New car recalled under PI warranty

[Superyandao]

I have found this, anyone has the idea;

 

Personal experience base on 1 of my family car from parallel importers.Many PI & Used Car Reseller have warranty service under this "Optima Workz".

I stop going back to this work after 9mths and void the warranty all together after my brand new car was under recall list - suppose to be recall for replacement. Nothing was done after check up(no recall replacement of parts), stating it is okay - WTF. Went to PI and PI push back to workshop, after 3 mths of argument and ban table . I give up and end of the day, I ask my japan colleague to order a brand new part(base on recall stated new part number) and hand carry back from japan since I travel up there a few times a year for business.

My 2 cents base on so called PI Waranty is just bull shit.

[Leo72]

I have found this, anyone has the idea;

 

Personal experience base on 1 of my family car from parallel importers.Many PI & Used Car Reseller have warranty service under this "Optima Workz".

I stop going back to this work after 9mths and void the warranty all together after my brand new car was under recall list - suppose to be recall for replacement. Nothing was done after check up(no recall replacement of parts), stating it is okay - WTF. Went to PI and PI push back to workshop, after 3 mths of argument and ban table . I give up and end of the day, I ask my japan colleague to order a brand new part(base on recall stated new part number) and hand carry back from japan since I travel up there a few times a year for business.

My 2 cents base on so called PI Waranty is just bull shit.

If you know your car is under recall and PI refuse to act on it, just write to LTA and let LTA handle from there.

 

I know that my car is under recall, LTA website reflected the recall detail and I'm still waiting for PI to inform me to do the replacement but till date still no news. As I'm busy recently, will call up the PI and see how they respond. If push here and there, will just write to LTA with the detail and let LTA handle it.

[Soya]

LTA collected your COE liao.....u tink they will bother? Wun be surprised if they push u to the PI to settle as they will prob say their job is to publish recall onli, not enforce....

 

[Char]

I have found this, anyone has the idea;

 

Personal experience base on 1 of my family car from parallel importers.Many PI & Used Car Reseller have warranty service under this "Optima Workz".

I stop going back to this work after 9mths and void the warranty all together after my brand new car was under recall list - suppose to be recall for replacement. Nothing was done after check up(no recall replacement of parts), stating it is okay - WTF. Went to PI and PI push back to workshop, after 3 mths of argument and ban table . I give up and end of the day, I ask my japan colleague to order a brand new part(base on recall stated new part number) and hand carry back from japan since I travel up there a few times a year for business.

My 2 cents base on so called PI Waranty is just bull shit.

Pls share from which PI ?

[merc280v6]

LTA will not enforce recall.

If you buy from PI, you're basically on your own.

PI warranty-workshops are a whole load of BS - just to give the new buyer a false sense of security.

Even if you send your PI car for normal servicing, workshop will ask you what service you want done, not the other way around! They do not have a standard serving schedule at all.

So you don't know what you don't know ... until car breaks down.

[t0y0ta]

There is a reason why the Authorised Distributors do ask for premium in their car price.

 

You go PI, basically take the car and settle everything yourself.

 

Yes, PI "warranty" is illusion to hook naive buyers.

[Soya]

LTA will not enforce recall.

If you buy from PI, you're basically on your own.

PI warranty-workshops are a whole load of BS - just to give the new buyer a false sense of security.

Even if you send your PI car for normal servicing, workshop will ask you what service you want done, not the other way around! They do not have a standard serving schedule at all.

So you don't know what you don't know ... until car breaks down.

If recall by PI fail n then try getting recourse thru Lemon Law, another good luck.

 

Basically, not confident that all these so-called regulations got proper enforcers. PI n shady used car dealers know this n are basically laughing at the toothless system.

 

Even ppl like Jover Chew have been getting away wif it for a long time even tho "regulations" exist but no gahmen agency seems to bother to enforce anything until the problem went viral.....

[ER-3682]

That is the "Risks" of buying P.I.. Some bought  P.I. Mercedes Benz & BMW more trouble,P.I. workshop,unable to solve problems,because WS no proper equipment,ask owner go to AD,AD needs to collect up to $20,000 "adaption" fees from Owner before the car can be repair by AD....

[Bismarck]

If recall by PI fail n then try getting recourse thru Lemon Law, another good luck.

 

Basically, not confident that all these so-called regulations got proper enforcers. PI n shady used car dealers know this n are basically laughing at the toothless system.

 

Even ppl like Jover Chew have been getting away wif it for a long time even tho "regulations" exist but no gahmen agency seems to bother to enforce anything until the problem went viral.....

 

The only way there is enforcement is when the government agencies can earn money or some form of benefit derived out of it. 

[Camrysfa]

For B&B cars, PI cars may be $10K lower.

 

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/parallel-imports-zoom-ahead-in-car-sales

 

Parallel imports zoom ahead in car sales in Q1 2016….

In the case of Honda, parallel imports actually outsold cars registered by authorised agent Kah Motor, driven by the popularity of the Vezel compact crossover.

 

Businessman Desmond Koh, 57, said he picked a Honda Vezel from a parallel importer "mainly because of the lower cost".

 

Today, parallel importers are retailing the car at around $100,000 - at least $10,000 lower than Kah Motor's equivalent HR-V.

 

Mr Koh said: "The other thing is that the model is so popular, I don't have to worry about availability of spare parts."

 

­­

 

[King_Kong]

In a normal business, the manufacturer warrants the product, usually against design and manufacturing defects. If the manufacturer is unable to provide the warranty directly, it appoints someone to do it. The cost of warranty is underwritten by the manufacturer, ie it is the manufacturer's responsibility and expense to provide the warranty.

 

In the case of the Singapore car business, there is no warranty to speak of.  Merchants are now using the term warranty to make money.  A few smart businessmen thought up of a get-rich-quick plan to generate a continuous income stream from gullible car owners.  They set up a company, go round to the car sellers and offer to pay dealers $1,000 per car sold to provide "warranty".  So the car dealer tells the buyer that the warranty is provided by so and so Company.  

 

That Company sends you a booklet stating the terms, which, if you read carefully, contains no warranty.  It simply requires you to send in your car once every three months for five years and pay them an enormous sum each time to change oil (which typically costs $10-$20 elsewhere), failing which the "warranty" is voided. The T&Cs also require that you must pay for repairs when the Company says that what and what must be replaced, failing which the "warranty" is voided.

 

So, typically, every quarter you pay $150 to change oil.  Every six months, or whenever the owner of the Company spends a bit more on karaoke, you pay $800 to change some parts.

 

What is the "warranty" given in that booklet?  It is for things that will not break.  Everything that can break are under wear and tear and excluded from the "warranty".  The Company does not even have a single Honda certified engineer.

 

The warranty scheme is thus an innovative business idea (some call it a scam) which some bright spark thought of to make money. He pays the car seller to provide warranty, imagine that!  By now you should be able to guess where he gets the money from.

 

There is no consumer protection in Singapore to speak of.  CASE is a weakling that pretends it has not heard of any problems because no one has made a police report.  What are you the car buyer to do?

 

What are your chances of getting cancer?  It is not zero.  However, you can reduce the chances of cancer by observing some good healthy habits, like not smoking, etc etc etc.

 

What are the chances of your car breaking down?  It is not zero.  However, you can reduce the chances of your car breaking down by observing some good healthy habits as follows:

 

a. Buy only a Japanese car,   AND

b. Buy only a car manufactured in Japan,  AND

c. Buy only a car that is used by actual Japanese customers on Japanese roads,  AND

d. Buy only a car that is used by the (millions in Japan and) tens of thousands in Singapore.

 

By observing the four rules above, you reduce your chances of car trouble greatly.  And if you are really unlucky and fall outside the six sigma, the thousands dollars of savings per year by not going to the Company should be sufficient to pay for the unfortunate repairs.

 

"Authorized" dealers has also learned from this trick thought of by the Company.  Now, "Authorized" dealers require that you send your car at a similar frequency for $150 oil change, and $800 parts change now and then. But they include orange juice and free wi-fi while you wait.

 

Now to explain the four conditions I listed above:

 

a. Whether you like it or not, Japanese engineering is Japanese engineering. Notice that Audi comes with a fleet of support cars to come to your aid when you break down?  When you buy continental or American, you need to buy road-side service. The only service I want for my car is to just top up petrol.

 

b. Whether you like it or not, Japanese manufacturing is Japanese manufacturing.

 

c. Whether you like it or not, a Japanese customer is a Japanese customer with certain demands which when met by a Japanese manufacturer can save you lots of trouble.

 

d. It is a simple case of safety in numbers. When you bring your Saab with a problem to the workshop, the mechanics spend half a day tearing down your car and still can't figure out what is wrong, as your problem is the first time they are seeing it.  If you are unlucky enough to bring in your Toyota, most likely the reaction is, "Oh, there is a TSB (technical service bulletin) for that. It should be fixed in 30 minutes."

 

I live by the above rules for the past two decades.  I bought a 3-liter Toyota Harrier (half the cars that come off this manufacturing line are slapped with the Lexus logo, the other half with the Toyota logo).  I sent it in for oil change just once, the 5,000-km one.  After that, I just changed oil and filter myself once every six months to a year. Not a single problem. De-registered it at the five-year mark to get back $98,000 of ARF.  I was almost certain I could drive the second five years with just another oil change, given its Lexus engineering.

 

Bought a RAV4 (from "PI", as only "PI" has a made-in-Japan RAV4) for $84,000 from the refund. I used this car for the full ten years.  I changed oil & filter once every 10 to 18 months.  Not a single problem.  The only additional expense was changing of brake pads at the 8-year mark.

 

I now have a Vezel.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

 

Edited September 11, 2016 by King_Kong

[Soya]

Excellent write up, king_kong!   

 

Hmmmm.....gorillas are smarter than some of our LTA scholars after all 

 

[Wt_know]

buy PI conti ... no $30k saving no talk

with $30k saving ... then no risk no gain ... no complain

 

want cheap and good ... get PI Vezel

if sg workshop cannot help ... even JB got unlimited professional to fix Vezel/ HRV

 

That is the "Risks" of buying P.I.. Some bought P.I. Mercedes Benz & BMW more trouble,P.I. workshop,unable to solve problems,because WS no proper equipment,ask owner go to AD,AD needs to collect up to $20,000 "adaption" fees from Owner before the car can be repair by AD....

Edited September 12, 2016 by Wt_know

[Beng2]

Correct me if I'm wrong: wasn't there some talk about LTA making it compulsory for AD to attend to PI cars for recall if that particular PI closed shop already?

 

Speaking of recall, I read online that Honda Malaysia will rectify the airbags of the PI Honda cars in Malaysia - FOC.

As for Toyota there, it's your problem if you bought non-AD imported Toyotas. 

 

 

[Kusje]

Correct me if I'm wrong: wasn't there some talk about LTA making it compulsory for AD to attend to PI cars for recall if that particular PI closed shop already?

 

Speaking of recall, I read online that Honda Malaysia will rectify the airbags of the PI Honda cars in Malaysia - FOC.

As for Toyota there, it's your problem if you bought non-AD imported Toyotas. 

 

Huh? Was there really such talk?

 

LTA gone crazy and trying to pawn off the responsibility on a third party competitor of the PI? 

[BanCoe]

I have found this, anyone has the idea;

 

Personal experience base on 1 of my family car from parallel importers.Many PI & Used Car Reseller have warranty service under this "Optima Workz".

I stop going back to this work after 9mths and void the warranty all together after my brand new car was under recall list - suppose to be recall for replacement. Nothing was done after check up(no recall replacement of parts), stating it is okay - WTF. Went to PI and PI push back to workshop, after 3 mths of argument and ban table . I give up and end of the day, I ask my japan colleague to order a brand new part(base on recall stated new part number) and hand carry back from japan since I travel up there a few times a year for business.

My 2 cents base on so called PI Waranty is just bull shit.

Maybe you can mention car make and model and also mention PI name as he already has messed up your thing (at your discretion of course)

 

Why did you stop going to Optima ?? You would still been having your Credits for free servicing etc... (I guess so) OR  did you stop going to Optima because of the recall issue??     

[King_Kong]

Please don't follow my bad oil changing habits.

 

Should always change oil regularly, at about 10,000km.  The labor cost is usually about $10/$20 if you don't want to crawl underneath yourself, which incidentally is much easier for a "high" vehicle like the Vezel.  Of course most mechanics will want you to buy oil and filter from them unless you can find a friendly one.

 

The parts market in Singapore is not developed because most people don't do things themselves. You can't just buy oil filters from Giant.  I get my original Honda/Toyota oil filters at about $6 each time from a parts supplier.

 

Perhaps with sufficient Vezel volume and critical mass, Giant might just stock oil filters for the Vezel.  Giant, are you listening?

[jcchia]

LTA collected your COE liao.....u tink they will bother? Wun be surprised if they push u to the PI to settle as they will prob say their job is to publish recall onli, not enforce....

LTA collect coe, U paid for it. Its yr desire to purchase a car not LTA insisted.

If u choose to buy from wrong PI, blame yourself not others.