Now ADs cannot void your warranty!

[Theoldjaffa]

 

Car dealers to remove warranty restrictions to allow independent workshops to compete

 

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/car-dealers-to-remove-warranty-restrictions-to-allow-independent-9488024

 

 

SINGAPORE: Major car dealers have agreed to remove restrictions on warranties and related documents, announced the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) on Monday (Dec 11). 

The commission said this in a press release after concluding its inquiry into the supply of car parts in Singapore. The inquiry was carried out to better understand how the operations of the car parts market and the effects of market features of competition, CCS said. 

In its findings, CCS said it was concerned about dealers requiring customers to service or repair their vehicles exclusively at the respective dealers' authorised workshops, to ensure that the warranty remains valid. 

The restrictions allowed dealers to void warranties if the car had been service or repaired previously at an independent workshop. 

CCS said such restrictions deterred car owners from using independent workshops and thus the ability to compete effectively with authorised workshops. 

"To address this, CCS has raised its concerns with the major car dealers and have worked with them to remove the warranty restrictions from their car warranties and related documents," the commission said in the press release. 

 

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All major car dealers have agreed to make the relevant changes to the warranty terms by CCS, it said. 

All agreed changes to the warranty terms for exsiting warranties and new warranties will be implemented by Dec 31. 

Another finding by CCS was that importation and wholesale distribution of car parts are generally competitive. Car parts can be obtained from a large number of suppliers located in Singapore and overseas, the commission said.  

While there is limited supply for parts which are replaced infrequently or that belong to niche models, CCS said this is due to the small number of buyers and sellers in the market.

CCS also found that technical information, equipment and diagnostic tools are generally available. This is despite car manufacturers and their authorised car dealers not supplying such inputs to independent workshops. 

"This is because independent workshops are generally able to gain access to viable alternatives such as those supplied by third-party equipment suppliers," said CCS. 

 

 

great news, but too bad Alfa Romeo is not in the list 

[Heman75]

CCS approached and obtained the cooperation of the following car dealers that are authorised distributors for the respective car brands shown in parentheses: Alpine Motors Pte. Ltd. (Chevrolet), Borneo Motors (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. (Toyota and Lexus), Cycle & Carriage Industries Pte. Ltd. (Citroen, KIA, Mercedes Benz and Mitsubishi), Eurokars Group of Companies (Porsche, Mazda and MINI), Kah Motor Co. Sdn. Bhd. (Honda), Komoco Motors Pte. Ltd. (Hyundai), Motor Image Enterprises Pte. Ltd. (Subaru), Performance Motors Ltd. (BMW), and Tan Chong Motor Sales Pte. Ltd. (Nissan). CCS also obtained the cooperation with respect to the warranty restrictions for Suzuki cars through Borneo Motors (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., which is under the Inchcape Group of UK. CCS understands from information provided by Volkswagen Group Singapore Pte. Ltd. (Volkswagen) and Premium Automobiles Pte. Ltd. (Audi) that there are no such restrictions in the warranties. The car brands that these car dealers distribute made up more than 90% of cars in Singapore in 2016.

Want to do business in Singapore.. better LL listen and support the ah gong..

[Terrylmt]

dear admins and mods, may I request for the typo in the thread title to be amended? thanks! 

 

sorry but i cant stand it...  sorry bro @othello 

 

@pchou @babyblade @jerminator

 

Now we know who is the real grammar nazi liao.. @chryst

[Eyke]

For conti car, there are indeed software updates. So far within one year of ownership, i heard of two software updates for my car model. One for gearbox and one for cooling water setting. They called me and it was sent in for software update.

 

Some received letters, some were scheduled during their servicing and some like mine was called up personally.

 

Outside workshop do not have the updated software. Also updating the software will re-write the ecu memory esp for those that do there stage one upgrade with third party.

 

Conti cars are complicated. But the joy of driving is undeniably bestest.

 

so are these essential updates required for safety operation of the car?

 

if not, then no NEED to update right?

 

if there are, then would be covered under a mandatory recall.

 

[Theoldjaffa]

Yes, as long as we can furnish proper servicing & maintenance records for the car, manufacturer should not good the warranty.

 

i had a problem with my selespeed gearbox and went back to AD for warranty claim.

 

the car was bought brand new from them and it was about a year old that time. i had done my last service with them.

 

the workshop told me.. my warranty is void because i installed ICE. this puts additional load on the electrical system and that affects the gearbox functioning because the actuator and selespeed pump is electrically powered (or something like that.. i forgot liao).

 

i'm like thinking SIMI SAI logic is that... I've had ICE for ALL my cars and none gave any problems to anything and now they give me this shit?

 

they quoted me an estimate of "a few thousand dollars" for gearbox repair and i felt so screwed. so i told them i will take out my ICE and tolong tolong let me claim warranty for this first.

 

then they told me they will take note that i had modified my ICE and will proceed to repair on a "goodwill" basis.

 

and when i received the invoice.. there's actually no major problem.. only the selespeed accumulator cracked (thus cannot hold pressure) and they charged $900+ for it. they really know how to spread fear.. i really thought it was a few K of heavy repair and end up it's just a small problem. and i had to take out my ICE.

 

from then on i never went back to AD again (this was the 2nd issue i've had with them in a year, the first being they failed to troubleshoot an IU problem on the 3rd day i collected my car. spent half a day try to find the problem and end up declaring the IU to be spoilt while Vicom took 5 mins to ascertain the problem to be a loose connection). 

 

to hell with ADs trying to pull a fast one with warranty.

 

this serves as a wakeup call to them.

[Adrianli]

so are these essential updates required for safety operation of the car?

 

if not, then no NEED to update right?

 

if there are, then would be covered under a mandatory recall.

 

Essential? I would say yes cos of parts failure issue.

 

Safety? No. Not a safety issue.

 

 

 

Its up to you whether you want to update the software. But if parts failure due to you not going for their recommended update, i dont think you will be able to claim warranty by then.

[Theoldjaffa]

Service costs comes in mainly 5 components namely:

 

Labor

Original Parts

No need original from manufacturer like engine oil

Overheads

Coffee and tea and lounge

 

 

with this move likely some savings can happen from cheaper labor(?), engine oil, no chio bus, no coffee and tea lounge..

 

As for original parts, while there are stokists I understand stokists either buy the car manufacturer/import agent.. usually the AD..

 

 

for eg.. I do know of a jap car AD who controls all imports. Stokists must also buy from them...

 

 

somehow I feel this could be ownself shiok ownself.. overall costs could be more..

 

this is super anti-competitive.

 

time to blow the job whistle

[Eyke]

Essential? I would say yes cos of parts failure issue.

 

Safety? No. Not a safety issue.

 

 

 

Its up to you whether you want to update the software. But if parts failure due to you not going for their recommended update, i dont think you will be able to claim warranty by then.

so what does this have to do with servicing?

 

go update if they recommend lor.

 

not as if every service interval will have update waiting for u...

[Adrianli]

so what does this have to do with servicing?

 

go update if they recommend lor.

 

not as if every service interval will have update waiting for u...

 

That is where the knife come out. If you service with them, they will gladly update the software for free and if within warranty period.

 

If just walk-in to update software, ho ho ho. Christmas came early for AD.

[Eyke]

That is where the knife come out. If you service with them, they will gladly update the software for free and if within warranty period.

 

If just walk-in to update software, ho ho ho. Christmas came early for AD.

the factory updates are either free or not free.

 

AD not so generous to give u updates for free that they have to pay factory for.

 

are u certain they will charge or simply ur assumption?

[Vinceng]

i had a problem with my selespeed gearbox and went back to AD for warranty claim.

 

the car was bought brand new from them and it was about a year old that time. i had done my last service with them.

 

the workshop told me.. my warranty is void because i installed ICE. this puts additional load on the electrical system and that affects the gearbox functioning because the actuator and selespeed pump is electrically powered (or something like that.. i forgot liao).

 

i'm like thinking SIMI SAI logic is that... I've had ICE for ALL my cars and none gave any problems to anything and now they give me this shit?

 

they quoted me an estimate of "a few thousand dollars" for gearbox repair and i felt so screwed. so i told them i will take out my ICE and tolong tolong let me claim warranty for this first.

 

then they told me they will take note that i had modified my ICE and will proceed to repair on a "goodwill" basis.

 

and when i received the invoice.. there's actually no major problem.. only the selespeed accumulator cracked (thus cannot hold pressure) and they charged $900+ for it. they really know how to spread fear.. i really thought it was a few K of heavy repair and end up it's just a small problem. and i had to take out my ICE.

 

from then on i never went back to AD again (this was the 2nd issue i've had with them in a year, the first being they failed to troubleshoot an IU problem on the 3rd day i collected my car. spent half a day try to find the problem and end up declaring the IU to be spoilt while Vicom took 5 mins to ascertain the problem to be a loose connection). 

 

to hell with ADs trying to pull a fast one with warranty.

 

this serves as a wakeup call to them.

 

It’s for this reason that I avoid continental cars with complex electronics.

 

How fast do you expect to accelerate in Singapore?

 

A 999cc Perodua  Axia suffices.

[Adrianli]

the factory updates are either free or not free.

 

AD not so generous to give u updates for free that they have to pay factory for.

 

are u certain they will charge or simply ur assumption?

Confirm not free if walk-in just to update software when car out of warranty.

 

If car out of warranty, but update software during servicing, confirm free.

[Spinelli_ck]

depending on what are you looking for?

 

servicing at AD for conti will enjoy the benefit of software update and sometime these update are essential.

 

I guess outside workshop will not have the latest software to update.

 

i am aware of a local workshop that has the latest version of the software which even the AD of a popular continental brand in SG did not have until much later. and the diagnostic tools the workshop has are no different from those used by the local ADs. 

[Theoldjaffa]

It’s for this reason that I avoid continental cars with complex electronics.

 

How fast do you expect to accelerate in Singapore?

 

A 999cc Perodua  Axia suffices.

 

this question have been asked countless times.. along with the likes of "how fast can you go before you reach the next traffic light" or "need so much power for what, there's no road for you to run in SG".

 

such comments are just plain myopic and one-sided that i don't even bother to rebut anymore.

 

But to courteously answer your question, as fast as i can afford. preferably 5.9 secs and below for the century sprint for a car of less than 15k depre 

 

#ai-pee-ai-chee-ai-dua-liap-ni

[Beehive3783]

What make of car is that for?

 

i am aware of a local workshop that has the latest version of the software which even the AD of a popular continental brand in SG did not have until much later. and the diagnostic tools the workshop has are no different from those used by the local ADs. 

 

[Spinelli_ck]

What make of car is that for?

 

Bimmer. 

[Beehive3783]

So it's safe to buy PI bimmer now? Haha.

 

Bimmer. 

 

[inlinesix]

It’s for this reason that I avoid continental cars with complex electronics.

 

How fast do you expect to accelerate in Singapore?

 

A 999cc Perodua  Axia suffices.

 

It is a stupid comment that link "continental cars with complex electronics" & "How fast do you expect to accelerate in Singapore".

 

It just shows how naive the post is.