The Automobile Association (AA) has opened its first AA Auto Centre, with the aim to “provide motorists with cost-effective, reliable and trusted services”.
The centre is located in Strijdom Park, Johannesburg.
The association says it plans to open several similar Auto Centres throughout South Africa.
An AA Auto Centre performs vehicle servicing and maintenance on all vehicles, and not only those belonging to AA members.
AA members can, however, benefit from discounts.
The Auto Centre can also perform detailed 128-point checks on vehicles, provide diagnostic reports (with photographs), and conduct a multipoint general vehicle safety check.
The centre also checks, repairs and/or replaces brakes, batteries, shock absorbers, and oil, while it also does wheel alignment and conducts electrical fault finding and repair.
The centre also performs vehicle air-condition gas refilling.
AA Auto Centres are a natural extension of the AA’s mission to ensure South Africans are safe on the road – and safe when buying or selling their vehicles by providing them with an honest report on the technical condition of any vehicle, explains AA CEO Willem Groenewald.
“Launching AA Auto Centres is also important to us from an employment and transformation perspective. The fact that one of our former executives owns this first outlet is significant because Noelan [Vandayar] understands our ethos and values.”
All vehicles that pass through an AA Auto Centre will receive AA certification confirming the condition of the vehicle.
“We’ve brought in high-end equipment, and all our technicians are industry veterans – everyone’s qualifications are validated and verified,” says Vandayar.
“We conducted extensive consumer and market research, and everything pointed in the direction of opening such an outlet. Our goal is to restore trust in the aftermarket space, as well as to retain the integrity of the AA through quality workmanship.”