Year Seven and counting.....

Dear fellow readers

It is with the utmost disgust that I am writing this post today. Seven years later and now paying off on the balloon payment with MFC (The Bank that financed the vehicle and who's asset this is) and thanks to useless and money hungry attorneys and lawless courts, I am still no closer to getting closure on this matter.

I went to court in February 2017 and due to a technicality the case was thrown out of court due to my advocate and lawyer not doing their homework properly and I am liable for those costs.

But, I will NOT relent as I have a point to prove and that is that these imbeciles sold me a gray import vehicle which I am confident that they were aware is broken and was probably hoping that I would go away like a common cold.

This is NOT going to happen. I am financially ruined at this stage and don't know where and how I am going to get the money to carry on, but I will see them in court in December 2018 and I WILL win my case.

In the meantime the sorry excuse for a vehicle is standing in my yard, full of dirt and leaves and are totally useless to me except, maybe, as a garden ornament. Once this thing is paid up I will be parking it smack bang in the middle of AMH Group Head Office foyer in Meadowdale and they can stick it where the sun don't shine. 

I apologise for the short post, but I am in a very foul mood thanks to these morons.....

Have yourselves a great one and don't let the poor service providers get you under!!

FIGHT FOR WHAT'S RIGHT!!!

Year Six, and counting...

It is a year since I fetched the "broken" vehicle from Mahindra Boksburg. During this time I have had the turbo and inter cooler fixed at my own cost - no thanks to Mahindra Boksburg who was the cause of it breaking in the first place - and yet the "limp home" issue continues. Therefore it can be safely said that the turbo and inter cooler are most definitely NOT the cause of the problem as was ass/u/me/d by the wonderfully incompetent workshop manager at the time at Mahindra Boksburg. Because of this I still blame him and his incompetent crew for actually blowing up the turbo and not even having the decency to admit to it and to fix their mistake/s.

Remember from my previous post, and I quote:
I drove the vehicle there and the only problem it had was that it kept on going into "limp home mode".

To date I have still had no use of the vehicle at all and it is an ongoing issue. As a matter of interest I took the vehicle to a dealer with the intent on trading it in on another vehicle as a means of getting rid of the rubbish. On my way to the dealer the vehicle suddenly developed an electrical problem as well.

I owe R96,000.00 on the excuse for a vehicle (balloon payment) and doing my homework I found out that the book trade on the vehicle is R139,100.00 and the retail value is R158,500.00. See pic below.

This Trade in Appraisal is a slap in the face if ever I had one...

The sad part is that NOBODY wanted to offer me more that R40,000.00 for the vehicle because of the problems I have been having and these are só obvious when driving the vehicle in the first place.

I have been looking at this situation from all angles and I just don't understand how it is possible that Ssangyong Motor Company, Associated Motor Holdings which is part of Imperial Holdings whom in turn have a stake in the sales of  basically every make of vehicle in South Africa, Mahindra, and Motor Finance Company (Nedbank) can get away with treating me in this way. I bet my bottom dollar if it was any of the Big Brand Names this matter would have been resolved right in the beginning without costing all the stakeholders an arm and a leg.

My legal fees at this stage is already more than I have been offered for this piece of junk. I am NOT a millionaire and I do not have money to waste, but, I do have a serious point to prove.

And that is, that these useless, incompetent, sly, scheming, devious, conniving, manipulative, thieving companies must know, we salary owners are not going to stand being treated like morons. If it takes me the rest of my life, I will pursue this matter until I am satisfied with the outcome which will be in my favour and on my terms, AND NOT ON THESE IMPERIALISTS' TERMS!!!!

So, get ready for the fight of your lives SYMC, AMH, and MFC!!!!

What happened since the Last Straw....

Dear fellow vehicle users

I am truly sorry about the long delays between posts nowadays, but contrary to belief, I also have a life outside of the Ssangyong / MFC debakel that is playing out like a horror movie.

Since my last post the following has occurred.

The assumed diesel injectors was eventually fixed by Bosch in Alrode, just to find out that, the injectors was not actually the problem. The "limp home mode" has continued since the repair of the injectors. The vehicle now goes into this mode every other other kilometer or so. At the end of April 2014 the vehicle was due for a service and, in an effort to try and be nice,  I wanted to give the vehicle to Mahindra Alberton with a clean engine so that they can work on it. Therefore I washed the engine the previous day.

Low and behold, after the engine wash the vehicle wouldn't start. The following morning I had to arrange a piggy back to come and fetch this wonderful vehicle and deliver it to Mahindra Alberton.

I pertinently told the workshop staff at Mahindra to please get the vehicle to start and once that problem was resolved they were to carry on and do the service as required. The following day I was phoned informing me that they have completed the service, but still could not get the vehicle to start, and that I have to pay over R4000.00 for the service.

I was stunned. My first question to them was, "How do you service a vehicle if it could not even start?"

Till today they still owe me an explanation. 

The vehicle then stood with Mahindra Alberton from the 27 April 2014 until the 07 July 2015 by which time they still did not get the vehicle fixed. I was now threatened to fetch the vehicle or they will start charging me storage fees........

I did collect the vehicle and took it straight to Mahindra Boksburg where the workshop manager there was apparently a fundi on Ssangyong vehicles and problems - Boy, was my info wrong on this count. I drove the vehicle there and the only problem it had was that it kept on going into "limp home mode". Yet after having the vehicle there for a month during which time they could also not get the problem solved, I was told by the "fundi" that the turbo is blown. This happened while the vehicle was in their possession, yet I was required to pay for the turbo repair. I told them to not carry on with the repairs as I will fetch the vehicle from them. They even stripped the vehicle and did not have the decency to put everything back together again. See video below.

 

End of August 2015 I was forced to drive the vehicle home from Mahindra Boksburg with a whining turbo because they were not prepared to assist me with a towing vehicle, which they had standing on the premises. Since end August 2015 the vehicle has been standing at my home and I am really at my wits end with this whole fiasco. In the meantime I am still pursuing the Supreme Court case against Ssangyong and MFC of which the court date has been set during Jan or Feb 2017.

In the meantime I have absolutely NO use of a vehicle for which I am paying R7000.00 a month.

Of the 6 years that I have this vehicle I have had no more than 3 years actual use of the vehicle. That means R252,000.00 in installments paid for nothing, not to mention the hiring of vehicles, insurance premiums every month, and other hidden costs that I am carrying unnecessarily on this vehicle due to Ssangyong and MFC's negligence and pure incompetence.

Watch this space. I will keep you posted on the court date in due course.

Regards

PS. Take a tip from a fool - Please don't buy a Ssangyong or Mahindra product, as it is bound to cause you years of heartache and frustration, not to mention loss of hard earned money without anything concrete to show (or enjoy) for it. I know.....

The Last Straw

 SYMC - Ssangyong Motor Company Korea

Here we go again.........

On the 17 Feb 2014 whilst driving with the vehicle I again experienced the "safe mode" issue that was the initial problem when I first bought the vehicle. Whilst driving at a constant speed and then accelerating (perhaps trying to pass another vehicle etc.) the vehicle gives one jerk and then the engine management light comes on. This in turn has the immediate effect of loss of power in the engine.

I then have to pull off to the side of the road, switch off the vehicle, start it up again and then I can drive normally again until the next time it happens. This fiasco happened again every day until the 21 Feb 2014 when I was on my way back to site from a meeting I attended. As soon as it happened I immediately drove the vehicle in that sorry state to Mahindra Alberton so that they can try to determine the cause of the problem.

Upon arrival at Mahindra the workshop Tech immediately attached the computer to the vehicle and after some fiddling on the computer told me that, and I quote - " The computer shows a loose electrical connection on the No. 2 Diesel Injector." - As you will recall from my previous posts, this was exactly the Diesel injector that was replaced during December 2013 whilst we were on holiday.

The Tech then reset the engine management light and said I should bring the vehicle in so that they can "try" to find the fault. He said in the same breath that I should actually take the vehicle to an auto electrician, as if he suddenly lost interest. I got into the vehicle and drove away. I was not even two kilometers from Mahindra when the vehicle actually did the same, but worse this time. It was now actually idling erratically and had virtually no power at all. The engine management light now also stayed on permanently. This all happened on Friday afternoon the 21 Feb 2014.

I have now taken the vehicle back to them, AGAIN, and asked them to please resolve the matter. In the meantime I had to rent a vehicle AGAIN, for the third time in so many months just to be able to at least get to work and back. I just wonder who will be liable for all these unnecessary costs I have to incur because of BAD service rendered by Ssangyong / SYMC / Mahindra. Why couldn't they just get the damn vehicle fixed once and for all. I know the answer to this, but they do not want to hear it because they know they are guilty as hell.

I was sold a major defective vehicle with Ssangyong Bryanston and Ssangyong Motor Company Korea's knowledge and they hope that I will go away like a bad cold. Well, I have news for Ssangyong / Mahindra. I am most DEFINITELY NOT going to go away. If anything I am now MORE DETERMINED THAN EVER to show to the public how irresponsible, unprofessional, incompetent a bunch, these "professionals" at Ssangyong / SYMC / Mahindra really are.

It has now reached a point of no return. I have never in my life been treated with the disrespect and utter loathing as I have been experiencing with these companies and their staff. Face to face they are "friendly as required by the company policies and procedures", but when it comes to the actual after sales service, IT STINKS TO HELL AND BACK!!!!

ALL other vehicle dealers have a policy that, should your vehicle stay in the workshop longer than a day - THEY WILL SUPPLY THE CUSTOMER WITH A LOAN VEHICLE UNTIL THE VEHICLE IS FIXED - especially if the vehicle cannot be fixed due to the incompetence of the dealer or other unforeseen circumstances.    NOT Ssangyong / SYMC / Mahindra..........

Getting back to the issue at hand. They had the vehicle since Friday the 21 Feb 2014 at 16H00 until Tuesday the 25 Feb 2014 at 16H00. On Monday afternoon when I phoned them the workshop foreman told me that the vehicle is as good as new. I insisted that they keep the vehicle a day longer until Tuesday afternoon and drive and use it to ensure that it is functioning properly. He agreed and on Tuesday at 16H00 I fetched the vehicle and was assured that it is running without any problems.

I drove home and the following morning (Wednesday 26 Feb 2014) after filling up with fuel I started my journey to work. As soon as I got onto the highway the vehicle started with the exact same problem again. So much so that I could not continue the journey to work and had to turn around and take the vehicle back to Mahindra Alberton. This was at approximately 08H00 on Wednesday.

OBVIOUSLY THE VEHICLE WAS NEVER DRIVEN AND TESTED BY THEM AS I REQUESTED!!!!!!

The vehicle is now AGAIN standing at Mahindra awaiting repairs. I was told this time that the injectors are faulty AGAIN. Mahindra indicated that they are not prepared to work on the injectors and will be sending the vehicle to BOSCH ALRODE in Alberton. At 16H00 on Wednesday the vehicle was still standing at Mahindra Alberton, untouched and no effort made to take it to Bosch Alrode.

This is where we stand at the moment.

To be continued........................

WTF!? MAHINDRA! - NO THANKS!!

Hi there all you great and wonderful people, NOT you MAHINDRA / SSANGYONG!!!

This is becoming like a suspense novel...

The faulty Injector on the vehicle that impacted on our holiday plans over December 2013, has been sorted eventually by the nice people at Marine Drive Motors in Uvongo on the South Coast, KZN, South Africa. Here's to you Louis and the team!! You did an excellent job under great pressure due to spares not being locally available - the typical Ssangyong / Mahindra, fail to plan, plan to fail syndrome.

All this, no thanks to Mahindra who was not even remotely interested in assisting me at the time because, according to their "management" they, (Mahindra) ,"take no "DIRECT RESPONSIBILITY" for the vehicle and was rambling on about Roadside Assistance and what not, which had exactly NO bearing on the matter at all.

To clarify the matter for those of you who are not aware. During 2013 Mahindra have taken on the Ssangyong brand by signing an agreement. By signing this agreement Ssangyong acknowledged that they will NOT repair any Ssangyong vehicles that are out of factory warranty. These repairs will only be done by Mahindra.

All Ssangyong vehicles still in factory warranty will be honored by Ssangyong until the warranty expires. Based on this agreement I took the vehicle to Mahindra for repairs as it is OUT OF WARRANTY.

Since November 2013 I have been in contact with Mahindra management to try and get them to fix my vehicle. Except for the fact that it took them 8 weeks to obtain the spares to have the timing chain replaced, I was constantly reminded by said "management" that I cannot expect service from them because Mahindra is not "DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE" for the repairs to any Ssangyong, let alone my vehicle.

On the 27 January 2014,  I was contacted by the Mahindra dealer and informed that the spares are all at the dealer for the repair (replacement) of the timing chain. Arrangements was made that I will have the vehicle at the dealer on the 29 January 2014, and according to the Mahindra dealer, the process would take 2 days. I agreed and negotiated a further 1 day for some other issues I wanted them to attend to. I had to phone them every day to find out about the progress of the repair. On the 31 January 2014 at 09H00 in the morning when I inquired about the status of the vehicle, I was informed that the timing chain was completed.

But, now they cannot get the vehicle to start. Please bear in mind that I drove the vehicle every day since November 2013 when the so-called faulty timing chain was diagnosed without EVER having a problem that the vehicle would not start. I drove the vehicle to Mahindra on the morning of the 29 January 2014 without any problems, except for the fact that they were to replace the "faulty" timing belt.

The vehicle won't start!!

The whole day of the 31 January 2014 they wasted time to get the vehicle going without any success. I have been in email contact with all stakeholders during the whole day, asking them to please get a Ssangyong technician to come and resolve the problem. They ignored me flatout.

It is now 15h55, Friday the 31 January 2014 and it does not seem as if I will be getting the vehicle. I cannot for the life of me understand why I am being tortured with the likes of Mahindra and Ssangyong and their utter disrespect for their customers.

And the worst of it all is - I am still not convinced that the timing chain was faulty at all. I initially complained about a rattling noise in the engine compartment (sounds like a loose cover plate or something similar). Scaaaary!!!

Watch this space.....more to come!!

Ssangyong or Mahindra, that's the question!!

Dear fellow vehicle owners,

3 Years and 6 months and counting - of which I had the actual use of the vehicle for exactly 2 years and 7 months. The rest of the time (11 months) the vehicle has spent in the Ssangyong workshops to be fixed. Very soon another couple of weeks will be added to the non use part.

In my previous post I reiterated the fact that Ssangyong has been incorporated with another well known name brand in vehicles. I did not want to be prejudiced and judge them before I gave them a chance to see if their service were better than what I am used to receiving from SSANGYONG.

Well, a chance they were given, and yet again, I was totally disappointed by the extreme lack of service and the major lack of interest that MAHINDRA have displayed during my recent fiasco with this vehicle I am forced to drive around in. (Yes, remember, I can't sell the piece of crap yet because SSANGYONG loaded the vehicle to sell it to me and I am now sitting with a white elephant).

On the 22 November 2013 I took the vehicle in to Mahindra, Alberton, South Africa so that they can investigate a noise in the engine. The technician confirmed without opening the engine that the noise is caused by a faulty timing chain. I was informed that the timing chain needs to be replaced immediately.

I agreed, as I do not know any better and I need a vehicle for work purposes and can not afford to be without the vehicle. (As a matter of interest I was told by the Ssangyong Dealership when I bought the vehicle that the timing chain will be replaced at 90,000 km as part of the initial warranty. This never happened because the person in question left the company and I am just being told that that was not at all what was said........yet, I know what was said because I was actually there and I still have the person's name).

They went forth and contacted my warranty service provider and obtained authorization to have the timing chain replacement done. This is where the wheels come of all at once.

Instead of first confirming the availability of ALL the necessary parts to complete the work, they got authorization. Only after obtaining the authorization did they realize in all their wisdom that they do NOT have the parts readily available. I was contacted by Mahindra, Alberton on the 24 November 2013 to be told that the parts will only be available after 6 to 8 weeks from date of order.

In effect, this meant that I will be without a vehicle for 6 to 9 weeks at least because the warranty service provider pertinently stipulated that I am not allowed to use the vehicle after the authorization approval and before the repairs were done, as this will cause the warranty to be null and void.

Mahindra, knowing that they screwed up BIG TIME was not at all prepared to assist me by lending me a courtesy vehicle and I do NOT have the finances to rent a vehicle for this period. Therefore I was totally and utterly screwed by MAHINDRA.

To this day MAHINDRA just gives me the cold shoulder and they are NOT prepared to assist me with a loaner, although THEY were the ones that screwed up major league.

I now had to resort to underhanded tactics to at least be able to have a vehicle to use until these monkeys got the parts and fixed the vehicle.

But that's a story for the next blog post.....

Please fellow vehicle owners, if it's the last thing I do on this planet of ours, I would insist that you NEVER BUY ANY KOREAN PIECE OF RUBBISH. Especially not a Ssangyong of any kind or model. First of all, the parts are excruciatingly expensive and secodly, the parts are impossible to obtain within a reasonable time frame at the best of times.

For instance I also need to replace the injectors on this excuse for a vehicle at the following cost: R8750.00 ex vat per injector which is worse than daylight robbery. Other WELL KNOWN name brand vehicles' injectors costs approximately R850.00 to R1500.00 per injector...........

SSANGYONG/MAHINDRA SUCKS WORSE THAN ELECTROLUX!!!!!!!!

I would still love to hear from other Ssangyong owners and their experiences with these (un)intelligent beings from another galaxy called Ssangyong!!

Have a cheerful day my fellow Ssangyongers!!!!! (I can at least try to sound brave, can't I?)   ;-)

UPDATE

Since my last update there has been quite a few changes happening in the AMH Group / Ssangyong setup. Apparently overnight and without much ado the Ssangyong brand name was taken over by another well known brand company. I will not be implicating this company as they were NOT involved with this fiasco from the start.

What I do want to mention however is the fact that since the vehicle was fixed the last time by Ssangyong w.r.t. the gear lever not shifting out of park without using an override function. The same problem surfaced again about two months ago. I contacted the "wonderful" Ssangyong dealer again with my problem to ask them to repair the issue again. I was in no uncertain terms informed that they are no longer interested in assisting me as they are no longer Ssangyong "dealers".

I was told to contact the current "dealers" that has accepted and taken over the Ssangyong brand to deal with the problem.

Now, bear in mind that when Ssangyong "fixed" the gear issue the previous time it was a three day job for which the gear lever assembly had to be ordered (taken from another vehicle on the floor) and it had to be fitted to resolve the problem.

When I took the vehicle to the "new" dealers, lo and behold, it took them one day (and only because the part in question had to be fetched from 80 km away) and it cost me only R150.00 for the little part. It turned out to be a solenoid switch that works on the brake pedal which in turn controls a plethora of functions, including the gear shift, cruise control, brake lights etc. No need for a complete gear lever assembly costing most probably R4000.00 plus.

No wonder I am battling through this fiasco with a bunch of morons on the other end of the equation.

The saga continues and I am still adamant in having the matter settled in court although it may cost me an arm and a leg, I feel that it is a matter of principle that these corporates must realise that they can not keep on misleading us and treating us like dirt and get away with it without consequences.

Have a great one and keep your chin up.......