Bruneians love their cars. They put extra care and attention towards them. They lavishly spend a lot of money on accessories to make them look sporty, or just to make them look a little different from every other car on the road.
In addition, of course, it costs us a lot of money to service our cars. It is important that our cars are reliable and safe to drive. However, are we getting the service we should be getting or are we being short-changed on service?

When you take your car to your main dealership in Brunei for servicing, do they ask you, “What would you like us to do?” I know that this is what I am usually asked. But why am I asked this? The manufacturers supply a service manual with their vehicles stipulating what jobs must be done and what checks must be made at each service interval. However, do the main dealers in Brunei follow the manufacturer’s service instructions? The dealers do not seem to use the service log provided to record the jobs done, or are supposed to have done. They do not chop and sign the service record to confirm that our cars have been serviced according to the manufacturers directives.

When you take a car to a main dealership in other countries, you know that the dealership will follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for servicing that car. They know that if they do not carry out the manufacturers servicing recommendations that they may lose their dealership. Even worse, if an accident happens because they did not follow the manufacturer’s guidelines, and did not check everything that they should check, they could face a substantial lawsuit.

Here is an odd example of the damage and unnecessary expense caused by poor servicing. A while ago, I needed a new hinge for my car door. I thought that it was unusual for a hinge to need replacing. I ordered the part and it was replaced. When browsing through the cars service manual I noticed that the door hinges need to be greased at regular intervals. I now understood why I had to buy a new door hinge. The dealer, who regularly serviced my car, had never followed the manufacturer’s instructions and greased the hinge. It may be a small matter, but the result was, I had to pay for a new door hinge to be fitted, by the dealer who caused the problem. How often are we put to unnecessary extra expense by poor service from the main dealers? And for things that may be a lot more important and critical to our safety and the safety of our family, than a simple door hinge!

Here is another example of the kind of service that is all too common in Brunei.

The main agent told me, that a family member’s car needed a new ‘Throttle Control Sensor’.

Does he have one in stock? No.

“OK, can you order one for me please?”

“Yes. But it will take 3 months to get here!”

“Why? Are you ordering it from Mars?”

You may think that the throttle sensor is a large, complex item that rarely needs replacing. No! It is a small plastic part that does need changing from time to time. So why doesn’t the main agent keep them in stock? And why three months to get one? Even if you have to order one, it is a small item that can be popped into a padded envelope and posted straight here.

Another point about this particular part is, upon examining it; I found that it is made in Mexico! Now in Brunei, we are constantly advised to buy only ‘genuine’ parts and to not buy cheap imitation parts. However, the manufacturers seem to be using cheap parts!

Oh, and did I say it was cheap? Well in fact, this Mexican made sensor costs $112. I wonder what it costs in Mexico?

In Europe ‘generic parts’ – that is parts made by independent manufacturers – are very popular and often outsell the so-called ‘genuine’ parts. The reason for this is that they are considered excellent value for money; they are cheaper and often just as good as the ‘genuine’ parts.

This also means that if the main dealership does not have the part in stock, (often the case in Brunei), then you have a chance of getting it elsewhere. The other option may be to have your car off the road for three months. That is not an option for most of us, we need our cars.

The worlds major car manufacturers have been in Brunei for decades and these dealerships have made fortunes from Brunei’s love affair with the internal combustion engine. After all this time, shouldn’t we be getting proper service from these companies, and by qualified and properly trained mechanics? After all, we are paying for their ‘service’.

Is it time for the main dealers in Brunei to set up their own training centre and their own privately run apprenticeship scheme to train young Bruneians to be skilled and qualified mechanics? I am sure that this initiative would be supported by the major car companies that they represent. The country would also benefit from local youths being trained to be skilled mechanics. After all, it is in everyone’s interests, the dealers, the customers and the country. In addition, if Bruneians were confident that they were getting correct servicing by qualified mechanics from the main agents they would not use other ‘amateur’ workshops.

Cars are not a luxury, they are an essential in Brunei, and I am certain that we would all feel safer knowing that we are using properly serviced and maintained vehicles.

Latest by Ron Knox:

• Unfinished citadels
• Nature on our doorstep
• A step into the past
• Overbudget & overdue
• Jerudong's vanishing pavements

Views :541