NCC accuses car dealerships of selling faulty vehicles

The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has accused car dealerships across South Africa of selling faulty vehicles to unsuspecting consumers.

The NCC says disgruntled consumers are increasingly approaching it for assistance after being sold cars by dealerships with defects including odometers that have been tampered with and the mileage turned back.

The Commission’s spokesperson Pheto Ntaba says, “We say to South African consumers today, when you want to buy a vehicle, make sure that you get someone who really understands vehicles, test the car, get the history of that particular car.”

“There are other services that are available out there, you might have to pay for them, where they’re able to check and verify the history of the vehicle because some of the cars you get and you say it’s a second hand, it was used just for test driving and what not, but when a consumer starts using the car, within six months it breaks down, for like seven times or so. It cannot be right, it’s not fair on the side of the consumer.”