We look at the most common failures that crop up with new cars today.
We have tried to do a ‘check and balance’ with some car manufacturers in the last decade or so who have forced many of their Malaysian customers into bankruptcy with low quality vehicles and pushed some others to Get Rid of their ‘Lemon Cars’ which keep ‘breaking down’.
We try and we seldom succeed as over the years www.dsf.my and the editorial team have been issued legal letters to ‘keep quiet’, been subjected to social media blackmail by some others and then a ‘ban’ on attending new car launches (as we ask the WRONG questions at the their press events) and finally there is ‘push’ into cold storage by their Public Relations team.
So, in 2022 we see some of these brands that ‘BLACKLISTED’ www.dsf.my having very low sales, very low consumer confidence and even better ‘on the verge’ of high losses, we LOL, ‘Laugh Out Loud’ at their attempts to ‘push us into a corner’ when they have been PUSHED BACK by FED-UP Malaysian car buyers who are just FED-UP with their bad after sales and failing products.
Finally, we can share the issues that continue to plague these brands and hope that someday they will ‘wake up’ to provide a decent enough product and good after sales and warranty.
Here below are some of the issues that have been shared with us by various car owners from various car manufacturers over the past decade. You might easily recognize the car manufacturers.
· the faulty high tech entertainment unit,
· the knocking engine,
· the failing climate control system,
· the broken switches,
· the loose thread on the leather seat headrest,
· the sagging roof lining,
· the non functioning rear auto tailgate,
· the gear shifter not engaging into reverse,
· the leaking engine block,
· the failing turbocharger,
· the failing twin-charge engine,
· the failing quick action gearbox,
· the engine just switching OFF in heavy traffic,
· the supplementary battery not charging,
· the central locking not working,
· the key fob not working,
· the power steering failing while being driven thus causing an accident,
· the engine losing power after 60 km/h or so,
· the leaking boot liner,
· the leaking windscreen,
· the leaking rear door,
· the ‘frozen’ follow me headlights,
· the rattling glove-box cover,
· the rattling rear hatchback cover,
· the broken door handle,
· the smudge power window switch,
· the ‘quiet’ talking infotainment unit,
· the unresponsive ‘tablet’ infotainment unit,
· the squeaking front suspension,
and the list goes on and on…….. and on. The above is just a fraction of issues that have come to our attention over the many years we have been doing this and with vehicles less than three years old. Some issues even crop up in the first month of ownership.
Our advice has always been ‘go back to the dealer and claim warranty’, however most issues become repeat issues and owners get frustrated and when they chase the sales person to assist, they do a ‘Tai Chi’ and pass the buck to the service advisor. The service advisor will do an updated ‘Tai Chi’ and pass the buck to the brand regional office.
The ‘suit’ in the brand regional headquarters will do the latest version of ‘Sai Lang’ and pass the buck to the factory.
All the time leaving the Malaysian car buyer to sit and wait and continue paying high monthly installments for a vehicle they cannot use or enjoy. Its one big game!
This is why we NEED the Lemon Law in Malaysia. This is the problem in Malaysia. We do not have a ‘Lemon Law’ and so many car brands who sell well known defective cars to consumers can get away with it.
Further to this, if we, the motoring media who care about this issue get involved, we are ‘banned’ and treated as troublemakers. What we want is accountability and we all know a person out there with a brand new car that has problems in the first few months of ownership and they just can’t get their vehicle fixed right. Well what can Malaysian car owners do?
By writing this article we hope to get the attention of the Ministry of Transport & MITI and MOF and JPJ so that we can have the Lemon Law in place and make car manufacturers provide better service.
This will also mean we, www.dsf.my will be banned by more car manufacturers in the coming years which is NO issue to us. So, please share this article and let’s get the Lemon Law in effect in Malaysia.
