The water pump was the last thing the dealership checked and probably should have been the first thing they checked, says vehicle owner Theo Rapanos. Picture - Moneyweb
A Pretoria restaurant owner was left frustrated and annoyed after his Ford Kuga remained at a vehicle dealership owned by JSE-listed Combined Motor Holdings (CMH) for 83 days.
Theo Rapanos had his 2015 Ford Kuga diesel towed to the dealership with an overheating problem on 5 January.
He said on Wednesday he finally got his vehicle back and the service manager at CMH Ford Hatfield had given him “a massive discount” for the inconvenience he had suffered.
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During the 83 days his vehicle was at the dealership, it informed Rapanos of a litany of new problems with his car and a succession of different parts or components were replaced in an attempt to resolve the overheating problem.
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Rapanos said his interactions with the new service manager at the dealership were “very pleasant and amicable”, he got his car back – and “they gave me a huge discount”.
Rapanos said the service manager explained everything that had been done to his car and admitted the dealership had misdiagnosed a problem with the engine management system. He removed the system and labour installation costs from his account.
Rapanos said he was given a further discount on the labour costs he was initially charged for the entire job.
“He [the service manager] was surprised they didn’t offer me a [courtesy] car. He did offer me one last week but by then it was already too late.
“I’m happy I have my car back. I didn’t have my car for a long time,” said Rapanos.
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“It was a good outcome in the end. It’s still a lot of money, but they did have to do the head and put in a new water pump.
“That was the last thing they checked and it probably should have been the first thing they checked.
“But the service manager said to me there is absolutely no way to check a water pump because they cannot measure if it flows well or badly,” said Rapanos.
“At the end, I’m happy because my car is fixed.”
He added that if he had taken his car to the dealership in January and was told it was going to take four days to repair and he had to pay what he now had to pay, he would have accepted it.
“It is a positive ending. They really tried to accommodate me and the service manager told me to phone him if there are any [further] problems.
“This is how customer service works. There are always going to be problems and it’s how you handle them. At the end they handled it well when he [the new service manager] came on board.”
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Ford South Africa corporate communications manager Dudu Nxele said on Tuesday in response to a request for comment from Moneyweb that Ford SA and the dealer were aware of the matter.
“The dealer has methodically been working through the vehicle and is engaging with the customer to find a workable solution. The customer will be taking delivery of the vehicle today,” she said.
“We appreciate that it is never ideal for a customer to be without their vehicle and apologise for the inconvenience.”
CMH did not respond to nor acknowledge an email and a WhatsApp message requesting comment.
This article originally appeared on Moneyweb and was republished with permission.
Read the original article here.
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