No easy sell for Kuga drivers

The flurry of Ford Kugas which have caught fire on South Africa's roads has spooked owners of the family SUV, who fear that they will not be able to resell their cars.

"It's terrible. I am so scared that my car is a ticking time bomb," said Kuga owner Doris Tshabalala.

The mother of two said she had begun selling her car following reports of the 2013-14 Ford Kuga 1.6 Ecoboost catching fire for as yet unknown reasons.

"I love it and we bought it for our family car. When I started making inquiries at different motor dealerships I was laughed at," she said.

The current book value of a 2014 Ford Kuga 1.6l Ecoboost Ambiente with roughly 57000km on the clock odometer, according to the TransUnion Vehicle Trade Value Book, is R199 335.

Tshabalala said she had been offered R120,000 for the Kuga.

"I have looked at selling it privately, but people out there are either scared to buy the car or are trying to exploit people's fears."

For Fiona Pelman selling her car is the only option.

"It is not a matter of if but when. I have a six-year-old daughter who I take to school every day. I can't risk not being able to get her out of the car in time and have her burn to death."

Pelman said she had stopped using her car for the past month.

"It's not worth it. I was interested to see what I would get for my car, which is a 2014 model and has never been in an accident. The best price I could get was R160,000 and that was a trade-in."

She said the dealer cited the fire issue as a negative.

Maureen Naude of Centurion said the best price she was offered from a Ford dealership was R115,000.

"They wouldn't say why. They said that was the price they came to after their evaluation.

"After I asked them what had knocked the price down they said several things, but wouldn't elaborate," she said.

Automobile Association spokesman Layton Beard said there were a number of factors that affected second-hand car sales. These included service history, kilometres travelled and whether it had been involved in an accident.

"Negativity about a car will impact resale values. Perception is huge and will affect sales and if people believe that there is something specific occurring on a model range then that may affect resales," he said.