What if I want to return a used car?

[SAFETY FIRST]

3 hours ago, Epidote said:

bought a used car from a car company (I think they are called tent?)

The word 'tent' is used for second hand car dealers on the side of the road. 

 

You're just throwing your money away buying a used car in Thailand if you have no mechanical knowledge. 

 

You'll find the engine light coming on is the least concern. 

 

You should have had a mechanical inspection prior to purchasing. I'd say they would have found a few more issues. 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by SAFETY FIRST

[novacova]

11 minutes ago, HauptmannUK said:

Something as minor as a poor seal on the filler cap

Fuel cap is likely also. Easy fix…

[Bill97]

58 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

The word 'tent' is used for second hand car dealers on the side of the road. 

 

You're just throwing your money away buying a used car in Thailand if you have no mechanical knowledge. 
 

No.  It is possible to use somebody else’s knowledge.

 

You'll find the engine light coming on is the least concern. 
 

How do you know that?

 

You should have had a mechanical inspection prior to purchasing. I'd say they would have found a few more issues. 

 
maybe he did have it checked you don’t know he didn’t 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by Bill97

[bbko]

4 hours ago, Epidote said:

I sent the car to the company, they checked it, and I don't think they find any problem, but now the engine light is still on. 

How hard is it to ask "the company" if they didn't find a problem, why is the engine light still on?

[Ralf001]

5 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Possibly "nonsense" from you, also.  If there was no check engine light showing when it was taken in there's a pretty good chance that, being car sales outfit, not a mechanics shop, they wouldn't investigate it very deeply, if at all, particularly if the ten-year old car's warranty is just about to end..  

If you say so.

[Skipalongcassidy]

Be sure that the gas cap is screwed on tightly after every gas up... it's the number 1 fault code for the engine light.

[impulse]

12 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Tents have one purpose, that is to sell used cars, they are not technical service centres, no one would expect their skills to be in any other area than sales.

Yeah, but they need an OBD reader to reset the check engine light on the lemons they're selling.  I guaranty you they have one on onsite and know how to read it.

 

 

Edited August 31, 2023 by impulse

[Epidote]

12 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

You have driven the car for almost 10.000 km. Do you expect when you return the car, they will return the money you bought it for, so you had the car for free the last year?

You have a warning light, who says that the engine is at fault, could be the sensor.

No, I don't expect the full refund, just want to check what other people do here.

In my country, people can return their car if there is a problem about engine and other main parts of a car, of course with some special conditions, I am not very sure.

Just want to check what are the rules here.

[Skipalongcassidy]

4 minutes ago, Epidote said:

No, I don't expect the full refund, just want to check what other people do here.

In my country, people can return their car if there is a problem about engine and other main parts of a car, of course with some special conditions, I am not very sure.

Just want to check what are the rules here.

Where in the world are you from?

 

 

[FritsSikkink]

5 minutes ago, Epidote said:

No, I don't expect the full refund, just want to check what other people do here.

In my country, people can return their car if there is a problem about engine and other main parts of a car, of course with some special conditions, I am not very sure.

Just want to check what are the rules here.

They need to help you for free until the year has passed by, then you need to pay for repairs.

[Epidote]

12 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

The word 'tent' is used for second hand car dealers on the side of the road. 

 

You're just throwing your money away buying a used car in Thailand if you have no mechanical knowledge. 

 

You'll find the engine light coming on is the least concern. 

 

You should have had a mechanical inspection prior to purchasing. I'd say they would have found a few more issues. 

 

 

Not sure if all used car dealer are "tent" here.

but they give me a 1 year warranty and even a mechanical inspection report from Toyato certified mechanical shop or something similar. 

I just don't want to spend too much time on repairing and checking the car. 

 

 

[Epidote]

9 minutes ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Where in the world are you from?

 

 

A large country in Asia. 

Yes, returning a car is possible there, but not easy.  

 

[Epidote]

12 hours ago, HauptmannUK said:

First of all don't panic and assume you have a 'faulty engine'. If the engine seems to run ok, does not make undue noises and consumes no/minimal oil and water then the likelihood is that the major mechanical parts of the engine are fine. 

There are literally hundreds of things that can cause the MIL to illuminate. Something as minor as a poor seal on the filler cap or a weak battery. The fact that the light periodically resets makes me think its likely to be a  minor fault.

The best option would be to take it to a Toyota dealer or Toyota specialist who will use Toyota's own 'Techstream' software which can read not only generic OBDII codes but also Toyota's proprietary codes - historic, current and pending, as well as accessing live data.

I have Techstream in the UK and normally what I find is a lot of random and irrelevant historic codes.  Unless the fault is very obvious then I would clear down all stored codes and ask the customer to come back when the MIL comes back on again and then get back into the diagnosis proper.

Thank you, this helps much!

[VocalNeal]

The engine check light has been on in my truck ever since it went to the LPG service centre when I was out of the country. It still runs although in fairness it may have defaulted to rich setting I don't know. That was a minimum of 10,000 kms ago.

When it travels a bit further and gets to 100,000 I will take it to a local workshop, recommended by friends, and get the timing belt changed and the accessory belt, have the oil changed, new spark plugs and they said they will also check the fault code. Which may or may not be the O2 sensor.

 

You need to find a good local repair shop. Simply ask them to check the code.

[Epidote]

11 hours ago, Bill97 said:

 

Thank you, you are very nice. 

[Liverpool Lou]

3 hours ago, impulse said:

15 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Tents have one purpose, that is to sell used cars, they are not technical service centres, no one would expect their skills to be in any other area than sales.

Expand  

Yeah, but they need an OBD reader to reset the check engine light on the lemons they're selling.  I guaranty you they have one on onsite and know how to read it.

Ah, ok, if you guarantee it, that's all I need to hear, I didn't realise that you knew which dealer the OP was talking about, I didn't see the name mentioned, must have missed that.   Which dealer is it and how do you know that their stock is lemons ?

[Liverpool Lou]

9 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

14 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Possibly "nonsense" from you, also.  If there was no check engine light showing when it was taken in there's a pretty good chance that, being car sales outfit, not a mechanics shop, they wouldn't investigate it very deeply, if at all, particularly if the ten-year old car's warranty is just about to end..  

If you say so.

I think my comment was reasonable and fairly representative of used car dealers, in general, given the OP's/dealer's circumstances.

[Epidote]

Anyway , thank you all. 

[FritsSikkink]

12 minutes ago, Epidote said:

Not sure if all used car dealer are "tent" here.

but they give me a 1 year warranty and even a mechanical inspection report from Toyato certified mechanical shop or something similar. 

I just don't want to spend too much time on repairing and checking the car. 

 

 

Then you should buy a new car and not a 10 year old one.

[BenStark]

1 minute ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Ah, ok, if you guarantee it, that's all I need to hear, I didn't realise that you knew which dealer the OP was talking about, I didn't see the name mentioned, must have missed that.   Which dealer is it and how do you know that their stock is lemons ?

Anyone with a grain of common sense would realize that a dealer has such a device to check the cars they purchase. Or do you think they only look at the dents and scratches to decide if they will buy the cars they take in stock?

[TimeMachine]

Buy your own obd reader from lazada.  Check what fault codes come up and report back. You gotta do it yourself.  You cant trust ANYbOdY.

Option is to buy more advanced reader with more reading ability.  But  few peanuts more for the good ones. 

[impulse]

25 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

You need to find a good local repair shop. Simply ask them to check the code.

If you're handy and know how to search YouTube, you can buy one on Lazada for 50 baht (wireless, using your smartphone for display) or 400 baht (stand alone unit, with display).  I keep one in the glovebox of my 23 year old Toyota van. 

 

Look up the code it's throwing on YouTube.  Even if you don't repair the car yourself, you'll have an idea whether the repair guys are trying to cheat you.

 

Oops.  TimeMachine posted his advice while I was typing...

Edited August 31, 2023 by impulse

[NoDisplayName]

36 minutes ago, BenStark said:

Anyone with a grain of common sense would realize that a dealer has such a device to check the cars they purchase. Or do you think they only look at the dents and scratches to decide if they will buy the cars they take in stock?

To be fair, when the OP says he bought from a "tent," one assumes the worst, that being the small lot on the outskirts of town selling cleaned up beaters, literally "polished turds."  We all read the stories of lot mechanics filling springs with tennis balls to fix the transmission, JB-welding cracked transmission cases, and repairing rusted out frames with duck tape and spray paint.  They'll make all sorts of promises, but once it drives off the lot, it's the buyer's problem.

[Ralf001]

45 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

I think my comment was reasonable and fairly representative of used car dealers, in general, given the OP's/dealer's circumstances.

If you say so.

[n8sail]

Also note that when buying from these "sketchy" tent shops, it is very possible that the odometer has been rolled back.  120,000 km on a 10 year old car is...   well, questionable.

My assistant sold her 10 year old Mitsu Triton with 235,000km on the odometer to a local 'tent' dealer here in Rayong.   She found her exact truck 2 weeks later listed with the 'tent' dealer literally 200m away, with a photograph in the listing clearly showing 135,000km.  I have heard this from other people as well, but just wanted to share this as I actually saw it happen myself.

You're in luck with a corolla from this generation as it does not have a timing belt.  Timing chains last a very long time and give some good warning signs when they start to stretch, and they rarely break.  If you have an engine with a timing belt and you go well past the recommended replacement distance, you risk the belt breaking, without warning, and very likely ruining at least a couple valves if not the entire engine.

Just be aware of this as the car ages.  Things may fail sooner than you would think due to the odometer being changed.

I would buy a cheapo bluetooth OBDII scanner and check it out myself.   If that's above your paygrade, ask around for a good local mechanic that specializes in Toyota (probably very many in most areas of Thailand).   I asked around and found an excellent and fair mechanic for my Ford truck.  1/10th the price of the dealership right around the corner and a very nice guy to boot.

[AustinRacing]

If it’s coming and going suggests a loose sensor or as others have pointed out a minor intermittent issue. Any decent garage should be able to view fault histories and determine the cause. 

[Ralf001]

25 minutes ago, AustinRacing said:

If it’s coming and going suggests a loose sensor or as others have pointed out a minor intermittent issue. Any decent garage should be able to view fault histories and determine the cause. 

LiverpooLou claims they would not plug a scanner in to check.

Edited August 31, 2023 by Ralf001

[xtrnuno41]

After about 5 years my car starts up with motor management light.

College had reader, so we checked P0601. Then I go to DEALER garage, of course they found same reading.

Conclusion of them ECU broken , needed to replace it. Asked, if it is broken why my car is still running ok?

No answer on that. So didnt replace it, as in "deal" was, they kept the "old" one, bit weird to me.

P0601 is just a main general fault and later found on internet, it has  a very long list on possibilities.

But they just didnt know?, it seems, and/or they just wanted me to buy an new one.

Do dealers always do right? No, they just can cheat you as any other car fixer. Stating : buy a new one.

 

I didnt and got lazy on the "error" and im now with that error already 15 years further.

One thing it probably did was putting the engine in a sort of safe mode to drive, as i think my chip tuning isnt active anymore.

I can reset it by taking off the power, loosen clamps of battery. Then it is gone for a while, but will pop up again. Once red from a guy he had his car re tuned from other chip tuning company and fault was gone.

Found another company who said they were more specialized in problems with this, but didnt go there still.

Must kick my butt again finally after 15 years to still do something about it. Maybe one of these days.

[Iamloki]

19 hours ago, Epidote said:

I bought a used car from a car company (I think they are called tent?), the warranty said the engine and motor would be under warranty for one year/10,000km. 

Now the engine light was on for several times, I sent the car to the company, they checked it, and I don't think they find any problem, but now the engine light is still on. 

and we have driven almost 10,000 km which means we will have no warranty soon.

I was wondering what I can do? What is the usual way to deal with it? Is it possible to return this car because obviously I don't think they can repair the engine.

Thanks 

I have an OBD fault code reader. If you are in Chiang Rai be happy to plug it in for you.

[khunPer]

19 hours ago, Epidote said:

I bought a used car from a car company (I think they are called tent?), the warranty said the engine and motor would be under warranty for one year/10,000km. 

Now the engine light was on for several times, I sent the car to the company, they checked it, and I don't think they find any problem, but now the engine light is still on. 

and we have driven almost 10,000 km which means we will have no warranty soon.

I was wondering what I can do? What is the usual way to deal with it? Is it possible to return this car because obviously I don't think they can repair the engine.

Thanks 

Warranty means repair, not return.

You can for example get a third party check of the engine, so you know if you have any rightful claims at the used car dealer.