BEWARE OF MONTE CARLO AUTO CC!!!

On 10 November 2023, I contacted Monte Carlo Auto in response to an online advert of theirs, for a 1997 Jaguar XJ6 40. The picture of the car in the advert, taken infront of the business looked very impressive, and ofcourse as a Capetonian, Sandton are seen as an upmarket part of JHB. The person on the other side of the line, introduced himself as Chris and he started telling me what a magnificent car this iwas. Apparently it was imported for an Ambassador who used it for a number of years, then it was bought by a "very well known" Architect of JHB and if I aquire this car, I would become the 3rd proud owner of this 100%, accident free, un******ed and original car, with a FSH to boot. I told him, that I will havectovtravel from Cape Town and drive yhe car back home. His response to that was " You can just get into this car and drive from Cape to Cairo" I asked him whether his asking price of R145k were negotiable as I'll have expenses flying to JHB and ofcourse the fuel costs driving her home. He agreed to give me a R5k discount, but that was it! I told him, that he must allow me time to think it over. Monday, 13th he sent me a WhatsApp, telling me that he valet the car and is throwing in a new battery as part of the deal. I called him on Monday evening, but he never took my call, so I left a voice message, informing him that I am considering flying to JHB on the 1st flight on the morning of Wednesday 15th as I intend to immediately drive back to CapeTown. I also asked him if he could meet me or send somebody to meet me at O.R.Tambo airport. He almost immediately responded via WhatsApp, that he will be expecting me, but made no mention of picking me up at the airport, and I let it there. I asked my friend / mechanic, Shawn,Gietzmann to accompany me on the trip, to i) Check out the car ii) To help me with driving it back to CPTN. On our arrival in JHB, we took a Uber to the dealership. During the drive I got busy on my phone, attending to emails, etc. I could not believe my eyes when the driver announced that we have reached our destination, as this was nothing but a cheap, low class used car sales lots, with all sorts of old neglected looking cars, squeezed into the available space. Our Uber parked on a sand patch outside the gates, and I immediately became suspicious, and told our driver to wait for us, this before I even saw the car I am supposed to buy! As we alighted from the Uber, we were approached by a guy wearing a torn straw hat, who introduced himself as Chris. I then saw the car, parked exactly on the same spot as on the internet pic. The difference was, that it looked nothing as impressive in reality as the picture was cleverly taken with the car parked below the Monte Carlo Auto name board, with a glass background, which consisted of a tiny "showroom" As we approached the car, I could immediately see that the car was involved in a front smash, because the bumper was not properly aligned and the entire bonnet has been repainted, but so poorly an amateurly done, that a blind person would've been able to detect it, by feeling over the surface! The entire car had horrible paint chip marks, minor dents, rear bumper damage and worst of all, the roof paint was cracking, which is a clear indication of body filler which could've been another backyard repair done to cover hail damage! The first item Chrisxwas proud to show me was the new battery in the boot! Another shock awaited me when I opened the bonnet! The tappet covers were hastingly resprayed with spray can silver. Whoever attempted the this cover up, did not even bother to prepare the surface properly and yhe paint started making bubbles! The interior, which he claimed was "as good as new" he acknowledge that it was refurbished by Colorglo, only after I pointed out to him that it has been resprayed with vinyl spray! I was not even interested in test driving the car, because after I pointed out all the flaws and imperfections just on the body and he could not give me a proper explanation for any of my questions, I decided to walk away from the deal and rather lose R11k+ ( because I had to book flights back to CPTN and stay over in a hotel before we could fly back home.) In conclusion, this Chris character is a dishonest person, who give used car salesmen that stereotypes image of not to be trusted and bullsh*****! Be warned of this dealership, I wont even buy a 2nd hand wheelbarrow from them!!!