Never buy a vehicle ‘sight unseen’

SAMBRA provides all second-hand vehicle buyers with sound advice

A woman looks at her badly damaged vehicle after a collision.

Buying a car can be one of the most exciting but expensive purchases you can make, especially if you don’t do your homework properly.

With the plethora of online portals now available to buyers, buying a car has never been easier. Still, the South African Motor Body Repairers’ Association (SAMBRA), a proud association of the Retail Motor Industry (RMI) organisation, says they are increasingly hearing the tragic experiences of buyers who have either bought a car online, sight unseen, or without asking for a comprehensive independent assessment.

“The reality is that something that looks too good to be true is probably just that,” says Dev Moodley, chairperson of SAMBRA.

There is a persistent practice of unfit and unsafe vehicles being put back on the road, and second-hand car buyers need to be particularly vigilant. He cites a recent case of an 84-year-old man who bought a car, a 2021 Suzuki Brezza with just 28 525km on the clock for R230 000.

What looked like a dream car at the initial physical inspection in Johannesburg, has been found, on subsequent inspection, not only to be a Code 2 vehicle which was previously written off, but literally a rolling deathtrap on wheels.

Fast forward three months later and the online portal he bought the car from has confirmed that the dealership that was registered with them and provided the car has now cancelled their contract and is, ‘no longer operating’, so they cannot accept any liability.

“As part of RMI we have tried as far as possible to assist the owner with his escalation to the Motor Industry Ombudsman (MIOSA), as well as widely publicising the story, but unfortunately the owners appear to have gone underground now, and MIOSA is struggling with a backlog of over 12 000 claims. The next step is lodging with the National Competition Commission, but this takes time and needs a judgement first from MIOSA.”

Moodley says losing R230 000 is a huge amount for anyone, particularly if you are an 84-year-old pensioner. “This case is just one of the many reasons that SAMBRA has been strongly advocating for an open and transparent Vehicle Salvage Database for the last four years. We feel it is time to legislate this. How many more consumers are going to be duped while we wait for the South African Insurance Association (SAIA) to disclose the Code 2 list?” he says.

Also read: Beggar dies in tragic accident involving JMPD

SAMBRA provides all second-hand buyers with the following advice:

• The obligation of the buyer of a used vehicle is to be thorough in terms of questioning the dealer/seller and ensuring that a testing certificate from a reputable testing centre is provided. Responses from the dealer should be obtained in writing.

• Never buy a car online that you have not seen and that has not been checked by a qualified independent assessor. You must inspect the car physically yourself but get an expert to check for hidden repairs.

• It is essential that the prospective buyer does not sign or pay anything until all the checks have been done and independent testing reports have been secured.

• A roadworthy certificate is not enough. When you buy a second-hand car, it comes with a roadworthy certificate, but this certificate alone will not provide confirmation of material defects being present. “A roadworthy certificate is a legal requirement to complete the registration for transfer of ownership when one acquires a used motor vehicle, or for any vehicles carrying passengers for reward, like mini-busses/busses/heavy load vehicles,” says Moodley.

• A roadworthy test conducted by the vehicle examiner identifies visual defects with the electrical items, bodywork components, steering, suspension, and interior seatbelts and an overview of the undercarriage. It makes sure the vehicle is ‘roadworthy’, but will NOT necessarily pick up if the vehicle has been in a previous collision and then repaired.

• If you are worried about its service history, you can pop into any franchised dealership that is a member of the National Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA) and request them to check the service history of the car, if you give them the VIN number. Any Motor Industry Workshop Association (MIWA) accredited service workshop will also be able to tell you if there are any mechanical faults.