CAR BUYERS WARNED OF “HAIRCUTS”

MILEAGE: Unscrupulous car dealers have a tendency to tamper with the odometer

By Thuli Zungu

The Gauteng Office of Consumer Affairs is investigating an alleged unfair business Practice against T.J Trade Ventures T/A We Finance Cars after it kept fifteen percent of a consumer’s deposit for a car sale agreement which was never concluded.

This comes after Consumer Eye alerted their office about Nomsa Mauvha’s complaint that she almost lost R11 000 which she was charged for cancelling a “car sale”.

 But her worries are over, thanks to Consumer Eye as she was refunded within a day after our intervention.

Mauvha , 30, a prison warder at Johannesburg Prison was looking for a car she could use for work purposes when she came across We Finance Cars on their Facebook account in June this year.

 Upon inquiry, Mauvha was required to give them her Identity number to enable the dealership to check her creditworthiness. She later received a WhatsApp message informing her that finance is sorted for her and she did not need to produce any bank statements or proof of employment, she said. Being a first-time buyer, she thought that’s how things are done when purchasing a car. Smitten by the looks of what was supposed to be her new car, Mauvha deposit R55 000 into the dealership acoount.

 “Sadly, when I got back to the dealership, I could not find a car I liked or would have bought leading me to cancel the contract. “I was told I signed a form allowing them to deduct 15% of the purchase amount should I decide to cancel the contract,” she said. The copy she allegedly signed which Consumer Eye has seen does not even have her name on it.

 With the assistance of an attorney she enlisted, Mauvha was only refunded R44 000.

 Sanele Mthuli, the Gauteng Office of Consumer Affairs Consumer protector told Consumer Eye that her office will investigate this alleged Unfair Business Practice. Mthuli advised consumers who want to buy a car to not sign any document without reading or explaining. She said consumers must also not pay anything before signing a sales agreement or choosing what they want to buy.