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How tough is tough? That appears to be the central question in a dispute between a local business owner and the company he bought a bakkie from. Patrick Ghiot bought a Nissan 2.4 double cab from DTM Helderberg in December 2005. The vehicle was to be used for his business, a supplier of oak wine barrels to farms in the region and had to be able to "work hard in difficult conditions", according to Ghiot.

But two and a half years later, after the vehicle had travelled 150 000 km, a portion of the driver's seat had scuffed through; the leather covering on the steering wheel had been damaged; and, paint had peeled off a plastic fender moulding, Ghiot returned to DTM Helderberg hoping they would address the situation.

"We chose the Nissan bakkie because of its [brand name] - Hardbody - which means to anybody a tough vehicle for hard conditions, as the publicity goes," he declares. When he was unhappy with the company's response, he approached DistrictMail.

DTM Helderberg dealer principal Wayne Wilson says the vehicle's original factory warranty covers this specific model in terms of paint as well as trim for one year or 100 000 km whichever occurs first, and this expired in November of 2006.

Nonetheless, technicians at both DTM Helderberg and Nissan SA evaluated the damage to the vehicle and concluded it was the result of "normal wear and tear".

"As unfortunate as the situation is for Mr Ghiot, it is heartening to know that although the vehicle is worked hard, the mechanical and structural reliability supports the Hardbody slogan," says Wilson.

DistrictMail showed the photographs to a representative of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI) - of which DTM Helderberg is a member.

The RMI represents some 7 500 members of the motoring industry and has among its aims to "promote, protect and encourage the interests of members and the motoring public by setting and maintaining proper standards of service and ethical trading conditions in the industry; to facilitate the settlement of disputes between members and the motoring public; and, to maintain high standards of business ethics and service delivery to the motoring public by members of the RMI".

Its conclusion was the same as that of DTM Helderberg.

"The vehicle was out of warrantee. This means the owner has no claim against either the dealer or the manufacturer - legally speaking," says a statement from the organisation, adding that the retailer displayed good service by taking the matter up with the manufacturer on behalf of their customer - despite a void warrantee.

RMI deduces from the photographs and Ghiot's description of his use of the vehicle that damaged paintwork was the result of stones thrown up on a gravel road rather than "peeling".

It said pitted damage to the steering wheel was consistent with one-handed driving. This was often caused by hands soiled by solvents, such as hand cleaners and aggravated by a tight grip and twisting of the hand - consistent with driving on a gravel road where the driver is required to keep a tight grip on the wheel, it said.

The organisation said the "perished" seat cover is most often caused by the wearing of abrasive clothing such as denim jeans and overalls, and "caused by excessive ingress and exit of the vehicle by a person clad in abrasive clothing".

The RMI spokesperson said: "I fear that if Mr. Ghiot expected the Nissan to still be in pristine condition after the amount of hard work that it has done, in the conditions that it did it, then he has a sadly misguided apprehension of durability. Having scrutinised numerous vehicles of this nature, given the same circumstances, I am of the opinion that the vehicle has lived up to its name."

Ghiot says he was unhappy with DTM Helderberg and Nissan's response and is prepared to "take this to a higher level".

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