The Motor Industry Ombudsman of SA (Miosa) has found in favour of car dealership Auto Pedigree in its dispute with a customer who had accused the company of selling her a cloned vehicle.
Ntumediseng Selatela from QwaQwa in the Free State had lodged a complaint with Miosa against the Auto Pedigree branch in her hometown, alleging it had sold her a Toyota Hilux double cab in September 2023 for R525,000 which she later found was allegedly cloned. She said she noticed this two months after the sale when she went to register the car.
Since then, she has not been able to renew her car's licence, and uses public transport to avoid getting traffic fines for driving with an expired disc.
After not getting any satisfaction from the dealership, she decided to approach Miosa for help.
The ombudsman ruled in Auto Pedigree's favour, saying the dealership had fulfilled its obligations to Selatela at the time of the sale of the vehicle.
“The subsequent unauthorised changes in the registration fall outside their control and must be further investigated by SAPS and relevant registering authority where the fraudulent transfers occurred,” read the ruling.
Auto Pedigree has since denied that the vehicle was cloned, saying it was unlawfully registered in the name of a third party two months after the vehicle was bought, delivered, registered and licensed in Selatela's name. It said no second vehicle bearing the same details as Selatela's exists.
“The ownership of the vehicle was unlawfully transferred to multiple third parties without the complainant’s consent. If Auto Pedigree is to blame for this, it would be the same as if Auto Pedigree is blamed for the theft of a customer’s vehicle two months after a sale of a vehicle took place,” said the company.
Though the vehicle was registered in her name, Selatela said she cannot get its license disc. She wanted Auto Pedigree to exchange the vehicle for another one and refund her the R9,500 that she has been paying each month since September 2023 when she bought the car.
“Based on the information provided, the Miosa cannot support the complainant's expectation that the respondent should rectify the vehicle's registration, replace the vehicle, or provide any form of compensation. If there are any outstanding obstacles preventing the complainant from renewing the licence disc, we advise her to approach her local registration authority and SAPS for further investigation,” read Miosa's ruling.
Selatela said she was disappointed with the ruling and she would seek an alternative recourse.
SowetanLIVE
Ombudsman rules in favour of dealership in car dispute
Auto Pedigree says vehicle's registration was unlawfully transferred to multiple people two months after it was sold to complainant
Image: Supplied
The Motor Industry Ombudsman of SA (Miosa) has found in favour of car dealership Auto Pedigree in its dispute with a customer who had accused the company of selling her a cloned vehicle.
Ntumediseng Selatela from QwaQwa in the Free State had lodged a complaint with Miosa against the Auto Pedigree branch in her hometown, alleging it had sold her a Toyota Hilux double cab in September 2023 for R525,000 which she later found was allegedly cloned. She said she noticed this two months after the sale when she went to register the car.
Since then, she has not been able to renew her car's licence, and uses public transport to avoid getting traffic fines for driving with an expired disc.
After not getting any satisfaction from the dealership, she decided to approach Miosa for help.
The ombudsman ruled in Auto Pedigree's favour, saying the dealership had fulfilled its obligations to Selatela at the time of the sale of the vehicle.
“The subsequent unauthorised changes in the registration fall outside their control and must be further investigated by SAPS and relevant registering authority where the fraudulent transfers occurred,” read the ruling.
Auto Pedigree has since denied that the vehicle was cloned, saying it was unlawfully registered in the name of a third party two months after the vehicle was bought, delivered, registered and licensed in Selatela's name. It said no second vehicle bearing the same details as Selatela's exists.
“The ownership of the vehicle was unlawfully transferred to multiple third parties without the complainant’s consent. If Auto Pedigree is to blame for this, it would be the same as if Auto Pedigree is blamed for the theft of a customer’s vehicle two months after a sale of a vehicle took place,” said the company.
Though the vehicle was registered in her name, Selatela said she cannot get its license disc. She wanted Auto Pedigree to exchange the vehicle for another one and refund her the R9,500 that she has been paying each month since September 2023 when she bought the car.
“Based on the information provided, the Miosa cannot support the complainant's expectation that the respondent should rectify the vehicle's registration, replace the vehicle, or provide any form of compensation. If there are any outstanding obstacles preventing the complainant from renewing the licence disc, we advise her to approach her local registration authority and SAPS for further investigation,” read Miosa's ruling.
Selatela said she was disappointed with the ruling and she would seek an alternative recourse.
SowetanLIVE
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