How I Saved B14.000 On My Car Repair

[Pattaya Spotter]

Ugg...my 2013 Honda Accord started to go crazy with the flashing warning lights the other day...Adaptive Cruise Control Problem...Collision Mitigation System Problem...Hill Descent Control Problem...Power Steering System Problem...what the heck? A visit to the Honda dealer was obviously in order, wherein I was informed that the Anti-lock brake system pump (ABS pump) needed to be replaced. The car could be driven but many of the road handling and driving assist functions would be disabled. They politely gave me a repair estimate of B 43.000 (42.976 part, 260 labour)...total with VAT about B 47.000. YIKES!

 

I don't ever think I've paid more than B 10-14k on a major car repair in my life (in Thailand or "back home"). But this Accord is my first car with all the advanced safety and convenience features like adaptive cruise control and the like...now I know why people lease or sell these fancy cars during the last year of so of their warranty and buy another as repairing these "computers on wheels" is expensive when something goes wrong out of warranty. (I bought the car about 1.5 years used with about 80k on it...have had it about 4 years with no problems and only normal scheduled maintenance.) 

 

Okay, so back to how I saved B 14k on this repair. I've enjoyed very good service from my local Honda dealer whenever I take it in for servicing and there is a very nice girl I always deal with in the service department who speaks very good English so communication isn't a problem. I told her I will think about the repair cost, and in the meantime contact Honda Thailand head office about this price, which I thought was excessive for a relatively new car. At this, she got panicky until I explained to her I wasn't upset with her or the dealer service department (I wasn't) but that I wanted to see what Honda corporate would say about this matter. She said employees get fined B 500 by the dealership if they get complaints from customers...and again I assured her it had nothing to do with her and she wouldn't even be mentioned. At this, she was somewhat relieved but still apprehensive. 

 

So as we know, in this social media age, companies hate to get negative mentions on Facebook, Twitter, etc., and live in constant fear such posts will go viral. I have been told that the best way to get in touch with any large company with a complaint or service issue is thru their official social media channels...calling their helplines and sending emails to some cubicle worker at headquarters being so 2005. So for the first time, I tried this myself. I took pictures of the different hazard warning lights and posted them as a reply to a Honda Thailand FB post about some special promo for their HRV model. I also scanned the dealership's repair estimate and posted it as well, with the comment of what could Honda do about it. Within minutes, there was a polite reply to my post, in perfect English, apologizing for my situation and requesting I furnish my personal details and the cars VIN and chassis number via private Messenger and they would look into the matter and get back to me. This I did yesterday, Monday, and this morning I received a call from my service girl at the dealership that Honda corporate contacted them and offered me a 30% discount on the price of the new ABS pump...about 13k (US$ 420). I'd say that's not bad for 5 minutes of work posting on FB...maybe social media isn't as bad as many people say it is.

 

 

[Worldplus]

Don't they just love to rip off a farang if they can..

 

We have a Ford Everest...  Very rarely do I take it to the dealers..

[Pattaya Spotter]

1 minute ago, Worldplus said:

Don't they just love to rip off a farang if they can..

 

We have a Ford Everest...  Very rarely do I take it to the dealers..

I believe the price of the service repair estimate would be the same regardless of nationality...I have never heard of duel pricing at dealership service departments. I didn't check the price at an independent garage, however, and maybe they could source the part at a cheaper price (it's 99% of the repair cost).

[transam]

Aaaaah, fond memories of rides with just a handbrake to worry about......????

 

But saying that, cars with fancy gizmos, I reckon something will/may probably go wrong after 7 years. Plus the fancy gizmos will probably be expensive to replace too. ????

[johng]

39 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Adaptive Cruise Control Problem...Collision Mitigation System Problem...Hill Descent Control Problem...Power Steering System Problem...what the heck?

Yes what the heck do you need all that stuff for ?  just more stuff to go wrong.

not having a go at you Pattaya Spotter.

[transam]

1 minute ago, johng said:

Yes what the heck do you need all that stuff for ?  just more stuff to go wrong.

not having a go at you Pattaya Spotter.

I agree, if they can sort out the dash lights, I would leave it at that....????

 

It starts..yes, brakes work...yes, pub open...yes......All is good...????

[bodga]

1 hour ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

So as we know, in this social media age, companies hate to get negative mentions on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Wait  till I take  my stuttering and coughing 6000km -3750  miles owned from new Honda Cbr650f to the dealers to see how  much to fix  it, I already have the letter on my com for  Honda to question their infamous reliability addressed to Honda  japan not  Thailand, oh  yea its 4  years  old hardly  used and pretty  <deleted>  poor for this to  happen, looks  like new, never  used in wet conditions and always serviced. 6000km -3750miles absolutely pathetic.

Edited August 4, 2020 by bodga

[Pattaya Spotter]

17 minutes ago, johng said:

Yes what the heck do you need all that stuff for ?  just more stuff to go wrong.

not having a go at you Pattaya Spotter.

The adaptive cruise control comes in handy during long freeway trips and the collision warning system has saved me a couple times...certainly convenience features but hardly essential. In fact, I've driven the car from Pattaya to Bangkok and back since this all happened and survived.

[bodga]

16 minutes ago, transam said:

It starts..yes, brakes work...yes, pub open...yes......All is good...????

unless its  on its  roof  after  the  pub

[johng]

4 minutes ago, bodga said:

my stuttering and coughing 6000km -3750  miles owned from new Honda Cbr650f

Did you put Diesel in by mistake ?

[Pattaya Spotter]

17 minutes ago, transam said:

I agree, if they can sort out the dash lights, I would leave it at that....????

 

It starts..yes, brakes work...yes, pub open...yes......All is good...????

The warning chimes go off after a minute or so after each start and I can reset the warning lights with a couple presses on one of the steering wheel buttons. A bit of an annoyance after every start so just leave the lights on now.

[NanLaew]

6 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

In fact, I've driven the car from Pattaya to Bangkok and back since this all happened and survived.

Well there's your answer to the 47,000 baht question right there.

[Pattaya Spotter]

4 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Well there's your answer to the 47,000 baht question right there.

Yes the car drives fine...just without all the newfangled safety and convenience features. However, I will go ahead and schedule the repair, if for no other reason than to maintain its resale value.

[2long]

I'm with the OP on this. I have a 2006 Jazz that has been great from new and we go to the main (supplying) dealer as often as we can, and get them to service it regularly. Service costs are often very very reasonable. If it's tyres, brakes or wheel bearings, we get the local Somchai or specialist to do it. And we have recently found a great new guy!

But we have to understand that main dealers have to use genuine parts and have to replace things, instead of giving them a wipe and saying 'She'll be right for a while.' This is why their costs are so high. OEM parts are genuine parts quality but come in a different box. Main dealers can't use these. There are also Taiwanese, Chinese and Thai made parts available to local non-franchised repair guys.

And I don't think for one minute the OP's dealer is trying to rip off a farang, but that sort of comment has become ubiquitous on TV threads.

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, johng said:

1 hour ago, bodga said:

my stuttering and coughing 6000km -3750  miles owned from new Honda Cbr650f

Did you put Diesel in by mistake ?

Covid. Honda's are rotten for it.

[Jai Dee]

A post containing racist terms and a number of replies have been removed.

[pineapple01]

2 hours ago, johng said:

Yes what the heck do you need all that stuff for ?  just more stuff to go wrong.

not having a go at you Pattaya Spotter.

On an Old Banger with new gizmo's?, cant remember they were offered back then.

[Kwasaki]

Take it Cockpit. 

[transam]

Just now, Kwasaki said:

Take it Cockpit. 

Our lad has a Honda Civic, he told his mrs to take it to Honda to get it serviced, she did, but they told her the car had a problem that would cost 40,000bht to fix.

I asked her what the problem was, she didn't know, I said does eveything work, yes...

 

Then forget it...That was near a year back, ride still has no problems..

[Pattaya Spotter]

4 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Take it Cockpit. 

With my older (and simpler) cars, I have used Cockpit for maintenance basics like oil and filter changes, tire rotations, wheel alignments, etc. without issue. However, for something related to this model's sophisticated safety systems, I feel more comfortable having a Honda dealer perform the repair.

[sometimewoodworker]

4 hours ago, johng said:

Yes what the heck do you need all that stuff for ?  just more stuff to go wrong.

not having a go at you Pattaya Spotter.

We have 1 vehicle that has virtually nothing, SWMBO just got a new car that has most of the tech. The one that I prefer to drive has the tech. I used to do all my own services, even rebuilding the engine. Now I do the things I enjoy, use the all tech we have and keep my hands almost free of oil. If it goes wrong I pay other people to fix it for me. YMMV

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, transam said:

Our lad has a Honda Civic, he told his mrs to take it to Honda to get it serviced, she did, but they told her the car had a problem that would cost 40,000bht to fix.

I asked her what the problem was, she didn't know, I said does eveything work, yes...

 

Then forget it...That was near a year back, ride still has no problems..

Yeah well so many people here believe in main dealers I understand they know no better, I say let them carry on being ripped off if their happy.

[Susco]

1 hour ago, sometimewoodworker said:

We have 1 vehicle that has virtually nothing, SWMBO just got a new car that has most of the tech. The one that I prefer to drive has the tech. I used to do all my own services, even rebuilding the engine. Now I do the things I enjoy, use the all tech we have and keep my hands almost free of oil. If it goes wrong I pay other people to fix it for me. YMMV

In my former life I also did all my maintenance myself, including rebuilding engines, especially because my best friends had large BMW dealerships.

 

By the time I moved here, about 25 years ago, it was not possible anymore to drain the oil from a BMW without special tools, lets stand any other repairs.

 

I think now your BMW or Mercedes won't even move anymore if you don't reset the maintenance counter, which you can't without a computer with the special software

[taotoo]

24 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Yeah well so many people here believe in main dealers I understand they know no better, I say let them carry on being ripped off if their happy.

I think the issue is big cars full of gadgets.

 

My small, old car always gets serviced at the dealer and it never adds up to much.

 

Once I dropped it off at 1pm on a friday for a service. At 3.30pm they called to say that the 14-year-old clutch master cylinder had just disintegrated while they inspected it, and that they didn't have the part in stock. I feared being without my car for several days. But they then said they would order the part from Bangkok, it would come up to Chiang Mai over night, they would fit it Saturday morning and I could pick up the car at 1pm.

 

So I didn't have to wait more than 24 hours, and it probably cost no more than 5,000 baht I imagine (nothing ever costs more than that on my car).

 

The alternative would be to have an independent probably not spot the issue, leaving me stranded somewhere when it breaks. Then they would probably misdiagnose the problem and replace the clutch instead. And that would probably take them a couple of attempts too. Doubt it would end up any cheaper, and certainly WAY more time-consuming.

 

 

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, taotoo said:

At 3.30pm they called to say that the 14-year-old clutch master cylinder had just disintegrated while they inspected it, and that they didn't have the part in stock.

There ya go, carry on being conned.

[HauptmannUK]

The fault described by the OP is a common failure on Accords of this vintage and is due to a bad brake pressure sensor within the ABS modulator unit. In the UK we can get the unit rebuilt for about £200 (฿8000) - maybe worth seeing if anyone in Thailand can rebuild them.

Edited August 4, 2020 by HauptmannUK

[bodga]

11 hours ago, johng said:

Did you put Diesel in by mistake ?

I didnt  but  who knows  what goes on at the gas stations  here

[bodga]

9 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Covid. Honda's are rotten for it.

Its been wearing a  lovely one piece face mask cover its entire life and has always socially distanced

[bodga]

7 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Take it Cockpit. 

is this where they do cock fighting

[Pattaya Spotter]

4 hours ago, HauptmannUK said:

The fault described by the OP is a common failure on Accords of this vintage and is due to a bad brake pressure sensor within the ABS modulator unit. In the UK we can get the unit rebuilt for about £200 (฿8000) - maybe worth seeing if anyone in Thailand can rebuild them.

Yes...my service girl at the dealership said this was a known. issue with my Accord model/vintage. This is what prompted me to want to contact Honda corporate before paying for an expensive repair. If she hasn't said this, I might have just had it done without "going social" and called it a day. I did search the world's knowledge index, Google, for any problems with 2013 Accords and "ABS pumps" but didn'treally find anything. However, I may have not described the problem accurately; I  should have searched for service bulletins for 2013 Accords. 

Edited August 4, 2020 by Pattaya Spotter
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