Story audio is generated using AI<\/p>\n
Experts in the trade will likely advise you to get rid of a mechanically complicated luxury car once the maintenance plan expires. <\/p>\n
The Mokholo family had the misfortune of mechanical failure in their BMW X7 M50d \u201cdays after the Motorplan contract had expired.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cAware that it was about to end, a month prior we attempted to renew it with BMW, but we were told that due to the age of the vehicle (2019); they were unable to offer a comprehensive maintenance plan extension,\u201d said Dudu Mokholo.<\/p>\n
Instead, they were willing to offer an extended service plan, which she agreed to. A service plan does not offer the same level of coverage as a maintenance plan. <\/p>\n
The X7 broke down and had to be towed to BMW Fourways, formerly Cedar Isle BMW, where the vehicle was purchased.<\/p>\n
The cause was found to be turbocharger malfunction, with oil entering the engine, causing excessive smoke. <\/p>\n
Throughout this entire ordeal, I have continued paying my monthly instalments faithfully \u2014 despite not having access to the vehicle I am paying for \u2014 while also making alternative transport arrangements at my own cost<\/p>\n
\u2014 \u00a0Dudu Mokholo<\/p>\n
While BMW South Africa and the dealership agreed to cover the cost of the parts for the repair, Mokholo would have to foot the bill for the labour. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat followed has been an exhausting cycle of waiting, following up, escalating, and still receiving little to no clarity,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
At one point she decided to copy the office of the Motor Industry Ombudsman of South Africa (Miosa) into correspondence, hoping this might apply pressure for a shorter turnaround. <\/p>\n
\u201cBefore even lodging a formal complaint, BMW South Africa appears to have used that as a reason to stop engaging with me directly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The car was in the workshop for nearly two months. Last week she was informed the vehicle was ready \u2014 but Mokholo does not want it back, particularly after learning the vehicle had previous repairs that were not disclosed when she purchased it. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat makes this even more frustrating is that throughout this entire ordeal, I have continued paying my monthly instalments faithfully \u2014 despite not having access to the vehicle I am paying for \u2014 while also making alternative transport arrangements at my own cost.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd beyond the financial inconvenience, there is a human cost too. My daughter, a mechanical engineer and lifelong BMW enthusiast, could not even attend her graduation in our beloved family vehicle as it had been sitting at the dealership.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cPremium brands are not tested when everything goes right. They are tested when something goes wrong \u2014 and how they respond in that moment is the real brand experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
We first reached out to BMW South Africa for comment.<\/p>\n
Communications manager Hailey Philander confirmed that the company extended goodwill to the customer for the turbocharger repair up to the value of R262,975.65. <\/p>\n
Repairs could only commence once the engine and cylinder head were removed \u2014 the cost of which (R52,944.39) would not be covered.<\/p>\n
The customer advised that they no longer wished to retain the vehicle and requested an evaluation with a view to selling it. Our used vehicle department is currently assisting with this process <\/p>\n
\u2014 \u00a0Riaan Roux, BMW Fourways dealer principal <\/p>\n
Following up with BMW Fourways dealer principal Riaan Roux said incorrect parts had caused the delay. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe customer authorised the required work on April 29. Unfortunately certain parts were on back order and we only received them around May 19.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cDuring reassembly, it was discovered that the supplied head gasket was incorrect, requiring a further parts order and resulting in additional delays. Once the correct parts were received, the repair was completed on June 10.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing completion of the repairs, we contacted the customer to arrange collection of the vehicle. At that stage, the customer advised that they no longer wished to retain the vehicle and requested an evaluation with a view to selling it. Our used vehicle department is currently assisting with this process.\u201d <\/p>\n
We also asked Roux about the previous accident damage, which Mokholo discovered via an Autobid repair quote history report. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe customer purchased [the] vehicle whist this dealership was still under previous ownership (Cedar Isle BMW). We (BMW Fourways) are not privy to any documentation whilst under previous ownership.\u201d <\/p>\n
Roux said the BMW Fourways is a completely different legal entity, and the previous company was liquidated.<\/p>\n
He said after further investigation, there were no accident comments on the BMW system. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Autobid info sent to you by the customer has only become available over past few years, this info would not have been available to the dealer staff at the time.\u201d <\/p>\n
Roux believed the extent of the damage could not have been serious. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo order-by-VIN (OBV) has been noted on the BMW system, this happens when body panels and suspension parts are replaced.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mokholo, who told us she had been driving various BMW models for the past 15 years, would be looking at other brands for her replacement vehicle. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe customer wants to trade the X7 in with Land Rover and has requested us to \u2018cover\u2019 them at the same value we offered \u2014 and we agreed,\u201d said Roux. <\/p>\n
If you have a motoring consumer story to share, contact the author: brenwin@sundaytimes.co.za <\/p>\n
TimesLIVE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Story audio is generated using AI Experts in the trade will likely advise you to get rid of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20955],"tags":[6213,38454,38478,29194,38455,38477,38479,38475,38476,38480,38474],"class_list":["post-45217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bmw","tag-bmw","tag-bmw-fourways","tag-bmw-south-africa","tag-bmw-x7","tag-bmw-x7-m50d","tag-dudu-mokholo","tag-hailey-philander","tag-mokholo-family","tag-motorplan","tag-riaan-roux","tag-x7"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}