Legal

MotoBay Terms of Use

Effective date: 1 September 2026

Last updated: 25 August 2026

1. Who we are and how to reach us

This platform is operated by Motobay (Pty) Ltd (Registration No. 2026/260359/07), a company incorporated in the Republic of South Africa ("MotoBay", "we", "us", "our").

Registered address: 14 Duet Crescent, Sonstraal Hoogte, Durbanville, 7550, Western Cape, South Africa
Email: info@motobay.co.za
Phone: 081 005 4928
Website: https://motobay.co.za
Directors: C de Jager, J du Plessis

These details are published in accordance with section 43 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002.

2. Agreement to these terms

By accessing, browsing, registering on, or paying for any service on MotoBay, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use.

The following documents form part of this agreement and are incorporated by reference:

the Privacy Policy, at https://motobay.co.za/privacy
the Refund and Cancellation Policy, at https://motobay.co.za/refund
any package or product description displayed at the time you purchase a paid service

Where a conflict arises, these Terms of Use prevail, except on refunds and cancellations, where the Refund and Cancellation Policy prevails, and on personal information, where the Privacy Policy prevails.

If you do not accept these terms, do not use the platform.

3. Definitions

Listing — a vehicle or service advertised on the platform.
Seller — any person or business that submits a listing.
Buyer — any person who enquires about or responds to a listing.
User — any person who accesses the platform, whether registered or not.
Paid Service — any subscription package, vehicle report, promotional add-on, or other service you pay MotoBay for.
Vehicle Report — a vehicle history or verification report purchased through the platform and sourced from a third-party data provider.
Content — text, images, video, specifications, and any other material submitted by a User.

4. What MotoBay is, and what it is not

MotoBay is an advertising and introduction platform. Sellers advertise vehicles; buyers find them and make contact. Listings are reviewed by our administrative team before publication.

We are not a party to any vehicle transaction. Specifically, MotoBay:

is not the seller, importer, agent, broker, or representative of any Seller;
does not own, inspect, store, deliver, or take possession of any vehicle;
does not process, hold, escrow, or guarantee payment between Buyer and Seller;
does not guarantee that any listing will result in a sale, or that any enquiry will receive a response;
gives no warranty as to the condition, mileage, roadworthiness, title, finance status, description, or legality of any listed vehicle.

Once a Buyer and Seller make contact, all negotiation, inspection, payment, and transfer takes place directly between them, off the platform, and at their own risk. Any contract of sale is between Buyer and Seller alone. Your rights in respect of a vehicle are against the Seller — including, where the Seller is a registered dealer acting in the ordinary course of business, rights under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008.

Administrative review of a listing is a basic quality and compliance check. It is not verification, endorsement, inspection, or approval of the vehicle or the Seller.

5. Accounts

To list a vehicle or purchase a Paid Service you must register an account. You agree that:

you are at least 18 years old and have legal capacity to contract;
the information you provide is accurate and kept up to date;
you will keep your login credentials confidential and not share them;
you are responsible for all activity under your account;
you will notify us immediately at info@motobay.co.za of any suspected unauthorised access.

Business and dealer accounts must be registered by a person authorised to bind that business. One account per Seller unless we agree otherwise in writing.

We may suspend or close an account that is dormant for \[24] months, on reasonable notice.

6. Seller obligations and warranties

By submitting a Listing, you warrant that:

all information, images, and specifications are accurate, current, and not misleading;
you are the lawful owner of the vehicle, or are duly authorised by the owner to advertise it;
the vehicle is not stolen, and is not the subject of an undisclosed finance agreement, insurance write-off, police interest, or other encumbrance that you have not disclosed in the listing;
you will disclose any material defect, accident history, or code status known to you;
you hold all licences and registrations required to trade, if you are a dealer;
you will respond to genuine enquiries in good faith and promptly withdraw the listing once the vehicle is sold or no longer available;
your Content does not infringe any third party's rights.

You are solely responsible for your Listing. You indemnify MotoBay against any claim, loss, or cost arising from a breach of these warranties.

7. Buyer obligations

By using the platform, Buyers agree that:

they will conduct their own due diligence before committing to any purchase, including physical inspection, an independent mechanical assessment, and verification of the Seller's identity and the vehicle's documentation;
they will not rely on a Listing or a Vehicle Report as a substitute for that due diligence;
they will not transfer funds to a Seller before independently satisfying themselves as to the vehicle and the Seller;
enquiry channels will be used only for genuine enquiries, not marketing, scraping, or harvesting contact details.

Fraud warning. Requests to pay a deposit before viewing, to use an unfamiliar escrow service, or to transact with a Seller who will not meet in person are common indicators of fraud. MotoBay will never ask you to pay a Seller through us. Report suspicious listings to info@motobay.co.za.

8. Content licence

You retain ownership of Content you submit. You grant MotoBay a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, sub-licensable licence to host, store, reproduce, resize, adapt, publish, and display that Content for the purposes of:

operating and displaying the platform;
syndicating listings to partner sites, feeds, and marketplaces;
promoting the platform and its listings, including on social media and in paid advertising.

This licence continues for \[12] months after a listing is removed, to allow for cached copies, syndicated feeds, and archival records. We may retain records of removed listings for as long as required for legal, fraud-prevention, and dispute-resolution purposes.

9. Prohibited conduct

You may not:

submit false, misleading, fraudulent, or duplicate listings;
advertise a vehicle you do not have the right to sell, or a stolen or unlawfully obtained vehicle;
post content that is illegal, offensive, defamatory, discriminatory, or infringing;
misrepresent your identity, or act as a dealer while presenting yourself as a private seller;
circumvent subscription limits, including by operating multiple accounts;
scrape, crawl, index, or bulk-extract data from the platform by automated means without our written consent;
interfere with the platform's operation or security, or attempt to gain unauthorised access;
use the Vehicle Report service for bulk querying, resale, or any purpose other than assessing a vehicle you are genuinely considering;
use contact details obtained through the platform for unsolicited marketing.

10. Our rights of moderation and enforcement

We may, at our discretion and without liability:

decline, edit, reclassify, or unpublish any Listing;
request supporting documentation before publishing a Listing;
suspend or terminate an account, immediately and without notice, where we reasonably suspect fraud, misrepresentation, a stolen vehicle, or a serious breach of these terms;
withhold, cancel, or reverse a Paid Service in the circumstances set out in the Refund and Cancellation Policy;
report suspected criminal conduct to the South African Police Service or other authorities, and share relevant account and listing records with them.

For less serious breaches we will ordinarily give notice and an opportunity to correct the issue before suspending an account.

Where a paid account is terminated for breach, no refund is due except as required by law.

11. Paid Services

11.1 Subscriptions

Subscription packages are sold at the price and on the inclusions displayed on the platform at the time of purchase or renewal. Subscriptions are billed monthly in advance and renew automatically until cancelled. Cancellation, pro-rating, upgrades, downgrades, fixed-term dealer agreements, and failed payments are governed by the Refund and Cancellation Policy.

11.2 Vehicle Reports

Vehicle Reports are sourced from a third-party data provider and reflect the records held by that provider and the relevant registries at the time of the query. MotoBay does not create, verify, amend, or warrant that data.

You acknowledge that:

a report showing no adverse record is not a guarantee that the vehicle is free of defect, encumbrance, accident history, or adverse interest;
records may be incomplete, delayed, or incorrect at source;
a report is not a mechanical inspection, roadworthy certificate, valuation, or title search;
reports are for your own use in assessing a vehicle and may not be resold, republished, or supplied to third parties.

Reports are generated and delivered immediately on payment. Refund treatment, including the consent you give at checkout to immediate delivery, is governed by the Refund and Cancellation Policy.

11.3 Promotional add-ons

Featured listings, boosts, and similar placements run for the period purchased and are governed by the Refund and Cancellation Policy.

11.4 Pricing and payment

All prices are in South African Rand and include VAT where applicable. Payments are processed by our third-party payment provider; we do not store full card details. We may change prices on \[30] days' written notice to affected subscribers; changes take effect at your next renewal, and you may cancel before that date without penalty.

12. Availability

We aim to keep the platform available but do not warrant uninterrupted or error-free access. We may suspend access for maintenance, upgrades, or security, and will give notice of planned downtime where reasonably practicable. We may modify, discontinue, or withdraw features. Where a discontinued feature is material to a Paid Service you have already bought, the Refund and Cancellation Policy applies.

13. Third-party links and services

The platform contains links to and integrations with third-party websites and services. We do not control and are not responsible for their content, products, security, or practices. Your dealings with them are at your own risk and subject to their terms.

14. Limitation of liability

Please read this section carefully. It limits our liability to you.

Nothing in these terms limits or excludes liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded, including liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or under sections 61 or 51 of the Consumer Protection Act.

Subject to that:

a) Transactions between Users. We are not liable for any loss arising from a transaction, dealing, or communication between a Buyer and a Seller, including non-delivery, misrepresentation, defect, undisclosed finance or accident history, or fraud by another User.

b) Listings and Content. We are not liable for the accuracy, completeness, or legality of Content submitted by Users.

c) Vehicle Reports. Our liability in respect of a Vehicle Report is limited to the amount you paid for that report. We are not liable for decisions you take in reliance on a report, or for inaccuracies in third-party source data.

d) Indirect loss. We are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, revenue, business, goodwill, or anticipated savings.

e) Overall cap. Our total aggregate liability arising out of or in connection with these terms is limited to the greater of R5,000 or the total amount you paid to MotoBay in the six (6) months preceding the event giving rise to the claim.

By using the platform you accept that you assume the risks described in sections 4, 7, and 11.2, and that you have had the opportunity to read and consider this section.

15. Indemnity

You indemnify MotoBay, its directors, employees, and contractors against any claim, demand, loss, damage, or reasonable legal cost arising from your Content, your breach of these terms, your breach of any law, or any transaction or dispute between you and another User.

16. Privacy and personal information

Our collection and use of personal information is governed by the Privacy Policy at https://motobay.co.za/privacy. By listing a vehicle you accept that your contact details will be made available to Buyers who enquire, and by enquiring you accept that your details will be shared with the relevant Seller. Both parties must use those details only for the purpose of the enquiry.

17. Intellectual property

The MotoBay name, logo, platform design, software, database, and compilation of listings are owned by or licensed to us. You may not copy, reproduce, reverse-engineer, or create derivative works from them without our written consent. Listing data may not be extracted or re-used for a competing service.

18. Changes to these terms

We may amend these terms.

For free users, the amended terms take effect when posted, and continued use constitutes acceptance.
For subscribers and users with an unexpired Paid Service, we will give at least \[30] days' written notice by email. If a change is materially adverse to you, you may cancel before it takes effect, without penalty, and receive a pro-rata refund of any prepaid period not yet used.

The version in force at the time of a transaction governs that transaction. We maintain dated archived versions and will supply them on request.

19. Dispute resolution

If a dispute arises, contact us first at info@motobay.co.za. We will try to resolve it within \[15] business days.

Failing resolution, the parties will attempt mediation in Cape Town before litigation. Nothing prevents either party from approaching a court for urgent relief.

Consumers may also refer a complaint to the National Consumer Commission or an accredited consumer ombud, and privacy complaints to the Information Regulator (South Africa).

20. General

Governing law. These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa.

Jurisdiction. In terms of section 45 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 32 of 1944, the parties consent to the jurisdiction of the Magistrate's Court having jurisdiction over the person of the defendant, notwithstanding that a claim may exceed that court's normal monetary limits. This does not prevent either party from instituting proceedings in a High Court of competent jurisdiction where the circumstances warrant it.

Whole agreement. These terms, together with the documents incorporated in section 2, constitute the entire agreement between us and supersede all prior representations.

Severability. If any provision is found unenforceable, it is severed and the remainder continues in force.

No waiver. Failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it.

Cession. You may not cede or assign your rights without our written consent. We may cede our rights on notice, including as part of a sale of the business.

Notices. Notices to you go to the email address on your account; notices to us go to info@motobay.co.za. Email notices are deemed received on the next business day.

Electronic communications. You consent to receiving communications electronically, and agree that electronic records satisfy any legal requirement for writing.

Force majeure. Neither party is liable for failure to perform due to causes beyond its reasonable control.