1 reviews | Active since Member
In 2018 I traded in Mercedes Benz B200 for Volvo V60 it had low mileage. I collected the Volvo V60 (the car, hence forth ) on 16 January 2018. On 20 January 2018 (within 5 days),the car showed a message: REDUCED ENGINE PERFORMANCE. In confidence, I took it to the dealer it was attended to. On 04 February 2018,the same message appears again, Auto Baltic Volvo told me to take the car to Silver Lake as I worked in Pretoria of which I did on 06 February 2018.The car's routine service, for 20 000 km was done on June 2018.On 06 September 2018,the message came up again, I was driving on N1 from Johannesburg. The car was towed to Volvo at Auckland park. The problem was, once such a message pops up, the car goes to limp mode, it drives itself at 30km/h, and there is nothing you can do about. On 25 September 2018 the car was at Auto Baltic Volvo Nelspruit for the same problem. The car was with the dealer for almost 19 days, while I was driving the Volvo XC90 as a curtesy car (of which I appreciated the dealer for).When I collected the car I was assured that the car was comprehensively tested it will not give me problems again. December 2018, I went to the dealer to indicate my dissatisfaction about the unreliability of their car and to negotiate, for the exchange of another car with similar specifications. I was told, the option was for me to buy Volvo V90,I declined because I could not afford the instalment at R17 000 per month and for Volvo V60 was R10 900 per month.Secondly, I also felt, it was unethical for the dealer to do that, because instead of the dealer to solve the problem(of which they are failing even after several attempts to fix the car).And then they want to make more money out of the problem they created. Furthermore,it came to my mind that the dealer sold me this car knowing and without disclosing to me the car has a technical/mechanical problem, as the problem manifested within 5 days after purchase. On 18 January 2019 the car was back to the dealer for the same problem. I negotiated again for another car, then the sales person showed me a used Volvo XC60 and said that it was within my range to work out an exchange and he would work something for me and I agreed. When I went for a follow up,the Volvo XC60 was sold and promise to work something for me again. On 30 January 2019,the car went for the second routine service( 40 000 km) at CMH Hatfield Pretoria. On 15 February 2019 while driving to Nelspruit, the message appeared again, it was around 18h00 which later changed to: ENGINE SYSTEM SERVICE REQURED. I was amazed because the car was serviced 15 days ago. I stopped at the side of the road, after sometime I started the car and this time it drove 80km/h and I arrived at Nelspruit very late. I even contacted Volvo South Africa about this problem and they told me that the car belongs to the dealer. I finally got fed up and I returned the car to the dealer on 23 March 2019 because I was paying so much money for it but it is failing to perform a basic function, which is to take me from point A to point B. being a good a citizen, I said to my self let me follow a formal processes of using the institutions available.I reported the matter to Retail Motor Industry (RMI) which tried to mediate from April 2019 but the dealer never responded to RMI. RMI gave me a certificate and I escalated the matter to Motor Industry Ombudsman of South Africa(MIOSA). The Dealer Principal contacted me on 4 June 2019 to negotiate. He said that he can give me a Jaguar, of which I refused because a sedan did not meet my needs. I bought the Volvo V60 because it was more specious (than a sedan) for my family, in fact I wanted to buy an SUV but could not afford financially.MIOSA ruled that the dealer is right and did not not make sense. How can the dealer be right, by selling me a car which has mechanical/technical fault without disclosure and the car is failing to perform a basic function of taking me from point A to point B and the dealer is failing to fix the problem. I escalated the matter to National Consumer Commission (NCC) in November 2019. At the writing of this review I have not received a report from the NCC which finalise the case. I also wrote to the office of the Public Protector to intervene because NCC is not finalising the case or giving me reasons for the delay, its more than 2 years now. Those institutions which are set up to assist in resolving such cases are failing us. I am still paying Wesbank for the car, paying annual license renewal and paying the insurance. It shows to me that the dealer Auto Baltic Volvo has no interest in creating and maintaining mutual relationships with customers, as long as they get money even in unethical way.
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