In April this year Adeline Cloete decided to trade in her black Florid GWM for a Land Rover at DFF Motors on Ontdekkers Road.
With much pride she took ownership of her vehicle but soon her worries started when she received e-toll bills for her previous vehicle still with the same registration (CB79ZRGP). The bank also informed her that of the outstanding amount on the Florid, which was just over R90 000, only R30 000 has been paid.
She contacted Flip Degenaar, owner of DFF motors, who told her that he has paid the outstanding amount but that he might have used the wrong reference number. On another occasion he allegedly told Cloete that he might have paid the money into the wrong account. Cloete says that she received endless excuses from Degenaar as to why he could not give her proof of payment.
Cloete also asked him for the details of the new owner to forward the e-toll bills to that person, which he refused to give to her or the bank. Instead he said she should pass it on to him and he would pass it on to the new owner. Cloete says she found this highly irregular and could not understand why he did not want to reveal the contact details of the new owner and why the new owner would drive around in the car for almost three months without querying why it is not registered in his name.
Eventually the bank informed her that they wanted to repossess the car to sell it to cover the outstanding amount. Cloete asked that they give her an opportunity to find the car, fearing that she would be liable to pay both her new car and the old one. She also was concerned that the new owner ran the risk of losing his new car.
Out of desperation Cloete contacted the record who in return contacted Degenaar to find an explanation for this irregular practice.
Degenaar was friendly throughout his dealings with the record and indicated on 11 July that he would report back. On 14 July he sent the record an email saying he paid all outstanding monies and that he has asked Cloete to give him the e-toll bills in order for him to pay it. This was confirmed by the bank and by Cloete.
Degenaar never gave a reason though for why it took him so long to re-register the car and he also did not address the record’s concerns that there were a number of allegations against his business on the consumer platform HelloPeter.com.
DFF motors is in the process of changing its name to Express Motors.
