Court orders car dealership to refund disgruntled consumer

The court has ordered a car dealership to refund a consumer after a vehicle she had bought from them had to be fixed three times within three months after the purchase, resulting in gearbox failure. 

The Western Cape High Court has ruled in favour of the complainant, Alison Janet Davidson, following four years of a legal wrangle between her and Unicity Trading (Pty) Ltd trading as Cape SUV. The company had refused to take back the vehicle and to refund her the R151,900 she had spent. 

However, the court ruled last week that the dealership had contravened the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) and it should fully refund Davidson within 30 days and to collect the broken vehicle from her house within five business days. 

Davidson had bought the 2013 Daihatsu Terios 4x4 motor vehicle in June 2019.

Defects manifested within a week of her taking delivery of the motor vehicle.

According to court documents, the company attempted to repair the car several times on June 24, June 25, and August 7 2019, and between August 17 and 31 2019.

“On 1 September 2019, a defect or failure in the gearbox was detected. On 4 September 2019, within three months after it had been repaired in August 2019, the vehicle broke down again due to gearbox failure. On 10 September 2019, the complainant, through its attorneys of record at that time, cancelled the agreement of sale, tendered the return of the vehicle, and claimed the refund of the purchase price less R5,000.00 to repair a dent caused by the complainant,” read court documents.

“Despite such demand, the car dealership has not accepted the cancellation of the agreement and refund of the purchase price but blamed the complainant as the cause of the gearbox failure."

Davidson then lodged a complaint with the National Consumer Commission (NCC) in October 2020 and the NCC found that the company had violated the CPA.

Section 56(3) of the CPA provides that “if a supplier repairs any particular goods or any component of such goods, and within three months after the repair, the failure, defect or unsafe has not been remedied, or a further failure, defect or unsafe feature is discovered, the supplier must (a) replace the goods, or (b) refund to the consumer the price paid for the goods."

The matter was taken to the National Consumer Tribunal earlier this year where the tribunal ordered that Davidson be refunded and the car returned. However, the company opposed the ruling and escalated the issue to the high court where they argued that the vehicle broke down as a result of Davidson’s driving behaviour, and that the malfunctioning of the gearbox was a “further defect”.

However, the court upheld thetribunal's ruling, saying the dealership's argument that the gearbox malfunctioning was due to the consumer’s driving style was without merit.

The NCC welcomed the judgment.

Acting commissioner Hardin Ratshisusu said:  This judgment should send a strong message to suppliers who disregard the rights of consumers. The NCC has particularly prioritised the secondhand motor vehicle industry given the high volumes of complaints received from disgruntled consumers. This judgment not only affirms the rights of consumers as enshrined in the CPA but also the NCC’s approach in dealing with these matters.”

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