Half Tank Petrol Gone After Starter Motor Replacement

[julesdick]

I think i know the answer to this but I'd like to defer to higher wisdom

Is there any way the garage that replaced my Toyota corolla's starter motor could need to use almost half a tank of petrol to do any kind of testing during the procedure? Or is it Thailand protocol that they should use my car to drive into city (15km each way) to buy parts etc? Even then they would struggle to use 500THB of petrol.

thanks

jd

[JohnC]

They siphon it out, happened to a friend of mine, also recently he took his car in for a re spray , prior to that he took pictures on the gauges, battery etc and removed the spate wheel and jack. When he collected the car his brand new battery had been replaced with an old one! Imagine their faces when e showed them the pictures AND his name painted on his original battery! Oh sorry Mister, take out to recharge and put wrong one back!

[hansnl]

Only half?

Lucky man!

If you bring your vehicle for service, respray, repair, whatever, take care the tank is nearly empty, the LPG is gone, lock the battery in place, take out the spare wheel and all personal things.

same is valid for your motorbike

[VocalNeal]

Only half?

Lucky man!

If you bring your vehicle for service, respray, repair, whatever, take care the tank is nearly empty, the LPG is gone, lock the battery in place, take out the spare wheel and all personal things.

same is valid for your motorbike

..and check all four tyres are the same as the ones you drove in on.

[julesdick]

And this garage is run be a friend of a friend. Worrying.

[anon210]

And this garage is run be a friend of a friend. Worrying.

There are no friends when money is involved.

[TommoPhysicist]

And this garage is run be a friend of a friend. Worrying.

There are no friends when money is involved.

Many western people think they have Thai friends.

[black fox]

in the phillipines a friend of mine had his good gearbox removed and replaced with a duff one also his new spark plugs were changed with old ones and he couldnt prove a thing even though he knew what they had done.

[jingjoke]

And don't forget to mark your oil filter to ensure a new one was reloaded upon oil change.

Once had a nice 250cc motocross which had all its parts replaced with used parts at various check-up intervals.

It's a mechanical jungle out there.

[TommoPhysicist]

Always use the official dealer, they don't need to nick your parts. They have plenty in stock.

How hard was that?

[WarpSpeed]

And people wonder why I'm so anal about doing all of my own mechanical work? Besides getting first rate repairs done in a second rate world I don't have any of these other worries or needs to be so preemptive and stressed in preparation..

[Semper]

And this garage is run be a friend of a friend. Worrying.

There are no friends when money is involved.

On the contrary. When you have a lot of money, you'll have a lot of friends especially here in Thailand.

[transam]

A lesson for today chaps.

Run the gas low when the ride goes in for a repair. ..............

[mogandave]

Always try to find the cheapest, dirtiest shop in town, and then hammer them down on the price.

[steelepulse]

I took my car in for something (can't remember) and reset the trip meter and noted the mileage, got the car back after the weekend and 120 km's had been driven. Someone had fun that weekend, and it wasn't me.

[culicine]

I took my car in for something (can't remember) and reset the trip meter and noted the mileage, got the car back after the weekend and 120 km's had been driven. Someone had fun that weekend, and it wasn't me.

Bet they drove it like they stole it too...check how much rubber is left on the driven wheels

[Murf]

Great garage... please give us the number and address so we can all use it...

[transam]

I took my car in for something (can't remember) and reset the trip meter and noted the mileage, got the car back after the weekend and 120 km's had been driven. Someone had fun that weekend, and it wasn't me.

Yeh, saw it at the drag strip. .....................................

[aussiebebe]

I don't think you'd have this problem if you went to the official dealership but I've always wondered how many wasy there must be to scam customers, the most common, if any, must be to use a lower grade of oil and charge for synthetic, how would you know?

[MESmith]

I don't think you'd have this problem if you went to the official dealership but I've always wondered how many wasy there must be to scam customers, the most common, if any, must be to use a lower grade of oil and charge for synthetic, how would you know?

Stand and watch them?

[kkerry]

When our car was being repaired they managed to use up a full tank during 'testing'

[NoshowJones]

I took my car in for something (can't remember) and reset the trip meter and noted the mileage, got the car back after the weekend and 120 km's had been driven. Someone had fun that weekend, and it wasn't me.

What is the point of noticing mileage, or taking photos? they will just laugh, who can you complain to?

[NoshowJones]

I don't think you'd have this problem if you went to the official dealership but I've always wondered how many wasy there must be to scam customers, the most common, if any, must be to use a lower grade of oil and charge for synthetic, how would you know?

Stand and watch them?

If you don't know that drivers drive, then how do you know if they are changing the oil or replacing the filter?

[rawhod]

I don't think you'd have this problem if you went to the official dealership but I've always wondered how many wasy there must be to scam customers, the most common, if any, must be to use a lower grade of oil and charge for synthetic, how would you know?

Stand and watch them?

If you don't know that drivers drive, then how do you know if they are changing the oil or replacing the filter?

?????????????????

[WarpSpeed]

Got one up on Ace with that one ...

[IMHO]

I don't think you'd have this problem if you went to the official dealership but I've always wondered how many wasy there must be to scam customers, the most common, if any, must be to use a lower grade of oil and charge for synthetic, how would you know?

Stand and watch them?

If you don't know that drivers drive, then how do you know if they are changing the oil or replacing the filter?

?????????????????

Translation: if you don't know they're joy riding in your car, you probably also don't know whether they performed the work they're charging you for either.

[scorecard]

I have a friend in Pattaya, had some of these problems happen with a close to new car.

Lots of time on his hands, now insists that he be with the car every second, staff have to show him everything before it's used, seal on oil container must be broken whilst he watches, staff have to break open the package containing the oil filters, etc.

My family had a very annoying experience with the tyre service company X XXXX.

Had a blow out, about 2 kilometres away from teir service centre, my adult Thai son found a brochure with the X XXXX tel no, called them, they sent a guy in a pick up who put the spare on our car, then we drove to their service centre to get a replacment new tyre put on the rim to replace the blow out tyre. All of the tyres had been replaced less than 3 months prior.

We decided to eat at Big C, in same compound. When we came back they had replaced every tyre on the car with new.

My son said immediately, 'take them off and put the old tyres back on'. They offered several further small discounts but my son insisted them put the old tyres back on, which they did.

They then presented the bill with a charge to for the on / off work. Son refused to pay it, and inisted on a bill for the one tyre plus fitting etc., to replace the blow out.

More insisting that we pay extra fees. Son called the police who did speak, on the phone, to the manager of the store.

Suddenly all extra charges dropped and a 25% discount on the blow out replacement.

What was also worrying was that all the mechanics / tyre fitters stopped working and gathered around our car making nasty comments during the discussions with the manger / police discussion etc.

[transam]

I went to a place just for oil & filter. They said leave the truck and go for a walk around Tesco and come back in 2 hours.

''Eeeeeer, no thanks, bye''.