Dishonest and Unsafe Service – Jeep Sandton (SMH Group)

Our experience with Jeep Sandton has been both frustrating and alarming. On May 30th, our Jeep Gladiator broke down due to battery issues. We managed to jump-start it and brought it to the dealership. My husband was assured we’d receive updates – none came. I had to follow up repeatedly just to speak to our service advisor, Armand.

When I finally reached him, I was told we were “lucky” the issue was just the batteries, which were supposedly replaced and ready by Friday afternoon. I was promised an Uber to collect the vehicle (as part of their service), but again had to follow up when no transport arrived. Once at the dealership, I was told the car was “safe to drive” and that “we would never give a car back that wasn’t.”

The next morning, the vehicle didn’t start.

On Monday, Armand called and admitted he had been dishonest—they had not replaced the batteries, only trickle-charged them. He said he withheld the truth because we had urgently needed the car. I explained that had they been honest, I could have made alternate plans without the last-minute panic and disruption.

I gave a failing score on the follow-up review call and was told a service manager would contact me—no one has. No invoice or report was ever sent, and despite my husband also completing the online questionnaire, there has been zero follow-up.

This experience reflects extremely poorly on Jeep Sandton and the SMH Group. The service was dishonest, unsafe, and deeply unprofessional. Why ask for feedback if you ignore it? We love our Jeep Gladiator, but we do not trust the service team responsible for its care.