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By automotive personnel 
1 hour ago
JOHANNESBURG – This Ford Ranger double cab bakkie was a dream come true for Ms. Mahamba when she bought it from a dealer in Gauteng for R378,000 in August this year. However, he had no idea that the vehicle he had just purchased was some kind of ‘rolling death trap’ that had been previously canceled.
The big shock came after she returned to East London and her husband booked the car for service at a Ford dealership. It was here that they were told that there were various problems with their vehicle, and many of them were dangerous.
What happened after?
Concerned, the Mahambas took the vehicle to Gordon Cummings Bodyworks, an independent accredited motor body repairman, for a second opinion. The repairman found 35 serious faults ranging from flanged-secured hydraulic brake lines to multiple structural repair problems in the frame and a front suspension that could break, collapse or cut due to heated second-hand suspension parts.
It concluded that the vehicle was not only very unsafe and dangerous to drive, but that it could cause a very serious accident.
We contacted Richard Green, national director of the South African Association of Body Repairers (SAMBRA), who says that this is a perfect example of why [the organisation] They are urging insurers to publish a write-off record that can protect unsuspecting buyers.
“The lack of information available to potential buyers in the used vehicle market, regarding previously ‘canceled’ vehicles, is simply unacceptable,” he says.
Do not be fooled
In this case, the bakkie was sold to the unsuspecting couple from a WhatsApp video with a “legitimate” Code 2 Registration. “We have investigated the matter further and found that the vehicle was initially sold in Cape Town in 2017 at Paarden Eiland. It was then canceled in October 2019. The vehicle then arrived at JHB, where it was repaired at a second-hand car dealership in Johannesburg, where it was eventually sold to Mahambas, ”Green notes.
Green says the consultants know the Johannesburg dealer who sold the rebuild. They have visited this same dealership with a similar complaint about another Ford Ranger that was also a well below standard rebuild. In that case, the customer was advised not to buy the vehicle. “It’s very worrying that they can see other repairs being done at the same facility, especially if this is the standard of work being done,” Green says.
In Mahamba’s case, Green says SAMBRA gave the dealer in question the opportunity to answer several questions, but they refused to answer any of the questions.
“Instead, we received a copy of the bill of sale in which the dealer had written on the invoice: ‘The customer is satisfied with the condition of the vehicle and buys it as is. A discount was granted due to the sensor problem.
“If, as is suspected after investigation, this dealership was aware of the problems, or in fact repaired this vehicle and then sold it through its own second-hand car outlet, it has acted extremely negligently. and perhaps he could also be charged with attempting to defraud which is a criminal act. “
That is why a registration is necessary
Insurers routinely “ cancel ” the vehicles and these vehicles are sold, within a salvage contract to the auction yards and although there is nothing wrong with this, the problem arises when these vehicles, still registered as Code 2 ( the description of a used car), they are sold to any buyer who is willing to pay the highest price at auction.
“In many cases, as in the Mahamba example, these vehicles are bought by dubious repairmen and sold back into the system for a good profit through digital sales platforms, unsuspecting used car dealers or a point of sale. ‘partner in crime’. This is where the system goes horribly wrong, as unsuspecting buyers often end up with a vehicle that has previously been written off by an insurer (which is unaware of the subsequent sale) and is deemed uneconomical to repair. It has also not been reclassified as a code 3 vehicle and the buyer has no way of verifying the history. “
Green says what these unscrupulous players and syndicates are doing is criminal. “There’s a lot of money being made from a whole chain of people, and apart from the possible reputational damage to bona fide insurers and other unsuspecting parties, the only real victims in this are unsuspecting buyers.”
Nightmare road ahead
The dealer in question who sold Mahamba’s vehicle has refused to reimburse the family and take back the car or take any responsibility. The Mahambas are now consulting an advocate to take the matter further.
“Arguably, access to the cancellation log is the only way potential used car buyers can verify that previously canceled vehicles have been repaired to the correct standard. To pass a roadworthiness test, which is a legal requirement for any previously depreciated vehicle destined to return to the public highway system, these vehicles must be repaired by a licensed motor body repairman, or they must be destroyed. .
“If left, criminals can use them to re-search stolen vehicles or end up being repaired in a shocking way, as in the case of Mahamba’s vehicle, and putting lives at risk. We would like to involve insurers in gaining access to those cancellation records to protect people like the Mahambas, ”Green concludes.
DRIVE360
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