that the car shows some signs that it was involved in an accident and some parts of the engine were not properly fastened, some areas were not fastened altogether.

I find the comment of starter so misleading because the reason I opted for this car was that my main focus would be fixing starter related issues, now I am finding all these issues that has nothing to do with the starter and also the fact that they refused for me to check the car before making payment makes me see that they knew all the issues about the car and knew that if I were to discover them I would opt on loosing R5000 than the R73000 that I paid

I went to speak to Jason,the manager there, I asked for a refund, he told me it was not possible because they sell salvaged cars and it was my responsibility to check the car before buying but this statement is contradictory because his stuff couldn't allow me to check the car before I make payment, how would I have known that there are more issues than those I was made to believe it has if their policy refuses for one to check the car before making payments

His solution was to sell the car for me, putting it back in auction, meaning if it can go at a lesser price, I stand to lose still but he gets more money from the sale to be made because he has made money from me already

Now that the car is mine, I had to come back to Gauteng, change ownership of the car and go back to Durban to submit the car papers and then sign a contract that they will auction the car on my behalf (21/04/2023)

The car is still with them if it still exist, I was told it should be back on the market within a week, to date the car hasn't been put on the website, there is no communication, I don't know where I am standing, all I know is R73000 went from my account into SMD's account and the contract I signed, I have nothing else to show for it, no car documents as the originals are with them, I have nothing.

Why is SMD not straight forward with how they condact their business

Please, can someone help me get my money back The many comments I saw on them confirms what I am going through but my courage came from their responses to Hello Peter's reports which is what I am now hoping will bring a solution for me