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PI Cars & Manufacturer Car Recalls

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PI cars, what’s not to like about them? Apparently, quite a few things, if you should ask experienced car buyers. And it may come from actual buying experiences so I’m not quick to dismiss these when they are brought up as issues encountered when buying a car from parallel importers.

  • Warranty and Part Recall Issues
  • Dodgy company which may disappear after collecting deposits
  • Less than able replies when queried about after sales support
  • Lower resales value

But the positives are many too, such as lower attractive pricing, while they deliver you a better quality car as they more often than not, import direct from a manufacturer’s home country whereas many large distributors have to lower their cost by importing from other locations such as Thailand (E.g.: Honda) or Indonesia (e.g. Toyota Sienta) in order to support the large showroom and many staff that they have. They are also usually more keen to carry out business and therefore may give more freebies like driving recorders, premium window film and better leather seats.

The other issues we can explore in a different post, but let’s get to the point of this write up here where we want to discuss about warranty and recalls by PIs. It is common that potential car buyers think a PI cannot support a car properly after you buy, in terms of parts, warranty and recalls. This can be easily checked at the point of purchase, and which I suggest all buyers ask their dealers:

  1. I understand I get a warranty, but at which workshop will the warranty be honoured?
  2. What happens in the event of a recall? Who is responsible for the parts replacement if required?

First question will reveal if they intend to provide you a proper warranty. More often than not, if they name you an unknown workshop in a small nook at some industrial park, it would be indication that this warranty is less than stellar, and that your problems may not be dealt with in a professional manner by the workshop. The strength and length of time a workshop has been in operation is something you should research.

There are well known independent workshops out there which are as good as and sometimes even better than the main distributors in handling your newly bought car – you just need a little review reading online and maybe a visit to find out if the workshop is indeed capable and professional. Yes, it takes a bit of time, but this is more often than not, a six figure sum purchase and will be worth the while to check out.

Main distributors service centres are not without complaints too – high cost you are tied into paying for in order to remain under their warranty, long queues and waiting time for appointments, multiple visits to solve a single problem, and so on are not unheard of. In this respect, some professional independent workshops which warranty for PI dealers outperform their main distributors.

Second question will reveal if the dealer is doing a hit & run, profit without duty. Let me explain.

In the event of a recall or campaign, manufacturers such as Honda, Toyota etc, may announce a recall, such as this:

http://www.honda.co.jp/recall/auto/info/160404_3797.html

This above recall involves a part replacement that the PI likely needs to import, pay for and arrange for the workshop carrying out the warranty to replace. There is logistics, effort and cost involved. If they are not completely sincere, you will sense they are less than willing to answer questions related to recalls, and also the replacement part may not arrive for you at all.

We at SG Cash N Cars are happy to answer these questions for new vehicles bought with us – we will procure the part for your replacement and all you need to do is head over to the workshop, whenever you please or at the next servicing, to have the replacement done, no cost incurred!

Profit above all else? No! We take pride in being responsible for all the products we put on the road and this is part of our commitment to customers who deal with us.

Socket, Bottom & Top View of the Buck Boost Charge Discharge Device (part arrived for Vezel X, petrol 1.5L)