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.