Construction company sues Southern Sales over faulty car

A CONSTRUCTION company has sued a car firm for failing to replace a new Kia SUV it bought for $395,057.34, after it developed engine problems within a year of purchase.

Shasac Engineering and Construction Services Ltd, of Cipero Road, San Fernando, bought a new Kia Sorento Ex five-seater SUV in 2017 from Southern Sales and Service. A three-year or 100,000 kilometres written warranty was granted once the vehicle was used for the purpose it was manufactured for.

In a lawsuit filed by attorney Sofiyyah Caliph for Shasac, it claimed that within a year (February 2018) and when the Sorento had done a mere 37,000 km, the vehicle's steering rack and rubbers malfunctioned. Southern Sales agreed to replace them in February 2018.

But Caliph said in her lawsuit on Shasac's behalf, "The claimant's servant or agent was informed that the defendant did not stock that part and that the said steering rack had to be imported via sea freight and will arrive in approximately six weeks."

Caliph further said that when after six weeks Shasac contacted the firm, the service manager said that the parts had not yet arrived.

Shasac went on to contend in his lawsuit that in May 2018, a loud noise was heard coming from the engine. The Sorento had to be towed back to the firm. "Upon inspection, the service manager and one of the defendant's senior mechanic, agreed that the noise emanating from the engine was in fact louder than the noise they first heard in February," Shasac said.

The firm took back the vehicle and undertook to import a new engine from Miami. However, in December, the lawsuit said, neither the steering rack nor engine had arrived.

Shasac has pleaded that the firm had not given a timeline as to when the engine would be replaced. The company, which said that the vehicle is still in possession of the firm, is suing for breach of warranty and is claiming $395,057.34 in damages.