Yontrakit/peugeot - Scam?

[KevinBloodyWilson]

Took the car to Yontrakit to have the aircon checked.

I was told the compressor was buggered. When I asked how they know, they said they checked the pressure - buggered. A new one was 38,000 plus fitting (twice what you can buy it for elsewhere).

Just got the car back after having a local guy look at it. Verdict: compressor is fine, pressure is fine, a faulty switch appears to have been the problem. Aircon now cold enough to put icicles on my beard. Odd though, the aircon guy said they couldn't have checked the pressure without repairing the switch. Odd that...

Now I like to be charitable but this seems like it could easily have been a scam if it had been a less reputable company.

Call me naive but does this happen often?

Kev

[thaicbr]

Yep they are lazy....................full stop.

[katabeachbum]

Yontrakit has a reputation.

I really like the Scirocco, Caravelle, Audi Q5 and Pegeot 308cc, but

It would be illegal to mention anything negative about Yontrakit, even if anonymous

Edited July 16, 2009 by katabeachbum

[KevinBloodyWilson]

Yontrakit has a reputation.

I really like the Scirocco, Caravelle, Audi Q5 and Pegeot 308cc, but

It would be illegal to mention anything negative about Yontrakit, even if anonymous

Thanks, I heard what you didn't say.

I didn't think it was accidental. It didn't feel accidental.

Kev

[KevinBloodyWilson]

Yep they are lazy....................full stop.

Yes they are, but I suspect it was something else as well. TIT.

Kev

[jcon]

(if they suck, why can't we say so - that's my preface...)

Eff Yontrakit! Ok, specifically, Yontrakit BMW - which I'm assuming is the one near the Yontrakit Peugeot in that area behind MBK/Chula....

I brought in my 7-Series in for service, a freaking oil change IIRC, and when I got home I opened my hood/bonnet and there was no <deleted> ENGINE COVER.

Now the V8 engine cover for a 7-series is not some tiny thing - it's pretty freaking huge as parts go. So I go back to the place, and they say they have 'lost it.' Yep, 'lost it.' And they assured me nobody could remove it from the grounds as there was a guard checking 24/7. So I asked, 'where the eff is my engine cover, then?' No answer. Wait.

Took them 2 months to 'find' me an engine cover (not mine - mine was brand spanking new - the one they gave me was clearly 2nd hand, it had scratches all over it). At this point I was ready to just plow my tank of a car right into the office, call my insurance guy, and walk away.... but they were idiots and they will always be idiots I figured, so why bother.

No reason to remove/edit my post. They know exactly who I am. These are facts. Nobody can dispute them.

Now if the Peugeot and the BMW are in any way connected (I'm guessing they are, as they are under the same parent corp and right next to each other on the same street), then I would stay away. I don't even know how that company stays in business, as every BMW owner I know never uses them, and the few Peugeot owners I know don't use them either.... But I suppose if you scam your customers 10x the market price, then you only need 1/10 of the customers to make the same money...

woozaaa.... jeez that incident really peeved me... it's been quite some time and I'm a bajillion miles away, but just writing that stressed me out...

[snowflake]

My left head light died a while ago on my honda (yes I did put inn different light bulps) so I took it to Honda to get new fuses... they claimed the relay duda, cable, plug everything had to be changed and it would take 3 days and cost me 3800B, since it was my own fault... I only had a few hundred bath on my so I told them I would come back in a few days...

When I came home my GF took the car out with her friends and one of them told her to stop by a fuse shop and he bought 2 fuses for my Jazz, 20B and fixed the lights...

Honda 3800B

Fuse shop 20B

Will I ever buy a honda from that dealership again??? Don't think so!

[mdechgan]

Yontrakit ued to be the sole dealer/importer/distributor for BMW. Guess why BMW cancelled the contract and allowed other dealers to import BMWs?

Most dealers and mechanics in them are really lazy and untrained properly. The head mechanic usually has some sort of commission or target to achieve at the end of the month. Most of the lower Honda mechanics are low paid don't drive cars but Honda sonics, waves and clicks. It is very difficult to diagnose and fix a car if you don't drive one.

[stingray]

One of my friends had a BM 525i in repair there, 10 years ago. Overheating problems, ! Overhaul the engine cost about 200'k, they estimated . He tought it's expensive, came and asked me to go with him and check it. So we went to BKK.. After arriving we saw the engine is not in the car anymore and not even near the car. They said the pistons are not good anymore. Usually could be not to seroius like that, because my friend only had overheating problems, but still can drive the car before visiting them. Anyway i didn't belefe and asked them to show me the pistons. So one of the mecanics was on the way in another room to get the piston's. Same time i told my friend that they gonna show us 4 pistons. My friend didn't understand exactly why i told him that and what i mean. The mecanic came back with 4 old bad pistons. I asket him: Is that all 4? He sayd: yes, and confirmed me that they had to overhaul the engine. I said to my friend: I tought you had a 525 6 cylinder engine, a 6 cylinder with 4 pistons, thet's someting new! My friend waked up now.

Anyway we couldn't do much, as my friend didn't aks me in the beginning, so he tolt them to fix all and put the engine together. After 2 weeks he received the car, payd their money, for repairs. Car runs same before, but still overheating. I checked the car, Problem was a the oil clutch of the enginefan.

[DavidBrook]

One of my friends had a BM 525i in repair there, 10 years ago. Overheating problems, ! Overhaul the engine cost about 200'k, they estimated . He tought it's expensive, came and asked me to go with him and check it. So we went to BKK.. After arriving we saw the engine is not in the car anymore and not even near the car. They said the pistons are not good anymore. Usually could be not to seroius like that, because my friend only had overheating problems, but still can drive the car before visiting them. Anyway i didn't belefe and asked them to show me the pistons. So one of the mecanics was on the way in another room to get the piston's. Same time i told my friend that they gonna show us 4 pistons. My friend didn't understand exactly why i told him that and what i mean. The mecanic came back with 4 old bad pistons. I asket him: Is that all 4? He sayd: yes, and confirmed me that they had to overhaul the engine. I said to my friend: I tought you had a 525 6 cylinder engine, a 6 cylinder with 4 pistons, thet's someting new! My friend waked up now.

Anyway we couldn't do much, as my friend didn't aks me in the beginning, so he tolt them to fix all and put the engine together. After 2 weeks he received the car, payd their money, for repairs. Car runs same before, but still overheating. I checked the car, Problem was a the oil clutch of the enginefan.

I should have seen the writing on the wall 2 years ago (I bought the car from them and actually got quite a good deal - for Thailand - since it was the last of that model).

I went to their Surawong depot with a the orange 'engine problem' warning light coming on intermittently. They put their head mechanic on it (30 years experience). After having the car for 2 days of testing, he had no clue. Obviously hadnt read the manual. When I went to pick it up he still had no clue but went with me while we drove around the block to see if it still came on. it did. The best he could suggest is that it was because I used my left foot to press the brake pedal (in other words I drove it with 2 feet). When I asked why he thought this, he said because he knew someone in Chiang Mai who had the same problem and he used his left foot to hit the brake.

I took it to another mechanic - the fuel pump was faulty. I kid you not.

Plus, I now find several small scratches on the bodywork which were not there when it went to them, and about 150km has mysteriously appeared on the clock, the second time this has happened. Call me a slow learner but I think I now have a pretty good picture of Yontrakit and how it conducts its business.

I have told them that I am no longer their customer, and the 30,000THB I owe them for the service will not be paid. They threatened to call the police and have me deported. Just not the way to go...

D

btw, I am the original poster, I wanted a user name which is not my real name but apparently I am not allowed to have 2 logins, nor to get a new one and delete the old one. Dems da roolz - apparently.

[stingray]

One of my friends had a BM 525i in repair there, 10 years ago. Overheating problems, ! Overhaul the engine cost about 200'k, they estimated . He tought it's expensive, came and asked me to go with him and check it. So we went to BKK.. After arriving we saw the engine is not in the car anymore and not even near the car. They said the pistons are not good anymore. Usually could be not to seroius like that, because my friend only had overheating problems, but still can drive the car before visiting them. Anyway i didn't belefe and asked them to show me the pistons. So one of the mecanics was on the way in another room to get the piston's. Same time i told my friend that they gonna show us 4 pistons. My friend didn't understand exactly why i told him that and what i mean. The mecanic came back with 4 old bad pistons. I asket him: Is that all 4? He sayd: yes, and confirmed me that they had to overhaul the engine. I said to my friend: I tought you had a 525 6 cylinder engine, a 6 cylinder with 4 pistons, thet's someting new! My friend waked up now.

Anyway we couldn't do much, as my friend didn't aks me in the beginning, so he tolt them to fix all and put the engine together. After 2 weeks he received the car, payd their money, for repairs. Car runs same before, but still overheating. I checked the car, Problem was a the oil clutch of the enginefan.

I should have seen the writing on the wall 2 years ago (I bought the car from them and actually got quite a good deal - for Thailand - since it was the last of that model).

I went to their Surawong depot with a the orange 'engine problem' warning light coming on intermittently. They put their head mechanic on it (30 years experience). After having the car for 2 days of testing, he had no clue. Obviously hadnt read the manual. When I went to pick it up he still had no clue but went with me while we drove around the block to see if it still came on. it did. The best he could suggest is that it was because I used my left foot to press the brake pedal (in other words I drove it with 2 feet). When I asked why he thought this, he said because he knew someone in Chiang Mai who had the same problem and he used his left foot to hit the brake.

I took it to another mechanic - the fuel pump was faulty. I kid you not.

Plus, I now find several small scratches on the bodywork which were not there when it went to them, and about 150km has mysteriously appeared on the clock, the second time this has happened. Call me a slow learner but I think I now have a pretty good picture of Yontrakit and how it conducts its business.

I have told them that I am no longer their customer, and the 30,000THB I owe them for the service will not be paid. They threatened to call the police and have me deported. Just not the way to go...

D

btw, I am the original poster, I wanted a user name which is not my real name but apparently I am not allowed to have 2 logins, nor to get a new one and delete the old one. Dems da roolz - apparently.

Woudn't worry about deportation, its a "civil matter", not a crime. But according the law, they could keep your car until you pay them. But once you on the road with yout car, they can do nothing about and for 30'k noone apply to the court. Police can't do anything.

[DavidBrook]

Woudn't worry about deportation, its a "civil matter", not a crime. But according the law, they could keep your car until you pay them. But once you on the road with yout car, they can do nothing about and for 30'k noone apply to the court. Police can't do anything.

Thanks for this, my lawyer said much the same thing, and I appreciate your comment.

Its a real pity. It just doesn't have to be like this.

D