Recently at the Bosch press conference it was shared with the attending guests and media that car battery failures are on the rise in Malaysia.
“From our surveys done in 2018, more than 50 percent of Malaysian drivers lack knowledge in basic car maintenance and its impact on passenger, car and road safety. Through the ‘Drive for Life’ campaign, Bosch’s impart automotive expertise to equip drivers with basic vehicle maintenance knowledge when drivers encounter a car problem,” said Marcio Coelho, Director of Sales and Marketing Services of Bosch Automotive Aftermarket for Asia Pacific Southeast.
From the same surveys, 70 percent of car breakdowns are caused by battery malfunction, with less than 50 percent of drivers and only one percent of women knowing how to troubleshoot their car during a breakdown.
Now, this is not NEW news, battery failures are a common problem and even with new high technology cars (in the last 15 years or so) the car battery is stressed as we drive in heavy traffic daily. This is why battery manufacturers provide only a 1-year warranty and year on year the price of the car battery rises a little. But even with this price rise yearly, many car authorized workshops overcharge their customers to the tune of 200% or more.
Case 1: Female car owner driving a local assembled 1.6L sedan needs a new battery. Authorized workshop gives a quote for RM733.00. We at www.dsf.my suggested to the car owner to visit our regular battery supplier and installer and she got her battery replaced for just RM285.00 with labour. A savings of RM448.00.
Case 2: Female car owner driving an imported 2.0L hatchback needs a new battery. Authorized workshop gives a quote for RM910.00. We at www.dsf.my suggested to the car owner to visit our regular battery supplier and installer and she got her battery replaced for just RM335.00 with labour. A savings of RM555.00.
Now, the above are just 2 of many cases of overcharging consumers for a new battery by scaring them into thinking they need to get their batteries replaced ONLY at the authorized service center in order to keep their vehicle warranty. This is not so at all. You can replace your car battery at any battery shop as long as you get a good brand as both ladies above did, make sure your new battery follows the guidelines stipulated in your car manual and get a 12 month (or 20,000 KM warranty).
who is your regular battery supplier?
Century battery in Petaling Jaya Section 17, 18 years and never had an issue.
The manufacturer’s warranty may be for 12 months, try claiming your warranty during the 12th month from your shop, have been arguing with these scrupulous car service shops umteen times.
I would like to find out what is it that the service centre does to charge us an arm and a leg for batteries for the premium cars, claiming that only their batteries would last up to 4 or 5 years. Any coding that further extends life by means of optimization for the various electronic components in a car? I have not got a valid technical answer to date.