Western Cape High Court orders Wingfield Motors to refund client for defective vehicle

A car dealership has been ordered to refund a client the full purchase price of a vehicle and pay an administrative penalty of R50,000 after the Western Cape High Court upheld that it violated a section of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA).

This legal action arose when the client purchased a second-hand vehicle from Wingfield Motors for his son in January 2021. Just days after the purchase, the car exhibited significant defects, despite having undergone test drives on two separate occasions prior to the sale.

The vehicle, a 2017 Ford Focus RS 2.3 EcoBoost, was also sent for roadworthy testing assessment and a report on its condition. 

According to Wingfield the report did not reflect any meaningful faults with the vehicle, other than it being dirty and having a scratch on the front bumper paintwork.

The purchase took a sour turn when the client reported, within three days after they collected the vehicle, a burning smell from the rear wheel and that the clutch did not feel right. 

The car dealership referred the client to have the vehicle assessed at Barloworld Ford as the car was still under warranty and a maintenance plan and found that the clutch and flywheel were burnt as there was “excessive play on clutch kit”.

The total estimated costs to repair the damage to the clutch and flywheel amounted to approximately R62 218.

These costs were not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty, and so Barloworld Ford required payment from the customer before carrying out the repairs. The customer looked to Wingfield to cover these costs, but Wingfield refused.

After taking the matter to the Motor Industry Ombudsman of South Africa, the matter was taken to the National Consumer Commission.

Johan Loubser, attorney for Wingfield, said the legal team was considering the content of the judgment which was handed down on Tuesday and the prospect of an appeal. 

The judgment read: "In turn, the financing bank would reimburse the customer for all the instalments paid. The customer, for his part, would pay R32 595 for usage, calculated at R4.60 per kilometre driven, plus an additional R27 149 for depreciation. The customer accepted responsibility for usage but not for depreciation.”

Following an investigation, the National Consumer Tribunal, issued a decision that Wingfield was in breach and ordered it to refund the purchase price paid by the customer, and imposed the administrative penalty.

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