The Pending Thai Auto Electrical Crisis

[Phronesis]

Anyone who has sought to have an electrical problem fixed on a motorbike or car here in Thailand knows it is almost impossible to find anyone that knows what they are doing when in comes to auto electrical repairs.

I have just got back from a trip to Udon and I noticed while there that the roads are full of new vehicles. The same applies here in my home in Phuket. Most of these vehicles were purchased to take advantage of the government grant.

ECU and other significant electrical problems tend to arise after a vehicle hits the 5 year old mark.

With this in mind, my hypothesis is quite simple.

In a few years there are going to be a sh#t load of vehicles that require high end auto electrical services to keep them running.

Who is going to provide these services?

[crazygreg44]

Do you mean the obligatory battery change after 5 years ? Because this is about the life span of a car battery. There are plenty of car shops around which can help you exchange the old battery for a used one. I haven't ever heard of any other electrical related problems that arise in a used car at this early stage. What makes you think so ? If the generators quit charging the battery, every little car shop owner can tell you about the origin of the problem and is able to exchange the graphite conductors. This is not new to them, actually for such a simple job, I find Thai car mechanics rather flexible and clever in solving these problems. If you don't trust the small shops, go visit the larger dealerships and their garages. There you can expect a professional job.

[toybits]

The OP makes it sound like the end of the world. Why not take it to the auto-makers dealership and have them figure it out for you? Don't go to cowboy mechanics.

[rak sa_ngop]

What about all those flood damaged cars from a few years ago? Somebody must have worked out how to repair the electrics to get them going again.

[craigt3365]

Let's move this over to the motoring forum.

Topic Moved.

[sotsira]

For complex ECU problems and most other electrical faults these days can be diagnosed

by connecting the car to a diagnosis computer that all main dealers should have.

Back street garages though would probably not have these, and would only repair basic common

electrical faults like starters, alternators, batteries, etc.

[kartman]

For the vehicles purchased with the grant, the cheap end of the market no problems there will be plenty of doner ones when the time comes more up market less doners plus the cost so these are the ones at risk but no problem TIT just throw away the expensive bits and retro fit tech from a previous era or two problem solved.

[WarpSpeed]

For complex ECU problems and most other electrical faults these days can be diagnosed

by connecting the car to a diagnosis computer that all main dealers should have.

Back street garages though would probably not have these, and would only repair basic common

electrical faults like starters, alternators, batteries, etc.

The problem I've found is that most of the quality applicable software for diagnosing these issues just like regular computer issues is not available in Thai and the average shop mechanic can't read the results unless they can find some reference somewhere in Thai or know another mechanic who can help them translate and this is especially a problem if your vehicle has an uncommon problem.

I've watched both computer techs and mechanics scroll through menus and windows while diagnosing, it's really amazing how they can speed read ENGLISH so much better then I can and it's my first language.. When you question what the window said just after they closed it they're clueless and usually it's a hint to a problem but they click through them like they're non-essential..

I had an electrical issue many months back with a shifting problem that I had no choice but to bring my car in for as I don't have the program to diagnose this type of an issue. I ended up having to work with the tech and translate for him but I don't speak Thai that well so we just spoke technical lingo regarding the mechanics and worked it out. I will give him that once he realized my qualifications he worked well with me and was happy to learn something..

[Phronesis]

For complex ECU problems and most other electrical faults these days can be diagnosed

by connecting the car to a diagnosis computer that all main dealers should have.

Back street garages though would probably not have these, and would only repair basic common

electrical faults like starters, alternators, batteries, etc.

Yep...and therein lies the problem. After 5 years the dealer warranty will have expired and there is NO WAY the mainstream Thai is going to pay for a dealer service or repair. So it will be off to the tin shed mechanic who will wave feathers and bones over the ECU to try and diagnose the problem.

There is a crisis of monumental proportions on the horizon here...just apply a little Thai thinking and it becomes manifestly apparent...

[bdenner]

The OP makes it sound like the end of the world. Why not take it to the auto-makers dealership and have them figure it out for you? Don't go to cowboy mechanics.

And what makes you think the dealers mechanics are any better?

My DMax had a surging problem after 7 odd years. The main dealership in Udon Thani (where I bought the vehicle) blamed dirty fuel, cleaned the tank and told me all was OK. A short time later my still surging DMax ground to a halt out in the middle of the rice paddies of Isaan, a local mechanic pointed at the problem and within hours had a new ECU installed. Cost me about 11000 baht all up.

4 more years down the track - no surging the vehicle is running just fine.

[WarpSpeed]

For complex ECU problems and most other electrical faults these days can be diagnosed

by connecting the car to a diagnosis computer that all main dealers should have.

Back street garages though would probably not have these, and would only repair basic common

electrical faults like starters, alternators, batteries, etc.

Yep...and therein lies the problem. After 5 years the dealer warranty will have expired and there is NO WAY the mainstream Thai is going to pay for a dealer service or repair. So it will be off to the tin shed mechanic who will wave feathers and bones over the ECU to try and diagnose the problem.

There is a crisis of monumental proportions on the horizon here...just apply a little Thai thinking and it becomes manifestly apparent...

New ECU's aren't prohibitively expensive, especially second hand which will exist from accidents and the like.. They'll be replacing them like every other part they replace now instead of diagnosing the real issue..

[Lancashirelad]

Many main stealers dealers subcontract out specialist work like complex auto electrics. So your motor still goes to the man in the tin shed round the corner (or he comes to the vehicle on site) but you pay 2 or 3 times what you would have paid had you taken it directly to him.

[IMHO]

Try to tell anyone that owns a 8+ year old Volvo or BMW that this so-called crisis is still "pending"

[WarpSpeed]

^^A bit contradictory that, the occasional VW mechanic I used on those rare occasions when I required one was VW factory trained and went into his own business back when, when VW pulled out and there was no dealer network left at the time. That's where most of the tin shed guys who have ANY special expertise get their training..

[Phronesis]

Try to tell anyone that owns a 8+ year old Volvo or BMW that this so-called crisis is still "pending"

Yep...IMHO that is what prompted me to start this thread. One of my best Thai friends is a middle aged middle class guy and a really great bloke. He told me months ago his wife was pestering him to buy her a BMW. He couldn't afford a new one so he asked me to keep an eye out on the internet for second hand ones here in Phuket. I told him in no uncertain terms NOT to even think about buying a second hand BMW. He didn't listen to me.

He bought an old BM from another Thai and when driving it back from the sellers home the gear box failed. It was in the shop for over a month. After finally getting the BM home from the mechanics, the very next day it would not start in the drive way. It has some electrical problem to do with the automatic gear selection. The car has been to about four or five auto electricians around Phuket so far...but the problem is still there and his wife won't drive the car for fear of being trapped if the problem arises when she has driven somewhere into town.

The crisis is already here for some...but it is going to explode exponentially in four or five years time in the wake of the vehicle grant...

[wilcopops]

I have this concern - it could mean a growing number of cheap second-hand vehicles that will cost a fortune to get running again.

[wilcopops]

I could invisage a market that sees older vehicles selling at a premium as people try to avoid vehicles that will inevitably incur costly repairs and inconvenient breakdown and recovery (no roadside repairs for these chaps!)