Supplier of engine imports? Think again

I see The Engine Centre has opened a new flagship branch adjacent to the N3 in Camperdown. Business is obviously doing well. BEWARE. The company specialises in the import of second hand engines in countries who have much tougher exhaust emission controls and reach a certain number of years or kilometres. In May 2015 the coolant hose split in my 10 year old Kia Sorento while driving up Key Ridge (steep hill in the N3 southbound) and before I could get to the next offramp to pull over safely my engine melted.

I was recommended to the Pietermaritzburg branch of the Engine Centre where the manager, one Olgar, found a replacement in their head office in Umgeni Road, Durban North. He had it delivered to The Garage in Hillcrest. The workshop manager, Alfred, contacted me after fitting the engine to say it was mixing oil and water. The Engine Centre had the car sent to an engineering workshop for repair. Once it came back it was missing some parts and The Garage tried to take parts from my old engine only to find Shaffie, the person I dealt with at The Engine Centre, could not find it. At this stage Alfred wrote to me to say “there is more wrong than right with this engine.” In all it took until October – 5 months later – to get my car back on the road.

Almost immediately the engine was leaking spots of oil. In November I took the car back to The Garage for an oil and filter change. It leaked on the workshop floor. I took the car to my regular mechanic who found a hairline crack on the engine block. Shaffie insisted his engineering shop had given it the all-clear. By May I had a puddle of oil on my driveway. I reverted to Olgar who sourced the engine. He swore at me with 4 letter expletives and said it had nothing to do with him. He did direct me to their Umgeni Road premises. There I me Yusuf, the son of the owner and de facto manager. He VOLUNTEERED that he had no stock and had sourced the engine locally – so much for genuine imports – and that the supplier refused to take it back. He claimed he spent R20,000 getting the engine repaired. He did acknowledge that oil was leaking but so badly it was impossible to see from where. He told me to contact him in a month when he returned from overseas.

I called Yusuf several times. He cut the calls. I called him on my wife’s phone and when he realised who it was he said the matter had nothing to do with him and hung up. The lesson of the story is that he is *************, and more interested in minimising his losses than giving his customers a fair and honest deal. That is how he can afford to build a new flagship property in Camperdown.