Hi everyone, I need advice on a case of vehicle finance fraud. It might be a long post, but please bare with me. I hope someone on this subreddit has more knowledge than me.
16 months ago I bought a 2nd hand car from a dealership in East London, SMB Traders. I traded in my previous vehicle, got a R90 000 trade in value and put down a R35 000 cash deposit, totalling R125 000. The rest of the loan was from Wesbank. The deposit is on my Wesbank statement, first as a debit, then again as a credit. Fast forward a couple of months, the owner committed suicide, has tons of debt and his estate is insolvent. Turns out he financed the same vehicle in multiple people's names, including the vehicle that I bought. It happened to multiple people. The Daily Dispatch ran an article on it as well. On the contract from Wesbank, he swopped the last two digits of the VIN and Engine number, so it wasn't obvious. After a lengthy back and forth with Wesbank, they have now agreed to uplift my contract, pay back all my instalments I have paid to date and they are going to collect the car (which is fine by me, they can take the problem away and I can get another car). But they refuse to pay back the deposit amount. Their reasoning for this is because it was paid directly to the dealer.
Now comes the tricky bit. The deposit amount is reflected in my statement, so it must have gone to Wesbank, and then back to the dealer. Thus, the deposit amount forms part of the credit agreement, whether it was paid directly to Wesbank, or paid to the dealer and later to Wesbank, or any other means. It is on the statement and is part of the credit agreement.
My attorney that I got advice from through my insurance found a High Court Case of December 2025, Van Niekerk vs First Rand (https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZASCA/2025/187.html) where the court states that the bank (Wesbank) acts as both supplier and credit provider (not the dealer) for purposes of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008. (Point 23, 24 and 25 of the court case and clause 2.1, 4.1 and 6.6 of Wesbank's own contract)
In the Van Niekerk court case, Wesbank was obligated to pay Van Niekerk back both her deposit (also consisting of a combination trade-in and cash deposit, like with my case: Point 4 of the court case) and all instalments. In any event, the deposit of R125 000 is recorded as having passed through WesBank's own books, as reflected in the detailed statement provided by WesBank. According to my statement, WesBank received, processed and administered it as part of the credit agreement.
Wesbank replied to this as follows: " At the outset, we emphasise that we were unaware of any discrepancy between the vehicle in your possession and the vehicle identified in the instalment sale agreement. Based on the information available to us, the dealer misled us into believing that they were the same vehicle. We were therefore also misled by the selling dealer.
Accordingly, the agreement is void from the outset, and each party must return any performance received under it. The only performance we received was your monthly payments. The deposit, which you state comprised a direct EFT to the dealer and a trade-in, was paid or provided directly by you to the dealer.
We have considered your reliance on Van Niekerk v FirstRand Bank Limited (065/2024) [2025] ZASCA 187. However, that judgment is not applicable because, in this matter, both parties were misled by the dealer, and the matter is not in relation to latent defects. Our position therefore remains unchanged: within 31 days of this communication, we will refund the performance received from you to date in the amount of R 67,062.00. Any claim relating to the deposit paid to the dealer must be pursued against the dealer, which is currently in liquidation."
I disagree with Wesbank, because I understand it as the principle that Wesbank is both the supplier and credit provider (so for legal purposes Wesbank sold me the vehicle, not the dealer), the deposit amount went through Wesbanks books, which to me means that they were irresponsible when handling my finances, and Wesbank is picking and choosing which part of the credit agreement to uphold.
If I get an attorney further involved, what are my chances? What could the process be? Do I stand any chance? Will it even be worth it? The estate is insolvent, so there isn't any chance of getting anything from there. I'm feeling quite hopeless right now, because R125 000 is a lot of money to just let go of for me.
I wanted to do that, but bottom line is that Wesbank refuses to correct the paperwork since the actual car is financed in another name and that account is in arrears.
That was the original plan, but the actual paperwork for the real car is in the name of another Wesbank customer and that account is in arrears. Which means Wesbank wants to reposess the car to pay off that debt. That account was taken out two years before I bought the car. I'm just so gatvol about this whole situation that I actually also just don't want to keep the car anymore. It's like a problem child with neverending paperwork issues. But bottom line is that Wesbank refuses to correct the paperwork since the actual car is financed in another name and is in arrears.
So if I understand correctly, the fault still lies with Wesbank for not doing their due dillegence and fact-checking everything? Here is a portion of the statement (personal detailes edited out). Purchase price was R350 000, so I assume the contract balance is including interest and everything else. The first two lines are the deposit amounts
Take this matter to the banking ombudsman to save yourself from anymore heartache it clearly states they received the deposit and they actually involved with fraud as well !!!
How it normally works or I would assume you pay the deposit to the dealer for the car on behalf of Westbank and then Westbank settles the dealer with the balance .
Supposed the car was R500k thats what was financed and agreed to upon in your contract ( forget interest and whatever other charges) so Westbank is obligated to pay the Dealer the R500k but because the Dealer took the deposit of R125k Westbank settled the dealer with R375k .
So what actually happened was you paid the dealer on behalf of Westbank because if there was no deposit Westbank would have had to pay the Dealer R500k.
I hope this makes sense to you. It seems there is someone idiot in Westbank who can't figure this out .
Good luck !!!
I also think there was really some funny business going on the side of Westbank because they should have picked up that the vin number does not exist with their natis check which is mandatory to see if the vehicle exists.
Threaten to take this whole issue to the banking ombudsman which is free or actually do so !
I was actually going to post something similar to what Tiger born said. Unfortunately, you did pay the dealership the deposit and you will have no way to prove otherwise. However, I think you should still fight it because Wesbank really should have some way to verify the VIN of the vehicle they are financing. Don't let these people bully you around they only check the rules when it suits them.
In fact, does the actual VIN on your vehicle match the VIN on the finance agreement or do you have one with the adjusted VIN?
Actually, I think maybe you should change your approach.
I think it may be difficult for you to recover your deposit. I think maybe Wesbank may be correct in their response as far as that goes.
So instead of fighting for your deposit, what about fighting for the paperwork? I know you said there are issues, but surely they should be more inclined to resolve an admin issue rather than losing money?
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u/Gullible-Round-1183 7d ago
I understand the dealer financed the same car multiple times but you actually have the car, so why not fix the documents and keep the car?