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ST Forum: Stuck With An Expensive Lemon On Four Wheels


Vulcann
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Fromk ST Forum:

 

http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/...ory_719226.html

 

Stuck with an expensive lemon on four wheels

 

Published on Oct 3, 2011

 

MY FAMILY bought a Mercedes-Benz last year and within two weeks of the collection of the vehicle from Cycle & Carriage, the engine stalled.

 

Assuming that it was our unfamiliar handling of the car, we dismissed the problem until the Merc stalled repeatedly.

 

The new car was sent to the service centre many times. It was even checked by experts from Germany, but the stalling continued - it stalled eight times in a year.

 

When we asked for a replacement, we were told repeatedly to monitor the vehicle after each servicing.

 

We were promised that if the fault was not rectified, the matter would be brought to the attention of higher management.

 

When we finally met the senior manager, we were denied a replacement. He justified his company's stand by stating that the car should be repaired within the warranty period.

 

We were disappointed with the way the case was handled and it raised an important public issue: There is no law in Singapore to protect consumers like the lemon law in the United States.

 

I am now saddled with yet another problem, which has to do with the air-conditioning of the car.

 

Having paid so much money to own what we thought was a reliable marque, we have had more than our fair share of inconveniences, frustrations and time lost.

 

Where can we seek help?

 

Wendy Ng (Ms)

 

 

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Before even mentioning the abysmal state of consumer's right in Singapore, the tax structure and possibly, COE scheme makes it nearly impossible to replicate the Lemon Law here.

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Before even mentioning the abysmal state of consumer's right in Singapore, the tax structure and possibly, COE scheme makes it nearly impossible to replicate the Lemon Law here.

Agreed,the factory 'may' give you a free car,but who will pay for the C.O.E..?Maybe L.T.A. should let case by case,just let the ownership tranfer to a new car,just use the same Reg no,& just pay for a bit of paperwork money.

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Before even mentioning the abysmal state of consumer's right in Singapore, the tax structure and possibly, COE scheme makes it nearly impossible to replicate the Lemon Law here.

 

Here no Lemon Law, cos we don't trust fruits .....

 

Here we follows Lightning Law .... :ph34r:[:p]

Edited by Picnic06
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Agreed,the factory 'may' give you a free car,but who will pay for the C.O.E..?Maybe L.T.A. should let case by case,just let the ownership tranfer to a new car,just use the same Reg no,& just pay for a bit of paperwork money.

 

Agreed. Laws are made by people. Got political will, all things can be settled.

 

But of course CASE would not fight for it or anything for that matter.

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Agreed,the factory 'may' give you a free car,but who will pay for the C.O.E..?Maybe L.T.A. should let case by case,just let the ownership tranfer to a new car,just use the same Reg no,& just pay for a bit of paperwork money.

 

people will take advantage of this

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Before even mentioning the abysmal state of consumer's right in Singapore, the tax structure and possibly, COE scheme makes it nearly impossible to replicate the Lemon Law here.

 

Not only the air conditioning is screwed, even the signal lights have problems. Since when have you seen a Merc turn on it's signal lights when turning? Even some Japanese cars have the same problem. -_-

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when each new car cycle is getting shorter and shorter

there is less time to test the car properly before putting it in the market

furthermore with each year more and more cars are squeezed out of the production line

 

it is a natural phenomenon

every car has its intrinsic problems

i am sure Maybach also problems but their PR team gets to work immediate when the owners just about to open their mouth

 

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I never knew merc or BM are reliable and I think few years back dunno someone ask someone holding high rank in government why he change to Lexus instead of merc or BM and he replied that he had alot of reliability issues driving those so called prestige brands.

Edited by Fri13th
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Maybe she pump the wrong grade of petrol? Or mix diff grade and diff brand of petrol? This is smth undetectable. Somemore now Merc uses forced induction on their engines, usage of the petrol grade is sensitive. It might not be her, since ppl mentioned in other thread the pump attendant accidentally pump the wrong grade of petrol in their cars, maybe the kiosk she frequents has a blur unker manning the pumps.

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When we asked for a replacement, we were told repeatedly to monitor the vehicle after each servicing.

 

We were promised that if the fault was not rectified, the matter would be brought to the attention of higher management.

30578811_125x125.pngtaichi_enrol.jpg

 

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Maybe she pump the wrong grade of petrol? Or mix diff grade and diff brand of petrol? This is smth undetectable. Somemore now Merc uses forced induction on their engines, usage of the petrol grade is sensitive. It might not be her, since ppl mentioned in other thread the pump attendant accidentally pump the wrong grade of petrol in their cars, maybe the kiosk she frequents has a blur unker manning the pumps.

 

一言惊醒梦中人

 

Bro you have just solved a supposedly complicated engineering problem even the top German automobile engineer could not figure out with a straight-forward, simple answer...

 

Imagine in their high-tech garage right now with all the mechanics and engineers sweating, cursing and swearing dismantling the entire car into pieces, with parts strewn all over the place trying to trace the stall issue but the one thing they fail to check is the petrol grade!!!

 

[laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

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Is it so hard to check what is wrong with the car, especially top-name brands like this with advanced electronics??

 

I thought they would be able to use monitoring software to quickly pinpoint which parameters are out of order when the stalling occurs.

 

Anyway, looks like this lady will have to go to court in order to get something to happen. Court cases on such situations have been won before.

Edited by Sosaria
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