Well, it seems that some car brands will do if you make enough social media noise
Right now in Malaysia we do not have ‘Lemon Law’ which means car brands can choose to leave it to their warranty department to keep fixing over and over and over troubled or problematic vehicles.
In neighbouring Singapore, the ‘Lemon Law’ was activated to give car buyers added peace of mind when buying new and also secondhand cars and this has provided a much better customer experience for car buyers.
Meanwhile, in Malaysia we still DO NOT have Lemon Law and this is why you can see on social media, Malaysian car owners, of all types and models of vehicles sharing their issues, some rather ridiculous and some others very very very valid as the vehicles in question are actually ‘factory rejects’ that have been allowed to be sold to un-suspecting buyers who are forced to live with the issues and still continue to pay their high monthly finance installments.
Now in the last few years we have assisted some owners in getting their problematic vehicles fixed to almost 95 percent and a small percentage have managed to get the car manufacturer to BUY BACK the problematic vehicle.
It has been an uphill task and the vehicles in question range from basic cars to super luxury multi-million Ringgit supercars and sedans.
Before you as us what brands and what models, we cannot share this as we have been ‘forced’ to sign a ‘non-disclosure agreement’ or and even ‘banned’ by the car manufacturer.
So, we hope that this article will prompt car owners with problematic vehicles to NOT GIVE UP trying to get a replacement vehicle or get their issues resolved with enough pressure on social media.
So here are some pointers.
- DO NOT be rude, arrogant or silly when making demands. Your issue must be serious enough and not be some little warning light problem.
- Be professional and talk to the senior management of the car brand with some respect. They are employees, not owners of the brand.
- When this fails, then let them know in advance that you will be seeking social media assistance as you have no choice.
- Give them enough time to respond to your issue after your first meeting as they need to investigate your issue.
- Put all this in writing and provide a timeline for them to act. Say 14 days.
- No one person can respond YES or NO in a few days.
This has to move across many tables and signatures are needed to move a Buy Back along.
Meanwhile, in some countries (like Europe), they even have a Used Car “Lemon Law” which accords protection to used car buyers. These laws are decades old in such countries and big brands are already used to such customer protection legal rights.
