Wesbank will intervene to help its clients get a fair deal from a second-hand dealership which sold its client an alleged dud.

Thando Sebele, 40, of Alexandra township said he was sold a Mini Cooper he only drove for a few hours before it gave him problems.

Sebele, a father of two, said he took delivery of the car on October 14 without doing a proper inspection on the car.

But the little he could identify were the small stone chips and a loose handbrake which the car dealer undertook to fix.

Sebele said there was an advantage to buying something on credit as the financier would now step in and help recover the R169000 paid for this car.

He said his initial plan was to buy the car for cash but his bank approved the loan and deposited it into his account.

"This comes with interest but the advantage now is that I have the bank's support in fighting this," he said.

Sebele said he understood that when buying a second-hand vehicle he had to give the dealership an opportunity to remedy defects, but said it should have taken the car for a roadworthy test to ensure it was suitable to be sold.

He said when the car's engine started to smoke he took it to the BMW dealership next to Melrose Nissan where he bought the car. The BMW dealership discovered the turbo charge was affixed with wires.

"They advised me to cancel the deal and demand a refund, but Nissan wanted to be given a chance to fix the car."

He said in terms of section 56 of the Consumer Protection Act he has a right to either insist on a repair, replacement or refund, but the dealership treated him as though it had this right instead.

He later discovered that the car was fixed by a private mechanic who had dismantled the engine and failed to re-assemble it since January.

Jason Nestadt, a director at Melrose Motor Investment, said the car was in perfect condition when Sebele took it.

"It had been roadworthied, valeted and checked by us for quality purposes and there were no faults reported."

Nestadt said they had attended to repair faults caused solely by the customer and his negligence and abuse of the vehicle purely to pacify him.

"We have also been advised that the customer may have been swapping parts from our vehicle with his other similar model Mini Cooper."

His attorneys' letter repeated what Ne stadt said.

Shaie Zindel Attorneys further said Sebele must immediately remove his car otherwise he will be charged a daily storage fee of R150.

Clinton Louw of Wesbank said the bank was aware of Sebele's experience: "This was a total rip-off, and we are investigating with the view to have this contract cancelled."