# Regulatory Compliance Category > Consumer Protection Act Forum >  2 Motor Vehicle Issues- Advice would be highly appreciated!

## zaks987

Hi guys, I'm in an unfortunate position and desperately need advice. Firstly, my vehicle, 1992 Bmw 520i went for a repair that cost me R8000 for a mechanical issue and when it came back, I see the radio is not working. I went back to the mechanic and he says that I should leave the radio with him and come back in a day or two and it will be sorted. I go back after 2 days and he says that unfortunately the radio memory is wiped. So I tell him, what am I suppose to do as the radio was in working order when he took the vehicle in? He says I can try taking it to this person and that person etc etc...This is a problem he created, yet I should leave my work and study time to tend to this. I tell him that why did he take the car in, in the first place if he did not realize the consequences of the electrical side getting affected. He then becomes defensive and starts swearing F and B's threatens to F*** me up putting his finger in my face etc. I am a student while this is a guy in his 40's or so. I feel taken advantage of while he acts as business is normal, getting away with it. Any advice as what I could do? 

 Second problem- I have a small business on the side that pays for my studies. I purchased a vehicle in 2009- from Key Pieteramitzburg, an Isuzu KB200 Bakkie. It came with 5 years of warranty and in February this year, the warranty ended. Heres the problem- In the 5 years of warranty , I used to complain to them about the engine light coming on. They always said it was a computer glitch and sometimes they said it was the aftermarket alarm setting the light off. Recently the engine light came on again, while not in warranty and since I was sending anyway for a service, I told them to check it. Again, they said it was the aftermarket alarm and they put the light off. 

 Within a week the light is on again but this time I go straight to the alarm guys and have them check it and having disconnected the alarm, they see the engine light still on. I go thereafter to Key PMB and tell the guy that it was in fact , not the alarm. He says to bring the van in on Thursday as this was the only available day they had free. I ask him, that wont it be dangerous to drive the vehicle while the engine light is on, and he says no, not to worry, it will be fine. On Thursday I go drop off the can and at 1pm I get a call saying that the radiator has a leak and the engine head has a problem but needs to be stripped to check for other issues and to strip the vehicle , it will cost R3000.

 I say go ahead and check. They take two weeks to do this, and communication from their side is terrible. I basically had to call them 2-3 times a week to keep me updated. Finally they find the engine damage problems and all together it will cost me R18 000. The issue is, every time the vehicle went in while the van was in warranty, to check as to why the engine light was on- it was either blamed on a 'computer glitch' or the 'aftermarket alarm'. Because I took the steps to disarm the alarm and see if it was really as they said, it was found that it was REALLY AN ENGINE PROBLEM from the get go. If they had really checked from the start while in warranty, I would not have to face R18000 repair, and who knows, maybe it was a small problem then, and now since it was blamed on the aftermarket alarm and computer glitch so many times, it could have got worse in the 5 years.

 What are my options? I feel like the world is really playing a cruel joke on me.   :Frown:

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## JohnV

Hello Zaks987 from what i see on TheForumSa, someone will give you good advice

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## AndyD

I'm not qualified to give you legal advice I'm afraid but it's not uncommon for customers to be in your position without affordable recourse and their only resort is to find creative ways to express their dismay and anger. I suspect that in both of your scenarios you'd benefit from some legal representation.

There are some legal eagles around the forum, hopefully they've got some words of wisdom for you.

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## Blurock

My personal view is that one should never ever accept an answer that does not resolve the problem to your satisfaction. Especially not where a guarantee or warranty or service contract is involved. Once out of the contracted period, it is very hard to prove negligence or poor workmanship against the supplier.

In this case you have been strung along long enough for the warranty to expire. What you should have done is to insist on them fixing the problem and escalating it to a higher level before it got out of hand.

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## Justloadit

> I'm not qualified to give you legal advice I'm afraid but it's not uncommon for customers to be in your position without affordable recourse and their only resort is to find creative ways to express their dismay and anger. .


Sounds like the businessman who has done the same to Cell C recently

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## AndyD

> Sounds like the businessman who has done the same to Cell C recently


Yeah and I see CellC just lost their high court case against him with costs Lol, Lol and Lol again, I do find some sort of perverse enjoyment when even with a bottomless war chest and an army of shiny lawyers the big fish just can't quite get its mouth around the pesky small one  :Wink: .

If I won the lottery I'd set up several dozen nice-sized billboards along the N1 for people to use for free if they could prove they were victims of attrocious service by big companies. Depending on the size of the win I'd even print the posters for them  :Wink:

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## Justloadit

I think Cell C has created a huge mistake. If they simply approached the customer, and sorted him out and learn't what went wrong, and used an advert campaign to show people they cared, sorry the new campaign is "I believe", then it would have been better publicity, than trying to blow out the water some one who has a legitimate complaint.

To be honest I am content that Cell C lost. 
I hope it is a lesson for other corporates, who have decided to use these stupid useless call centres, to resolve customer issues.

Go George Go!!!!!

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## sterne.law@gmail.com

I haven't read judgement but my view was that expressing my opinion is not defamatory.
The use of the number was not an invasion of privacy given that it is freely available.

The court application instead of resolving the issue shows the lack of care.
It would have been cheaper to give the guy a new phone and airtime. They could have turned the lemon into lemonade. 
I bet Nandos would have turned such an incident into prime marketing opportunity.

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## AndyD

I also failed to see the validity of their legal argument, apparently the guy even gave them advanced warning of his intentions to do the bill board thing.

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## Sparks

The way I understand the CPA the warranty period is not written in blood. Should a fault arise immediately after expiry, irrespective of whether there were signs during the warranty, you would still have a claim. February is however a long time ago if you do not have proof of complaints. You can approach your local legal aid branch for assistance regarding the procedure and correct people to contact in your area. 

As to the radio, I believe you would have a case if you had confirmation of liabillity from them. Maybe get them to commit liability through email. 

Unfortunately time does play a huge role, the longer you take to react the less the likelihood of success.

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## flaker

you have the RMI to turn to , but they more often rule in favour of the dealer, after all they're reliant on the dealers for their existence. Then as pointed by Spark there is the CPA but given the fact that the warranty is over there is a just the slim chance. The best is to negotiate some sort of goodwill discount by going straight to the Dealer Principal and failing that directly to the manufacturer. my 2cents worth

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## Hannes Botha

No this might be a bit late.

I had a similar problem, on a re-call that Nissan did. They told me sorry the vehicle 1) Is out of warranty and 2) According to the vin no was not affected by this defect. I wrote a friendly email to Nissan SA telling them that I'd rather contact them directly instead of going the "Hello Peter" route. They repaired the vehicle at no charge even though the car was six years old and I bought it secondhand.

As to the first issue. The guy obviously doesn't need your business. I agree, go to the RMI. I've had to repair quite a few such issues. Frustrating, but part of the business...

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