Sold me a vehicle with a different engine!

I bought a 2012 Land Cruiser 78 Game Viewing Vehicle with 212604km from Godrich Toyota last month for my business that conducts research on endangered wildlife. After receiving the vehicle, I realized that the engine number in my vehicle did not match the invoice, service history, and job cards they had sent me. In fact, the engine inside my vehicle came from a 1998 Land Cruiser 79 that had been written off in an accident. The last recorded service on that engine was over 6 years ago, and that was at a whopping 359007km!

I also discovered that the chassis had previously been registered to a salvage yard in JHB. When I contacted the salvage yard, they sent me pictures of the vehicle when it was in their possession and it had clearly rolled over in an accident. Not something I had previously been made aware of.

The body and the chassis came from two different vehicles. The chassis came from a 2012 Land Cruiser 78 Troopie and the body, a Land Cruiser 79 Bakkie. The VIN numbers had been removed from the body (not the chassis), so I had no idea of the body’s true origin. I’m not sure on the legalities of tampering/removing VIN numbers, but there were no VIN numbers to be found anywhere on the Land Cruiser 79 body.

The vehicle was visibly leaning (possible suspension), the hooter and rev counters were not working, and there were no windscreen wipers, yet the vehicle had passed a roadworthy test and Toyota’s famous “106-point” check!

There was an airbag sticker and light on the vehicle, yet the airbag sign had clearly been scratched off the dashboard.

I have no issue buying a game viewing vehicle that is modified body wise, and I understand that this is common practice with game viewers. However, I would never have purchased the vehicle had I known that the engine was 21-years old and had so much mileage, that the chassis came from a vehicle that had rolled-over, or that the VIN numbers were removed from the body.

They claimed that I knew what I was buying, even though they had invoiced me for an engine number and given me the service history for an engine which was not even in my vehicle. It cost me R8349 in legal fees to get a refund for the vehicle.

I will not be supporting Toyota again!