No Response to Concern - Engine Damage

On 25 November 2022 I purchased a BMW 335i GT from the Midstream branch. It had a clean DEKRA report. I used the car during December without any complaints, however in January 2023 I did my due diligence (having owned many cars previously) and checked the oil filter. I found metallic particles in the oil filter - indicating a component inside the engine had failed/been destroyed. I immediately sent the car for inspection at BMW West Rand, who confirmed in their report that there are metallic particles in the oil. As any car person would know, this means the motor will at some stage suffer a complete failure. Even if it is only the bearings that have failed, there isn't really any coming back from the damage that's already occurred internally (without rebuilding the engine/replacing it).

As is my right according to the CPA, any purchased vehicle should remain in a reasonably similar operating condition (as when it was bought) for at least 6 months from the date of purchase. This will not be the case with this car, and so I requested to return the car to WeBuyCars Midstream.

On 25 January 2023 I proceeded to contact WeBuyCars using their online concern form (as I was instructed to do), and was advised that someone would call me within 24 hours regarding my concern: 35708. A week passed with no contact from anyone. Eventually my wife contacted the call centre and was at least able to get the name and email address of the agent handling our case: Elnoleen Buthulezi.

I emailed Elnoleen all the documents she required; the report from BMW, quotes for any repair (should that be undertaken) and a photo of the odometer. In my email I made it clear that I want to return the car to WeBuyCars and either cancel the contract entirely, or preferably, purchase a different vehicle in its place. This is because the cost to repair the car correctly will exceed the value of the car.

In the meantime I went ahead and found a different car of similar value and started the finance process again with my salesman Henco (who has always given us excellent service and has been virtually the only source of information throughout this saga). I paid the deposit to reserve the car. The finance was approved. But nothing from Elnoleen or management regarding the refund of the previous car.

It is now 3 weeks later. The car is still sitting at BMW - where it was supposed to have been collected by WeBuyCars (I am unwilling to drive a car with internal engine damage) - and I am still without a vehicle. Elnoleen has made multiple untrue statements ( she told me they have paid BMW the diganostic fee - according to BMW they have not - and said they have been in contact with BMW - according to the service agent at BMW they have not), and provided virtually no feedback. I've sent her multiple emails and made multiple calls in an attempt to get some accurate feedback or at least some indication of the process going forward, but she is always unavailable and doesn't read or respond to emails. I have requested to be contacted by management but this has also not happened.

In the meantime I have a business to run and no vehicle. For such a large corporate the level of service (or lack thereof) is shocking. They certainly have lost a client in me.