When a new car isn't actually new

Excalibur

Excalibur

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Did you know that a car that is a year or two old can still be sold as new?

Last month, 40-something-year-old Chantel Spirito of Kempton Park bought her first "brand new" car after giving her 20-year-old car to her father.

She signed a deal with the Imperial Select dealership in Boksburg, part of the AMH Group, for one of the cheapest cars on the market - the Chery QQ3 - at a "special" price of R85,000.

Fully financed by Nedbank's vehicle finance division MFC, her instalment, which included a maintenance plan, was R1800 a month.

"I was so excited to finally be buying a new car, and not having to worry about what sort of mechanical and bodywork issues we were inheriting," she told In Your Corner.

But within the first week, Spirito discovered that her new car was in a far from perfect condition - a dodgy door seal, an ill-fitting glove compartment door, a bent spare key, wheels not aligned, rough paintwork around the petrol cap, worries with the seats and, more concerning, issues with the car's acceleration and gears were among the problems.

Back it went to the dealership to have everything sorted out. But in the week it was there, a very disheartened Spirito decided she'd rather swap the car for something of better quality. The dealer principal, who has since left the dealership, offered her R65000 for her car, R20000 less than she'd paid the previous week.

"When I objected, pointing out all the vehicle's faults, he told me: 'What do you expect, it's only an entry-level vehicle'."

Next, Spirito took the car for an AA (Dekra) assessment. That's when she discovered that the car, while technically new because of the date of registration, was actually manufactured in 2014, with some parts bearing 2013 factory dates, including the battery.

"I couldn't believe my eyes when I looked at the engine," she said. "Most of the metal parts were rusted and the rubbers had perished.

"The dealership insisted that the rust was normal, which is crazy - my 20-year-old car didn't have rust in the engine."
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Link.
What a putrid smell coming from the direction of Imperial Select Boksburg!
 
She signed a deal with the Imperial Select dealership in Boksburg, part of the AMH Group, for one of the cheapest cars on the market - the Chery QQ3 - at a "special" price of R85,000.
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I would rather buy an actual good brand used car for this price instead of that little POS,you do get what you pay for.;)
 
It boggles me that the financing institution, in this case Nedbank, fails to get involved in cases such as this as the car technically belongs to them until the buyers pays it off.
 
eg2505 said:
New car as used, wow dealers are getting brave!

Should go to court to get her cash handed back to her.
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She was rescued from their claws by consumer journalist Wendy Knowler of Sunday Times, deal's been cancelled.
 
lcbxx said:
It boggles me that the financing institution, in this case Nedbank, fails to get involved in cases such as this as the car technically belongs to them until the buyers pays it off.
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They'll just sell it and make the outstanding amount your problem... after all they don't care about the car. They just interested in the money.

More OT, if the car was first registered at the time she bought it then yes it is a brand new vehicle regardless of when it was manufactured. Also it's a Cherry QQ... shouldn't have much expectations.
 
This is hardly unusual.

Most cars you will buy new now are at least six months old, possibly more as they were manufactured in the last half of last year and then delivered in SA by December where they've been sitting in storage.

So a Chery which will most likely struggle to sell being older is no surprise.

The problem here isn't that the car is old...it's that it's a piece of ****.

Looking at components like the battery's manufacture date is also pretty silly. Those are known to be bad from sitting in storage and often get replaced before delivery or in the first few weeks of ownership when problems pop up...even on BMW's and the like.
 
The first mistake was choosing to buy a Chery QQ3
 
Ecco said:
The first mistake was choosing to buy a Chery QQ3
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It was probably all that the person could afford but that being said. A Chevy Spark which to me is a very basic entry level car and probably one of the cheapest new cars ( i stand to be corrected ), is like R40k more. Now with it being basic, and not much unecessary stuff to get rid of, makes one think where Cherry managed to cut of R40k worth of fat.... obviously quality of parts.

I'd personally buy a second hand reputable brand than a "new" shyte brand and that price.
 
It's the cheapest new car yeah

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It doesn't matter what brand. I'm aware of many dealerships "loading" sales to make up for low sales figures. Then unsuspecting customers go in to purchase a car and they give u an "extra discount" for 1 they have in stock.

Keep the car long enough and u discover there's a 6 or 8 month discrepancy in your warranty or motor plan.

Have had this happen to me where the regional director says go to the ombudsman il just fix the date for u.
 
Cumming said he was prepared to "take the vehicle back and settle with the bank".

"After long consideration, I also hear where the client is coming from and feel we need to be accommodating."
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A most unfortunate sentence
 
momo235 said:
It doesn't matter what brand. I'm aware of many dealerships "loading" sales to make up for low sales figures. Then unsuspecting customers go in to purchase a car and they give u an "extra discount" for 1 they have in stock.

Keep the car long enough and u discover there's a 6 or 8 month discrepancy in your warranty or motor plan.

Have had this happen to me where the regional director says go to the ombudsman il just fix the date for u.
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Warranty is from date of first registration so if there is a discrepancy then yes you have bought a second hand car as the car has already been registered previously as so the warranty has already begun.

That said, the article hasn't said that the car was previously registered but just that the manufacture date is years before its registration date which doesn't make it a used car. It just means the car has been sitting for a very long time.
 
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