Car Servicing

[Mikosan]

Last month I sent my car for servicing somewhere in the Thomson area. I thought I could save a tidy sum by not sending it to C&C. The night before, I had topped up my petrol tank. Part of the servicing included the change to 4 new Iridium spark plugs costing 22 each. After servicing and having travelled less than 10km, my fuel gauge showed a three-quarter tank. I reported this to the operator but they denied any wrong doing. Yesterday, when I wanted to remove the spark plugs to transfer them to another car, I realised that these were the ones likely to be installed by the C&C people at the last servicing. I came to this conclusion as the branding on these plugs was "Mercedes". The operator claimed that the normal iridium plugs don't fit my car (Mercedes E200 Kompressor), hence the reason why he had to install the 'original' Mercedes ones. Does any one know whether this is true? The next time, when I send my car for servicing, I am going to ask for the parts that have been replaced. Better still, I shall check that the parts charged to my bill have actually been changed.

 

Short-changed

[Upguy]

care to tell us the name of the workshop ????

 

 

at least we can all black list this shop

[Mikosan]

Don't want to pin down the actual workshop, but suffice to say that it is located at a petrol kiosk. Very few customers there, .... no wonder. Is it true that spark plugs are different from car model to car model?

[Sunray]

I have a personal car mechanic.

 

He is very experience and a honest guy. His charges are reasonable and his workmanship is good. Any problem after the servicing/repair job can always bring it back to him. I never did as all my servicing/repair job done by him was really good.

 

My old car has been serviced/repaired by him for the past 5 years. Think he mainly serviced/repaired non-conti cars.

 

Car mechanic is just like our family doctor. If you keep changing doctors, they may not know your medical history or problem. It's better to stick to one and I never regret sticking to one for the past 5 years.

[Mikosan]

Agree whole heartedly with you there. My so-called trusted mechanics have been servicing my cars for the last upmteen years. I've never doubted their service till now. But business for motor repair workshops have been badly hurt by the high number of new cars which come with the usual 3-year warranty as well as by the premature scrapping/deregistration of relatively new cars. So for some of the unscrupulous mechanics, they may resort to dirty tactics to continue business. Well these guys have lost my business as well as the business potential from my associates and friends. But consumers still to stay alert and demand the return fpr all those parts supoosedly changed.

[Accent01leo]

The one with the car wash huh? :P

[Mikosan]

small-time car wash behind kiosk

[Sunray]

I don't trust petrol station servicing centre after my dad had a bad experience servicing his car there.

 

But of course, it may be just one or two black sheeps out there.

 

Anyway, once bitten twice shy. Why take risk again?

[Mivec9]

apparently...the plugs aint suitable....get refund immediately and go to other workshops which had good feedbacks from many bros here would be better

[Slee]

Agreed too - but finding the right mechanic/workshop also sometime luck. Mikosan is rite in that these days with newer cars on the orad, many w/s find it hard to sustain and had to resort to inflating prices. Sad ...

 

My only worry is that with technology of new cars becoming advance (not unlike PC), more older shops wld not have ability/systems to do proper diagnostic and hence .. just hatam onli - scary.

 

I guess, it's thru forums like this to get 'recommended shops' to goto.

 

[Porker]

You can actually change spark plugs and replace engine oil by yourself. It takes a bit of getting used to and some reading up but you get 100% assurance that its done right!

 

For a start, you'll need some tools such as jack stands and wrenches.

 

Good luck if you decide to go this avenue.

[Mivec9]

hi bro, where's good place to get cheap spark plugs?

[Mivec9]

so u doing the servicing urself?

[Dwoon]

I think that asking for replaced parts to be returned is not really proof that they were indeed changed out from your car. Like the workshop I patronise, they practically have buckets of used plugs in a corner, plus other unwanted car parts. The workshop could easily just return you some used plugs that had been lying around.

 

If its just routine servicing like oil, plugs and filter changes..... I think it is best to stick around to observe the job being done. It doesn't take very long as well. That way, you'll be sure of the stuff that goes into the car and what was done to it.

 

A very simple thing like engine oil..... they can give you cheap stuff and charge you premuim rates and you wouldn't even be able to tell, except that the oil in the engine is fresh.

[Mikosan]

Of course, some can return used parts to you. But if every one were to demand for their parts, these unscrupulous mechanics would find it difficult to get on on parts. I'm not just talking about plugs, parts could include drive shafts, etc.

 

Used to service my cars at a place called Jetspeed, somewhere in Tampines. Service was good and professional and we got to watch the mechanics work on our cars in real time; there was no hanky panky. Of course, some of the more zealous mechanics would try to convince to upgrade your service package or to install some other stuff. If we can afford the time, we might actually sit through the servicing procedure. A friend of mine does it all the time; very kiasu but he doesn't get short-changed. Failing that, send your car back to the agent for the usual expensive but safer service.

[Spikedoll]

After reading these I am quite worried...haiz..go agent also got problem..go outside workshop also got dishonest mechanics...den how?????

 

[Sunray]

How? DIY lor if you can. I have a contact for good, reliable and honest mechanic.

[Spikedoll]

pm me the details leh..thanks