A DURBAN woman has been fighting Mercedes-Benz Umhlanga for seven months after her R1.3 million GLC220d allegedly began experiencing mechanical failures shortly after purchase.

Despite legal protection under the Consumer Protection Act, she claimed the dealership had neither repaired nor replaced the vehicle while subjecting her to “bullying tactics” and threatening her with daily fees for a loan car.

Jolene Naidoo said she purchased the vehicle in October 2024.

She accused the dealership and Mercedes-Benz South Africa of ignoring “life-threatening” faults in the vehicle while subjecting her to what she called “bullying tactics.”

“My dream car quickly turned into a nightmare. Within weeks of driving it off the showroom floor, the car began stalling without warning, leaving me stranded on busy roads.

“My ordeal began when my car abruptly shut down at just 700km. Mercedes-Benz Umhlanga initially attributed the fault to the car battery. They advised me to use the Mercedes app to remotely start the car if it had been unused for a few days but the problems escalated.”

On November 25, while driving in Chatsworth, the vehicle allegedly cut off again, forcing Naidoo to exit and lock it for five minutes as instructed by her sales agent. 

“The situation was terrifying and I was left vulnerable on a main road in an unsafe area. Subsequent breakdowns followed, with the car being booked in for weeks at a time. I reported repeated incidents of the car braking suddenly without obstacles on the road, a malfunction which could have resulted in an accident and endangered my passengers.”

Fearing for her safety, Naidoo formally requested that Mercedes-Benz cancel the sale agreement. 

According to her attorney, Alex Olah, attempts to secure a meeting with the dealership’s dealer principal were ignored for nearly a month.

Instead, Naidoo received letters demanding she return a loan vehicle, provided to her during repairs to her SUV.

“A meeting was eventually held in December 2024, where Mercedes-Benz managers acknowledged the repeated mechanical failures but failed to provide an explanation. They made assurances that the car would be replaced if the issues persisted but the promises were conveniently omitted from the dealership’s records of the meeting,” she alleged.

By early 2025, Naidoo reported five separate instances of her car braking abruptly without cause, sometimes with passengers inside.

“I also reported the car’s infotainment system shutting down for hours, with no resolution from technicians. When I requested details of repairs conducted on the car, the dealership refused, citing my pending complaint with the Motor Industry Ombudsman of South Africa (MIOSA).”

In February 2025, Naidoo was called to a mediation meeting with an NMI-appointed mediator, in an attempt to resolve the matter. As part of that process, her GLC was taken in for further assessments.

“However, to date, my car remains at Mercedes-Benz Umhlanga. I have never been called back to inspect my car, nor have I been given any feedback or records of what repairs, if any, were carried out.

“Instead, I have been subjected to monthly threats from the dealership, unless I return the loan car and take my GLC back, I will be billed R1 200 per day for the loan vehicle.”

In a bid for resolution, Naidoo said she also contacted the owners of Mercedes-Benz Umhlanga. 

“They basically told me they could not assist me because I had already reported the matter to the Ombudsman. Instead of protecting their customer, they washed their hands of the situation.”

Naidoo said while waiting for a resolution, she had already been impacted financially for a car she did not have in her possession.

“I lost my huge upfront deposit that I paid for the car plus I continued paying monthly instalments on the car loan while paying for comprehensive insurance and vehicle tracking services.”

Naidoo claimed that Mercedes-Benz Umhlanga had downplayed or ignored her complaints, instead resorting to intimidation to force her into compliance.

“According to Section 56 of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA), South African consumers have the right to return defective goods within six months of purchase for a repair, replacement, or refund. If a product cannot be repaired to an acceptable standard after being returned for defects, the consumer is entitled to insist on a replacement or full refund.

“This is not just bad service; it’s potentially unlawful. If a new car shows repeated, serious faults within six months, the dealership cannot simply bully the customer into taking it back,” said Naidoo. 

Naidoo said the repeated failures and dismissive responses have destroyed her trust in the brand.

“I recently married an Irish citizen in Paris, and have started my visa process to move to Ireland. However, the legal correspondence for  Mercedes-Benz Umhlanga stated that my intention to withdraw from an existing contract is in preparation to immigrate to Ireland.

“My application for a long-stay visa could face significant delays due to the current immigration backlog. Processing times have stretched considerably, with some applicants waiting years for approval, so their accusation is false,” she said.

In a statement to the POST, Mercedes-Benz Umhlanga said there were no life-threatening faults in the vehicle. 

“The vehicle has been assessed by Mercedes-Benz Umhlanga (the dealership) and Mercedes-Benz South Africa (the manufacturer and supplier) independently, both of whom have given the vehicle a clean bill of health. 

“In November 2024, Naidoo initially raised some concerns with the vehicle, but the faults complained of at that stage could not be reproduced despite having been extensively tested in the workshop.

“A further complaint arose surrounding the Active Brake Assist (ABA) function, but upon investigation it was ascertained that Naidoo was not familiar with this safety feature. Both NMI and Mercedes Benz South Africa have provided Naidoo and her various attorneys with a detailed guide on the ABA and have offered to demonstrate to Naidoo how to de-activate the function on start up,” said the statement.

Mercedes-Benz Umhlanga said they conducted detailed diagnostics on the vehicle and the ABA was functioning within the manufacturer’s standards and Naidoo was encouraged to familiarise herself with the feature or de-activate it on start-up to.

They said a meeting was initiated with Naidoo in December 2024 to allow her an opportunity to express her concerns and to try and find a resolution. 

“Mercedes-Benz Umhlanga never offered to provide her with a new vehicle or ‘shorten the term of payment’ but was advised that her request for a replacement vehicle would be escalated to Mercedes-Benz South Africa and it was determined that Naidoo would not be entitled to a replacement vehicle.”

Mercedes-Benz Umhlanga said Naidoo was told that there was no fault or defect on her vehicle and she was welcome to collect it.

“She has simply refused to do so for some 6 months. The detailed correspondence between Mercedes-Benz South Africa, the dealership and Ms Naidoo or her various attorneys clearly indicates that when Ms Naidoo has sought information, it has been provided to her. 

“Once the matter was referred to MIOSA, we were unfortunately not able to communicate further with Ms Naidoo directly as the matter was being adjudicated upon.”

With regard to the loan vehicle to Naidoo, Mercedes-Benz Umhlanga denied providing the vehicle long term. 

“The dealership did not provide Naidoo with a loan vehicle, nor has the dealership corresponded with Naidoo with regards to the loan vehicle. Mercedes-Benz South Africa elected to provide Naidoo with a loan vehicle and Naidoo signed the requisite rental contract with them.”

The dealership said they could no longer engage directly with Naidoo on the matter. 

“Whilst the matter is being adjudicated upon and given that Naidoo is legally represented, we simply are not in a position to engage with her on a direct basis. We confirm, however, that the vehicle has been extensively tested and as stated above, is free of any defects.

“We sincerely regret that Naidoo is not satisfied with her experience at the dealership. We take issues such as customer safety exceptionally seriously and we hold ourselves to a high standard of customer service. The position as set out above, that the vehicle is not defective, has been made clear to Naidoo by both the dealership and Mercedes Benz South Africa,” said Mercedes-Benz Umhlanga. 

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