Dealer to repay nearly R500k

DEFECTIVE VEHICLE: RULING COMES AFTER COURT DISMISSES SANDTON REPO CARS' APPEAL

- Roy Cokayne

MAKING A PLAN. One consumer unhappy with her vehicle purchase took the issue up with the dealership, another stopped paying her finance provider.

(Picture: Bloomberg)

Sandton Repo Cars (Pty) Ltd has been ordered to repay a consumer the R459 900 she paid for a secondhand Volkswagen Golf and pay a fine of R100 000 for contraventions of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).

This follows the High Court in Johannesburg dismissing an appeal by Sandton Repo Cars against an order issued by the National Consumer Tribunal.

The tribunal handed down the decision under appeal on 10 June, 2024 against the dealership following a referral by the National Consumer Commission (NCC) arising from a complaint lodged with it.

Sandton Repo Cars raised a special plea, claiming the complaint lodged by Erika Mouton was limited as contemplated by a section of the CPA.

The section provides that a complaint may not be referred or made to the tribunal more than three years after the act or omission that is the cause of the complaint or - in the case of a course of conduct or continuing practice - the date the conduct or practice ceased.

The tribunal ruled that Sandton Repo Cars had contravened sections of the CPA, by, among others:

► Give consumers the right to receive goods that are fit for purpose and free of defects; and