Motorist claims Audi centre ripped him off

An Mpumalanga motorist has been forced to use taxis for over a month after a  motor company demanded R12,000 from him to fix a problem they had apparently fixed three weeks before for which they charged him R6,000. 

Lucky Nkosi, 38, a municipal employee in Secunda, Mpumalanga has approached the Motor Industry Ombudsman of South Africa (MIOSA) in his bid to compel the Audi centre in Trichardt to fix his car without further expense to him. The ombud regulates interactions and provides dispute resolution between consumers and businesses within the automotive industry.

Nkosi had taken his Audi A4 to the Audi centre last month after the vehicle started misfiring and losing power. He has owned the vehicle for four years.

“I’ve never had this kind of problem before so I decided to take the car in to be checked by professionals. They diagnosed the problem and said the issue was the spark plugs. They said they would replace all spark plugs including the coin plug number four. I was invoiced about R6,000 and I paid the R2,600 excess and the insurance paid the rest. I received the car after a couple of days and it drove nicely for about three weeks – and then I started experiencing the same problems I had before,” said Nkosi.

However, when he took the car back to the centre Nkosi said he was asked to pay R12,000 to strip the engine and inspect the cylinder.

“I told them I did not have the money and that I didn’t understand why I had to pay for the same fault they attempted to fix just weeks before. Their service consultant sent me to the service manager for me to get an explanation but the manager was rude to me and could not explain why I’d have to pay R12,000. He said he didn’t care whether I take my complaint to the ombudsman’s office or not.

“I then escalated the matter to the Audi head office and they said there was nothing they could do, I must just pay,” said Nkosi.

Last week he approached MIOSA asking them to intervene. Sowetan Consumer has seen confirmation that the matter is being investigated by MIOSA.

Nkosi’s vehicle is still with the Audi centre as the matter is being investigated. However, not having a vehicle has affected Nkosi’s ability to travel and transport his three kids to and from school.

“I’ve had to ask friends for favours or hire people to take my children to school. I’ve been taking taxis to go to work. My life has changed drastically. The car is still with the mechanic and I’m worried they will start charging me for storage,” said Nkosi.

Trichardt Audi manager Charl Stander told Sowetan Consumer he couldn’t comment on the matter as his lawyers are handling the issue.

“Yes, I know about the car you are talking about, but since the matter has now reached the ombudsman’s office, my lawyers are dealing with it,” said Stander.