The never ending story

I hope to never have another day like last Monday.

Apart from the continual rain the day was going well as my friend Niemesh was over from the UK and we had met up in the Pavillion Shopping Centre with all of his group. We're walking around when the dreaded phone call came. I was advised that my gearbox had been removed (as per instructions) and examined and the gearbox bell housing (called a bell housing because it's shaped like a bell) had some cracks that meant the oil was leaking, that it had obviously been repaired before because there was clear welding, and that there was precious little way to tell how much damage (anywhere from insignificant to huge) has been done to the gears themselves inside. The recommendation was for a new gearbox, which was quoted to me as R26,000 - which is nearly £2,000! I was told that that would at least take care of some of the other parts I was looking at before, e.g. new seals, etc.

So I went down there to have a look and to get a final price. Knowing there were some other issues in mind I asked the mechanic what it would cost if all the parts that are either dead, damaged, or suspect, were replaced by Saab and using new parts. I was in for the shock of my life when the total mounted up to more than R55,000 (approx £3,850) by the time VAT was added as well! There was no question about doing that - none at all. The car simply wasn't worth that money and I only paid R35,000 for it! I was essentially looking at a car that was a dead loss for anything but spare parts!

The Saab mechanic asked, "Have you bought the car recently?" and I I told him (again) that I had, and he said that there was definite grounds to take it back and demand that my car be made roadworthy. He was confident that the dealer knew about the problem and probably put the sealant that covered it up on in the first place because it was so new. If it was deception then I could have a clear case to fight, but he said that even with it sold "as is" it's simply not allowed to be that bad. You can't sell a car that's at a fundamental level faulty. If the gearbox had broken down a couple of months from now then that's tough on me, because it may have just been on its last legs (not broken) when I bought it. But it was not - it was already broken.

So I went back to the dealer with Gary, expecting a fight for any repair or refund or replacement. If it went to a legal battle it would be a bit costly and I probably wouldn't have the case finished much before I left the country - in the meantime being without a car! To my surprise the dealer took some responsibility for it. He denied that he'd put the superglue repair on it, but accepted that it was his responsibility to fix (whether he did the dodgy work and thought I could prove it, or he genuinely didn't and was just being fair, I don't know).

Currently repairs are being arranged. Obviously just getting new parts is out of the question, but the gearbox I think is sound apart from it being leaky. He'll have it repaired by someone who'll guarantee it for a year, the clutch (which the Saab mechanic said looked quite new, but was now contaminated) will be skimmed and made clean again, and the whole thing will be put back together and I will hopefully be alright from there. There are some more repairs to be done, but they are looking like hundreds rather than thousands of pounds.

By about 3pm yesterday I was ready to go to bed! I've had to shell out for the labour from Saab, but it's well worth it for the independent evaluation of the problem. While it's not quite as straightforward as I thought it would be when I bought it, it's not looking as bad as it can be now. I'm not out of the woods yet though, so please pray that this is resolved well for me and that I get a fair deal and a car that doesn't become a drain on me throughout the year.

As I described to someone today who was just hearing the full story, everything about the car suggested best case scenario when I bought it (the bodywork, the mileage, the test drive, the service history, the good interior condition, etc). Yesterday it looked like it had moved to the worst case scenario - total loss - and today it looks like it's more like what used cars are about. Buying a car is always a gamble, but it's so rare to get a best case scenario that turns out to be so bad. I've definitely been stitched up, or should I say, "stitched in"?

Any of you that have a working car that isn't costing you an arm and a leg..... thank God for it!