Good day

Recently my partner and I purchased a car under finance from a CMH Toyota Melrose, upon leaving the dealership several warning lights came on and the car felt funny even whilst test driving it but the salesman and branch manager assured us there are no faults. When we confronted them about the warning lights etc. they sent us to a mechanic who just cleared the onboard diagnostics very quickly and told us there are no faults its just a bug on the computer. We also found two 9mm bullets one of which was used in the car upon leaving the dealership and the car doesn't register on the Jeep website.

After a week we decided something is definitely not right and took the car to an unbiased mechanic to print an onboard diagnostics report for us which showed these small issues weren't so small and there is a massive problem with the gearbox which is resulting in the problems. The dealership has ignored every request from us and the manager became extremely aggressive when all we wanted was to come to a resolution. They did not inform us of any of these problems and have stated its not their problem. I have sent an email to them outlining our rights under CPA and making the requests very clear but they failed to deliver. When I checked their reviews, I noticed several people have had the same experience. Also after promising to reimburse us for the OBD and other damages as a result of this they still have not refunded us even though they had promised to.

I sent the following email to them but there has been no communication and their dealings seem very shady:

"For your urgent attention.

REF: VIN: 1C4PJMEK1CW194455

On 23/09/2019 my partner Chad de Castro and I purchased and took delivery of, the above 2013 Jeep Cherokee 3.7l from CMH Toyota Melrose. Upon leaving the dealership we discovered that it was not of satisfactory quality: There were several warning lights on (Engine light, Tyre Pressure System light, Oil Change Required light). We also noticed that the gears were not shifting properly and that the fuel consumption was double the expected average – 280km a tank is not viable for long-distance drives as we mentioned we would be using the car for. We informed you of these defects and were sent to a mechanic referred by you in Bloemfontein where they once again just cleared the On-Board Diagnostics System and told us that nothing serious is wrong. We changed the oil and continued driving the car until today when we decided to take the car to BOSCH to get a second opinion as we had not been able to get in touch with you to resolve the matter. They printed us the OBD and informed us that there is a P0740 fault with the torque converter clutch, which is a serious fault with the gearbox. Clearing an issue like that without informing us is extremely unethical.

 This makes it impossible to drive any further with the vehicle as the gearbox will incur significant further damage if we do so. We were supposed to leave Bloemfontein on Friday to return to Cape Town but have been informed this will take 1 – 2 weeks to fix. You never informed us of these defects and also failed to provide information regarding the service history of this vehicle. 

As per the Customer Protection Act, If the goods bought from a supplier are defective (not suitable for its usual purpose or for the purpose it was bought, of poor quality and bad working order, or not useable or durable), a consumer has 6 months from the date of delivery to return the goods to the supplier, at the supplier’s risk and expense. At the consumer’s choice,the supplier must fix, replace or refund the goods bought by the consumer. The voetstoots clause no longer applies; this means that a supplier may no longer sell goods “as they are” unless the consumer has been informed of the defects and accepts them.

We are legally entitled to ask that your repair or replace this vehicle at no further cost to us and that all diagnostics and costs incurred due to defects that we were not informed to us are promptly reimbursed into my partner Mr Chad de Castro’s account. I also expect that a courtesy car is arranged as it will take 1 – 2 weeks to repair the gearbox and that our accommodation is paid for during this period as I am currently far from home and unable to return until the car is in a roadworthy condition to drive back to Cape Town. We have attempted to resolve this issue for long enough now and expect a speedy response.

I will send through the received diagnostics reports and the cost thereof that which is immediately refundable to my partner Mr Chad de Castro.

We have also arranged for the repairs and replacement of the tyre pressure sensor and will send a quotation to you promptly.

If you fail to reimburse us or respond promptly, we shall have no alternative but to issue a claim against you in a court of law for recovery of the money without further reference to you as there has been no communication from your side despite our numerous attempts of getting in touch to resolve this."

They agreed to reimburse the costs of having to book accommodation etc. but still have not refunded anything i can provide screenshots if necessary

Best Regards