VW Claremont VS Old Mutual - who sold me the written off / rebuilt car?

Re: 2016 Polo GP 1.2 Highline, sold as a Used car, but turns out it is a Rebuilt car.

Mastercars are supposed to give us as consumers peace of mind when purchasing a used car. We are not purchasing from a ***** guy on the street, but a reputable, trustworthy company correct?

Not so when it comes to Claremont VW. They totally disregarded their Mastercars Promise where it states that they do a complete Vehicle History Integrity Check: https://www.mastercars.co.za/en/brand-promise.html

I would never buy a written off, rebuilt car, but unfortunately this is exactly what happened to me when I purchased my car from them 2 years ago. When I recently wanted to sell the car to upgrade the unfortunate truth of the matter came to light.

By then I already found a buyer for my car (for it's retail value), and it was during this buying process that the report from City Of Cape Town Traffic surfaced. I was shocked as my e-Natis document states that it is a used car, not that it is Code 3 or Rebuilt. But this report clearly shows it was in an accident in January 2017 (Old Mutual Insure Accident), from there it went to Salvage Management and Disposal on 2017/01/30 and from there it was sold to SAIF Traders PTY LTD on 2017/02/04 and then it went to Claremont VW and Audi Claremont on 2017/03/07, when SAIF Traders traded it in for an Amarok. I then purchased it from them on 2017/06/23

When I brought this report to Claremont VW's attention, they pulled an HPI report and told me "Old mutual must have made a mistake" "You can sell your car". In the meantime I managed to find the original owner who confirmed everything to me, the car had R 230 000.00 worth of damage, the whole bottom was ripped open, with not as much damage to the body. He confirmed that the car was written off and that his insurance paid out. His broker also confirmed this fact. VW Claremont then also spoke to him and he confirmed everything to VW as well.

VW then asked me to bring my car in so that they can lift it up to investigate. I brought my car in, now I do not know anything about mechanics, so they proceeded to tell me that they can see that there was damage, but it was fixed so well. Although I was happy to see that the car's bottom probably won't just fall out, I still did not sign up for a Code 3 car. They then proposed to sell me a new car and I can trade my car in with them. They also offered me "cost price" on a new car. Turns out "cost price" on the new Polo GTI is only R 20 000 off the retail price. Funny enough when I declined buying from them again they kept on contacting me as they "do not want to lose the sale". Now correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't cost price mean that you won't be making any profit on it? So why are you worried about losing a sale if you would have made nothing anyways?

They also offered me trade in value for my car (R 30 000 less than retail), that is why I didn't originally wanted to trade in my car, but rather sell it myself or through a company as I will get a much better price for it, by not trading it in.

Needless to say, I did not want to go for their offer as I am losing all the way because of their mistake. They were probably laughing at the stupid woman who thinks she is getting a good deal. So when I declined to buy a car from them they then proceeded to ignore me. I phoned every day, emailed nearly every day, but no reply and the DP never at his desk to take my call and never getting back to my messages I left with reception.

Now they are blaming Old Mutual for not coding the car correctly, they are blaming the bank (through which I have my finance) for not picking this up, everyone but themselves. They will not take responsibility for anything. I bought this car from VW CLAREMONT, not from Old Mutual. I would NEVER have bought this car if I knew it was a Code 3, I would NEVER have paid full retail price for a code 3 car (I still owe R 125 000 to the bank on my finance), I would NEVER have driven a code 3 car for the last 2 years as I feel that it is unsafe, I would NEVER have driven loved ones around in this car either. I would probably not have been able to insure the car with an Insurance Company if they had known. Now I had to let my Insurance know about it as it is ***** if I don't and should this car get written off I am no longer insured for its retail value, so should anything happen I will sit with massive debt and no car, but I had to do the right thing and bring this to their attention.

It is not my style to name and shame, but I feel that innocent people need to be protected and if I do not do something this might happen to others in future and they do not deserve to be treated this way. Also if I do not say something it will also be on me if this happens to someone else.

VW Claremont and Audi is a big company, with numerous other dealerships also under the same company. I know they have lots of money to fight me with and yes it is intimidating, but I feel I needed to warn people. Do not just trust that because it is a well know Dealership or if you buy from a Mastarcars that your used car is legit. I have learnt so much from this experience and will definitely have to learn to not trust people and their intentions as freely in future.