Dealership probed over cloned car

Car dealership Auto Pedigree has been accused of selling a cloned car to a customer.

The matter is now before the Motor Industry Ombudsman (Miosa) of SA after Ntumediseng Selatela from the Free State lodged a complaint last year.

She claims that Auto Pedigree in QwaQwa sold her a R525,000 Toyota Hilux double cab bakkie in September 2023, which has turned out to be a cloned vehicle.

The dealership insisted that the car was cloned two months after it had been delivered to the client.

Selatela claims that when she went to get the vehicle’s disc at the transport department two months later she was told that it is was a cloned car, which belonged to an untraceable person in KZN.

Lucious Bodibe from Miosa said: "The complaint in question has been recorded on our complaint system and is currently undergoing due processes."

Vehicle cloning occurs when a criminal copies the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) from a legally owned vehicle and uses it to hide the true identity of a stolen or salvaged vehicle of the same make and model. To do this the VIN plate of the stolen or salvaged vehicle is replaced with the VIN plate of a validly registered vehicle from another province or country.

According to DataDot, a company that manufactures microdots for identifying and securing assets, victims of vehicle cloning not only lose their insurance cover on the vehicle but also have very little chance of retrieving the money paid for the vehicle once it has been confiscated by authorities.

As a result of the cloning, Selatela has not been able to use the vehicle as the transport department in Phuthaditjhaba could not issue her a new disc for the vehicle. The old disc expired in August last year.

“The car is parked at home because of the disc and I don’t want to drive it in case I get fined by police. I use taxis or ask friends for a lift.

“All I want is for the dealership to trade in the car and then refund me the R9,500 I have been paying for it monthly for the last 15 months, but they are refusing to accept this deal. It is unfair to me because I’ve had this car for more than a year and I have not been able to use [it] but I’m still paying for it every month,” said Selatela.

Free State police spokesperson W/O Mmako Mophiring said Selatela laid a complaint and the dealership was advised on how to proceed with the matter.

“The investigator provided the dealership in question with proper documents and procedures that needed to be followed when registering the vehicle and giving it a new mark. The matter was left in the hands of the dealership to handle their client's problems further,” said Mophiring.

However, when contacted for comment, the dealership’s legal adviser Danie Snyman claimed the issues had been resolved last year with the client and that he had assisted her to re-register the car. He said the company had bought the car new and used it as part of its fleet before selling it to Selatela.

“Unfortunately we have no control on any process or procedure that the police follows. The vehicle was cloned two months after we had delivered it to the customer, and as per our records the vehicle is registered in her name. The cloning was done by criminals and should be dealt with by the police. Unfortunately, cloning of vehicles is on the increase and criminals are finding ways to undermine the public and compromise the NaTIS process by fraudulently registering cars into third-party names,” said Snyman. 

However, Selatela refuted this, emphasising that the car is still not registered in her name. Sowetan could not independently confirm this. 

This article has been updated to accommodate comment from the Motor Industry Ombudsman. 

TIPS TO AVOID BUYING A CLONED CAR

* Never buy a vehicle without a NaTIS registration certificate. If the vehicle is financed, the registration certificate will be held by the bank and it will only be released once the vehicle is paid in full.

* Check that the information on the registration certificate and/or license disc matches the information on the vehicle in all aspects.

* Check for spelling mistakes on the registration certificate and that it is not a photocopy.

* Ensure the used vehicle has a service book and an owner’s manual.

* Refuse to buy any vehicle with damaged locks or a damaged ignition system.

* Never buy a vehicle advertised or displayed with foreign number plates.

* Never buy a vehicle that is registered in a foreign country — even our neighbouring countries.

* Illegally imported vehicles can visually be identified by, for example, models that are clearly not sold in SA, mirrors on the front fender of the vehicle, mirrors in the back window, labels on the side windows in foreign languages and wipers on the front headlights.

It is strongly recommended that buyers of used motor vehicles should insist, from the dealer/seller, on a microdot fitment confirmation certificate issued for the vehicle by a reputable accredited microdot fitment centre.

Source: Business Against Crime