Bike shop rip off

H

herit

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So, my brother bought a bike from a shop in kempton last year, September or something like that.... all good and nice. The bike he bought was a 2009 Kawasaki, or at least that's what they told him, and that's what they did the financing etc for as well.

He's looking at selling it now to pay some other stuffs, and took it into another shop to sell it for him. They did a check on the VIN number and it turns out that it's actually a 2008 model, with about 15 to 17K difference in price between the 2.

He took the bike back to the original shop, told them the story and simply got a "oh, we did not know" from them (even though there's a big sticker on it showing the model... sure, he should have looked as well). They're now offering to sell the bike for him as a 2008 model, and not take any money off it for themselves.

Basically they sold the bike as a more expensive one (98K), got their money, now offering to sell it as a less valuable one (88K if you're lucky) and in the end they are making quite a bit of cash off of the deal and he's losing all the say. They're even making money off of his trade-in as well.

So my thoughts were,
1, Lodge a complaint at the CPA guys
2, Motor ombudsman
3, Open a case of fraud against the bike shop


Any ideas?

EDIT: they also told him now that they are adding 2K on the price to cover their costs
 
Last edited:
When did the CPA kick in? might not apply here. I would suggest option 2 as they they can probably guide and be helpfull.
 
herit said:
So, my brother bought a bike from a shop in kempton last year, September or something like that.... all good and nice. The bike he bought was a 2009 Kawasaki, or at least that's what they told him, and that's what they did the financing etc for as well.

He's looking at selling it now to pay some other stuffs, and took it into another shop to sell it for him. They did a check on the VIN number and it turns out that it's actually a 2008 model, with about 15 to 17K difference in price between the 2.

He took the bike back to the original shop, told them the story and simply got a "oh, we did not know" from them (even though there's a big sticker on it showing the model... sure, he should have looked as well). They're now offering to sell the bike for him as a 2008 model, and not take any money off it for themselves.

Basically they sold the bike as a more expensive one (98K), got their money, now offering to sell it as a less valuable one (88K if you're lucky) and in the end they are making quite a bit of cash off of the deal and he's losing all the say. They're even making money off of his trade-in as well.

So my thoughts were,
1, Lodge a complaint at the CPA guys
2, Motor ombudsman
3, Open a case of fraud against the bike shop


Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Just get a paper from the previous shop where he bought it to confirm it was only registered in 2009.

There is a similar problem with the Suzuki K5 and K6 models. The bike is exactly the same, the registration is the difference. Mate of mine had an insurance claim for a K6 and the insurance wanted to scrap the bike as according to them it was a K5. He got a letter from Suzuki confirming the registration date and the insurance had to pay. Difference between the 2 models on his claim was about R 15k
 
On the financing paperwork it sais 2009 model, but that's only because that's what the bike shop told them it is.
On the bike itself it shows 08, and the vin number is for an 08. They also agree now that it's a 2008 model and want to sell it for a 2008's price.

I had a 2007 model R1 registered in 2010, still doesn't make it a 2010 model though.
 
Well then take it up with the CPA - and the financing institute...
 
So they falsely sold it as a 2009 in order to inflate their selling price? I'd inform them that I'm taking it to the ombudsman, cos this sounds like fraud, unless they have documents to prove that they were misinformed as well
 
Ive read of many bike shops claiming that a bike is a certain year model but its actually an old model only registered in that year. go onto a few bike forums and name and shame.
 
HeftyCrab said:
Ive read of many bike shops claiming that a bike is a certain year model but its actually an old model only registered in that year. go onto a few bike forums and name and shame.
Click to expand...

Date of first registration. Nothing you can do about this. If a bike or car gets made in 2009 but only gets sold and more importantly gets sold in 2010 then it's a 2010 model according to the registration. The registration year and manufacturing year has nothing to do with each other.
 
ponder said:
Date of first registration. Nothing you can do about this. If a bike or car gets made in 2009 but only gets sold and more importantly gets sold in 2010 then it's a 2010 model according to the registration. The registration year and manufacturing year has nothing to do with each other.
Click to expand...

+1

All the OP needs to do is get the papers to see date of first registration.
 
All the bike shops sell older models in a newer year. BUT if they tell u its 2009 model when its actually a 2008 its fraud, simple as that and make them aware you will take things further. They will probably change their story and make arrangements with ure brother
 
ponder said:
Date of first registration. Nothing you can do about this. If a bike or car gets made in 2009 but only gets sold and more importantly gets sold in 2010 then it's a 2010 model according to the registration. The registration year and manufacturing year has nothing to do with each other.
Click to expand...

Yeah i know that. What i said was if the shop told u the bike was made in 2009 but it was actually made in 2008 its a lie and its fraud
 
rakabos3 said:
All the bike shops sell older models in a newer year. BUT if they tell u its 2009 model when its actually a 2008 its fraud, simple as that and make them aware you will take things further. They will probably change their story and make arrangements with ure brother
Click to expand...

There is no difference as the bike is exactly the same.

I recall a court case when an Indian guy bought a BMW X5 new and asked the garage to only register it the following year. When he eventually got the paperwork in the new year he noticed the car has been registered earlier and took them to court. He won.

Not exactly the same thing but registration date counts more than the manufacture date. Vehicles and cars are sold on their registration date not on year of manufacturing. Reason for this is that manufacturing on same models carrier on for X amount of years being the exact same car/Bike. Registration is the accurate way of determining resale value.

This is what happened here I'm sure.

It's a 2009 registration no matter the year of manufacturing. If however the bike was registered in 2008 and sold as a 2009 then you have a case.
 
Pitbull said:
There is no difference as the bike is exactly the same.

I recall a court case when an Indian guy bought a BMW X5 new and asked the garage to only register it the following year. When he eventually got the paperwork in the new year he noticed the car has been registered earlier and took them to court. He won.

Not exactly the same thing but registration date counts more than the manufacture date. Vehicles and cars are sold on their registration date not on year of manufacturing. Reason for this is that manufacturing on same models carrier on for X amount of years being the exact same car/Bike. Registration is the accurate way of determining resale value.

This is what happened here I'm sure.

It's a 2009 registration no matter the year of manufacturing. If however the bike was registered in 2008 and sold as a 2009 then you have a case.
Click to expand...

Bikes and cars work a little different. Bikes generally have a new model every year or at most every 2nd year. There are actual physical differences between 2008 and 2009.
With a car you can have the exact same thing in 2008, 2009, 2010 etc and have a difference in price depending on when it was registered. Like I said earlier, I had a 2007 bike registered in 2010, does not make it a 2010 model (although i wish i could have gotten the extra cash for it :P )

And thanks for all the replies btw :)
 
Bike manufacturers normally release a new shape every 2 years... and cars are 4 years...

Here and there sometimes there are exceptions like the Lexus IS250 / Suzuki GSXR K9/LO/L1
 
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