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Statement Regarding My Vehicle Repair Experience by Tshwane Auto Services (RMI Approved 5-Star Workshop)241 Luttig Street, Pretoria West.

Statement Regarding My Vehicle Repair Experience by Tshwane Auto Services (RMI Approved 5-Star Workshop)241 Luttig Street, Pretoria West. On 20 November 2025, my car dashboard displayed the message “Transmission – take to workshop.” The vehicle would not change gears. The following day, 21 November 2025, I took my car to Tshwane Auto Services (RMI Approved 5-Star Workshop) located at 241 Luttig Street, Pretoria west. They inspected the car and booked it in. On the Monday after the inspection, I received a diagnostic report explaining what was wrong with the vehicle. At the same time, I asked them to also repair my boot lock. They informed me that they would need to repair the gearbox and fix the boot lock, and they issued me with a quotation which was already very expensive. The owner told me that she supports women and tries to help female clients because many people take advantage of women. She assured me that my vehicle would be treated as urgent and repaired as quickly as possible. However, from that point onward, every time I asked for an update, there were always new problems, excuses, or delays. Nothing seemed to be getting done with my vehicle. I continued to pay the outstanding amounts as quickly as I could because I believed they were urgently working on my car. Instead, I kept receiving additional charges on top of the already high quotation, along with more excuses. By late December 2025, my car was still not fixed. I informed her that I now had the remaining money available to settle the balance. She then told me that because the December holidays were approaching and many suppliers were closed, she could not promise that I would get my car back before the end of 2025. At the beginning of January 2026, I requested another update and was again told that nothing had happened because the supplier whom they ordered the gearbox parts from had not yet reopened after the holidays. A week later my husband phoned, and she said they had received the parts and only needed to install them. However, another week passed and nothing was done. I continued requesting updates almost daily. My husband called again, and she said they were now waiting for software to arrive. This was confusing because earlier she had already said they had the software. Because my car has a tracker installed, I was able to see that my vehicle was being driven around frequently and the mileage kept increasing, yet the car was still not repaired. At one point, my tracker showed that my vehicle was in KemptonPark without my consent. Nobody had asked my permission to take my vehicle there. This was extremely upsetting. I asked the owner why the car was in Kemptonpark and she said they have people there trying to load the new software for the gearbox they repaired After another week with no updates, she informed me that the gearbox they installed did not correspond with the software, and that they would have to install another gearbox, She also said that I would have to pay additional money because they were doing more work. By this time it was already February 2026, and the vehicle had been with them for months. I explained to her that my children had already missed two weeks of school because we had no transport. She acknowledged that it was frustrating but said we would have to wait. On 16 February 2026, she offered me a company vehicle to use while they continued working on my car. I used that vehicle for almost two weeks, and I continued asking for updates during that time. On Tuesday, 3 March 2026, she informed me that my car was back at their workshop at 241 Luttig Street and that they were busy with inspections. She said she would let me know when I could collect it, but that I would still have to pay additional money. When we eventually went to collect the car, we noticed new dents at the back near the boot. The staff insisted the dents were already there. She showed us photos from the day the car was booked in, but the dents were clearly not visible in the pictures. She tried to convince us that they were there, but we could clearly see they were not. At that point she became arrogant, and I decided to remain calm, collect my car, and leave. While driving home, a warning appeared on the dashboard saying “Tailgate Open.” I took a photo and sent it to her. She rep**** that the boot lock mechanism had not actually been replaced, even though it had been quoted and paid for. I asked her to deduct the cost of the boot lock repair and refund the money to my bank account, but she responded that the supplier would not take the part back because too much time had passed, and that I would have to come back to have it fitted. A few minutes later, another warning appeared on the dashboard: “ESP Faulty – Take to Workshop.” I sent her a photo again. She responded that it might be related to sensors or programming and said if the warning stayed on, I should bring the car back so she could reprogram it. On 28 February 2026, the car started behaving strangely again. Eventually it stopped moving completely and was stuck in neutral at my children’s school. The teacher had to bring us home. I informed her immediately and explained that the situation was urgent. She rep**** that the repairs would be done under warranty, even though it would be expensive for them. She then sent some of her staff to come and inspect the car so that we could at least get it moving again. On 29 February 2026, we returned to her workshop so they could fix the issue, the boot lock, and also a rattling sound under the car that started after we received the vehicle. They only modified the cable instead of replacing it, but said they would not do the boot lock because we still owed money. This was despite the fact that the boot lock repair (R5,950) had already been paid for long before. Her response was simply that since we still owed money, we should wait until month end. At that point we decided to buy a boot lock ourselves, which we managed to find for a quarter of the price she originally quoted. After everything that happened, we finally settled the remaining balance, but the work done on the vehicle was poor and unprofessional, and the car was returned in worse condition than when it was originally taken in. The experience was filled with delays, excuses, additional costs, and poor communication from November 2025 until February 2026. Because of the ongoing issues, I had to take the vehicle to another mechanic on 7 March 2026 for further repairs. I will never take my vehicle back to this workshop again.