JBChiangRai

My car wash of choice is run by a Chinese guy who is anal about how a car should be washed/protected and he offers a 48 hour warranty, if the car gets dirty in 48 hours, he washes it again for free but that doesn't extend to redoing the interior. He jet washes the car first to remove dirt, then some kind of detergent is manually applied before an automatic contactless car wash rinses the car and blow dries it. I have learned a lot from him, for example the first thing I do at any other car wash is check the staff, if they are wearing rings, watches, belts, necklaces they get a lecture from me and I leave. He put a ceramic coating on my last car from new, a Benz E class, I paid 9,000 baht for it and he also did my daughters Kawasaki Ninja 400 for free. Every 3 months he topped it up for free. I wash my car every time it gets dirty, sometimes 2 or 3 times a week. Ceramic coating helps with swirls, but it doesn't stop them, it doesn't stop stone chips/scratches at all. If I remember right he used Kinsho Japanese Ceramic coating, I did some research and unsurprisingly, it came out as one of the best. After 2 years he told me it was wearing off because the car was washed so often and wanted to renew it, I passed because I had plans to change the car. On my current car, a Porsche I went to another guy here in Chiang Rai who fitted Rhino Self-Healing PPF. More expensive at 65,000 baht but if you want to preserve the paint, nothing else comes close. You can remove the film after a few years and the paint underneath is still new. Fitting it is a PITA, it's quite thick and it probably took him 4 or 5 attempts to get it right. It will peel and it's important that the installer offers a warranty to replace any section that peels, typically tight bends. There are 2 ways of fitting PPF, computer cut or manually cut. Computer cut will make the pieces applied slightly smaller than the cars panels and at the edge of each panel there will be a lip where the film is slightly smaller than the panel, typically 1mm. Over time you will get a black line there as dirt accumulates. Manually cut, the film will cover the panel, wrap over the edge and impossible to tell it has film unless you look under the panel (door, bonnet, trunk etc) where you can see where it finishes. I paid extra for self-healing PPF, you can scuff it up with a wire brush and the scratches disappear in the sun. On reflection, I wouldn't pay the extra for that. I did have to pay 6,000 baht for where a motorcycle tore the film with a foot stand, and a large piece needed replacing, fortunately the paint work was undamaged. The self healing film appears to stop swirls in the film as it repairs them, but whether it's worth the cost, I'm not sure. The finish with self-healing PPF is not as good as the original paint, on sharp bends in the bodywork, the film is stretched and if you look closely you can see it. My intention is to remove the film after a few years to either renew it with a colour change or sell the car. If you have an expensive car and want to get top dollar for it when you sell it, or you drive fast and want to avoid stone chips (I don't) then I'd say it's worth doing. The main benefit is when you remove the film, the car paintwork is still brand new. Some people even put ceramic coating on top of PPF, I don't think it's worth doing that, certainly self healing PPF will never swirl.

8 year old Colorado LTZ air conditioning control unit, not available to order through dealer channel in Chiang Rai. My friend’s car, he had to source a 2nd hand part. I think you will find it is not actually in stock.

Electronic control unit for the air conditioning. Not available new at any price.

The parts situation for Chevrolet is dire, some parts cannot even be ordered and have to be sourced second hand. I would avoid Chevrolet like the plague.

Fernandes should shut up and keep a low profile, he and his airline publicly backed that kleptomaniac Najib Rizak and he had to publicly beg for forgiveness when Rizak lost the election and was arrested for one of the biggest frauds in history. Air Asia has to be Asia’s worst airline, good luck getting a refund!

An update… I just sold something on Lazada, they gave me the address of the buyer and told me to take the item to Flash Express with a shipping note I printed through the Lazada seller app.. So what I think happened to the OP, he bought something COD on Lazada, the seller didn’t ship the item through Lazada, he just shipped direct the fake item COD, and waited for the OP to pay COD and collected his ill gotten gains. The lesson to be learned here is never order COD.

A few years ago, when they first came out, I bought a Samsung S9+ on Lazada with my debit card. When it arrived, it was obviously a fake. Returned it via Kerry Logistics and received a refund. My experience has always been good on refunds and I have had lots of them, but in every case, I paid through the Lazada payment channel and they were therefore holding the payment before giving it to the seller. If you pay COD, they are not holding any payment to refund you. Further, you don't know who sent it, it could be Lazada/seller through Lazada, it could be Scammer & Sons Ltd. If you have a busy household with maids and gardeners like mine, and you're out with your family, do you really want them paying COD on your behalf? You may not even have ordered anything. Never pay COD, you've lost most of the protection you have when Lazada are holding the money. Laada won't release payment to the seller until the returns window has expired.

And you wonder why Anutin diss's us. We are all guests in this country, and it's incumbent on us all to set a good example.

Spot on, paying COD is a mugs game.

Bad advice, Never order COD, you cannot check the package before paying and then your cash is with the courier who will give it to the sender, which may or may not be Lazada, and if it's not Lazada then you're stuffed.

It’s clear the seller sent the parcel to you directly COD without involving Lazada. You paid Best and Best paid the seller directly without Lazada being involved at any time. You never paid Lazada so they can’t refund you. The seller probably asked you to confirm your address and you gave it to him. We have a rule in my household, absolutely no COD shipments, EVER! Anything arriving COD is never accepted here. This is just one of many types of COD scams, there are others, always, but always pay through the Lazada payment channel at time of purchase.

As a property developer, I concur with that, you will always see an outline where old meets new plaster.