Car warranty only 3 years in Thailand

[RBOP]

Car companies in Thailand only give 3 years warranty on a new car. Canada and USA give 7 years warranty for the same car. Is it because cars in Thailand are substandard or just because the car companies can get away with only offering 3 year warranties?

[noikrit]

You seen the way people drive here ???

[IMHO]

Mitsubishi tried offering 150,000KM/5 year warranties on selected models for a few months in 2010, and the market didn't respond to it (no substantial increase in sales). Hyundai tried similar with unlimited KM warranties for a while - also didn't work.

I'm sure it would work for a tier-1 brand, but they just don't need to do it. Better to put the money into better campaigns, more dealerships, and celebrity endorsements, as that's what the market here responds to.

That said, BMW offer 5 years/100,000KM servicing and warranty with their BSI program, and Porsche offer a 2+2 warranty that can be extended to 9 years / 200,000 KM.

[John 1]

Mitsubishi tried offering 150,000KM/5 year warranties on selected models for a few months in 2010, and the market didn't respond to it (no substantial increase in sales). Hyundai tried similar with unlimited KM warranties for a while - also didn't work.

I'm sure it would work for a tier-1 brand, but they just don't need to do it. Better to put the money into better campaigns, more dealerships, and celebrity endorsements, as that's what the market here responds to.

That said, BMW offer 5 years/100,000KM servicing and warranty with their BSI program, and Porsche offer a 2+2 warranty that can be extended to 9 years / 200,000 KM.

Did I read some where Chevy are giving 5 years now in Thai.

[transam]

Mitsubishi tried offering 150,000KM/5 year warranties on selected models for a few months in 2010, and the market didn't respond to it (no substantial increase in sales). Hyundai tried similar with unlimited KM warranties for a while - also didn't work.

I'm sure it would work for a tier-1 brand, but they just don't need to do it. Better to put the money into better campaigns, more dealerships, and celebrity endorsements, as that's what the market here responds to.

That said, BMW offer 5 years/100,000KM servicing and warranty with their BSI program, and Porsche offer a 2+2 warranty that can be extended to 9 years / 200,000 KM.

Did I read some where Chevy are giving 5 years now in Thai.

Only to those buyers with a short life expectancy ...................

Sorry............I jest...................

[Spoonman]

I know for fact the Ranger here has less warranty VS the Australia delivered ones do to different grade materials used in their construction. They both come off the same production line.

[VocalNeal]

Isn't there a thread somewhere?

A lot of Thais do zero maintenance, on even expensive cars. Stuff like no oil changes etc. So the car fails and they take it back to the dealer, complain and try to claim on the warranty. As has been said most manufacturers have tried the long-term warranty but it backfires for the reason I alluded to.

Same thing also occurs with construction equipment like bulldozers. Caterpillar have also experienced the zero maintenance "trick"

[Dellie]

I got 5 years on my BMW. It probably varies from brand to brand.

[IMHO]

Mitsubishi tried offering 150,000KM/5 year warranties on selected models for a few months in 2010, and the market didn't respond to it (no substantial increase in sales). Hyundai tried similar with unlimited KM warranties for a while - also didn't work.

I'm sure it would work for a tier-1 brand, but they just don't need to do it. Better to put the money into better campaigns, more dealerships, and celebrity endorsements, as that's what the market here responds to.

That said, BMW offer 5 years/100,000KM servicing and warranty with their BSI program, and Porsche offer a 2+2 warranty that can be extended to 9 years / 200,000 KM.

Did I read some where Chevy are giving 5 years now in Thai.

They used to have an optional extended warranty back in 2009, but pretty sure that's gone now.

[guzzi850m2]

Isn't there a thread somewhere?

A lot of Thais do zero maintenance, on even expensive cars. Stuff like no oil changes etc. So the car fails and they take it back to the dealer, complain and try to claim on the warranty. As has been said most manufacturers have tried the long-term warranty but it backfires for the reason I alluded to.

Same thing also occurs with construction equipment like bulldozers. Caterpillar have also experienced the zero maintenance "trick"

They can't get away with that anymore as you need you maintenance book stamped when serviced or the warranty is cancelled.

Hell we sold our Honda City 2006 app. 8 month (full service history from Honda) ago but Honda Pattaya are still calling us and telling us that the service is overdue.

My wife have told them 3 times now on the phone that we don't own the car anymore but they still keep calling her which I find sort of funny.

It makes me believe that somebody at Honda Pattaya have a monthly task of calling all the owners with overdue services and telling them to attend Honda, NOW! ha-ha.

My hope for 2014 is that Honda Pattaya stop calling us but maybe I am aiming too high.

[IMHO]

Isn't there a thread somewhere?

A lot of Thais do zero maintenance, on even expensive cars. Stuff like no oil changes etc. So the car fails and they take it back to the dealer, complain and try to claim on the warranty. As has been said most manufacturers have tried the long-term warranty but it backfires for the reason I alluded to.

Same thing also occurs with construction equipment like bulldozers. Caterpillar have also experienced the zero maintenance "trick"

The thing is, all manufacturers here have rules that allow them to cancel your warranty for missed scheduled services. That doesn't stop these people doing media stunts with big hammers though...

Mitsu's 5 year warranty back in 2010 initially had a scheduled service requirement of every 5,000KM to qualify. Unfortunately, no one reads the fine print, and a large amount of owners that felt the requirements were unreasonable lead an online protest that ultimately resulted in Mitsu relaxing the requirements to the normal 10,000KM intervals.... and reverting their warranties on new car sales back to 3 years.

Chev's extended warranty (paid option, but included in some campaigns on the Colorado for while) has similar servicing requirements, and was similarly scrapped as owners refused to accept the conditions of the program.

Better just to engineer a car that can survive 3 years without an oil change, than to try to make people accept the conditions of the warranty contract

[OMGImInPattaya]

I think Volvo is currently promoting a 5 year maintenance and warranty program to match BMW.

[topt]

Isn't there a thread somewhere?

A lot of Thais do zero maintenance, on even expensive cars. Stuff like no oil changes etc. So the car fails and they take it back to the dealer, complain and try to claim on the warranty. As has been said most manufacturers have tried the long-term warranty but it backfires for the reason I alluded to.

Same thing also occurs with construction equipment like bulldozers. Caterpillar have also experienced the zero maintenance "trick"

They can't get away with that anymore as you need you maintenance book stamped when serviced or the warranty is cancelled.

Hell we sold our Honda City 2006 app. 8 month (full service history from Honda) ago but Honda Pattaya are still calling us and telling us that the service is overdue.

My wife have told them 3 times now on the phone that we don't own the car anymore but they still keep calling her which I find sort of funny.

It makes me believe that somebody at Honda Pattaya have a monthly task of calling all the owners with overdue services and telling them to attend Honda, NOW! ha-ha. alt=cheesy.gif width=32 height=20>

My hope for 2014 is that Honda Pattaya stop calling us but maybe I am aiming too high.

I wish the Mitsu garage called us - last week organised 2 year check up but 6 weeks later than the date they had written on the service book from the last service (I was not in Thailand for that 6 weeks) and was told had to pay for the check up because it was late. It was only 440baht but it was the principle. I could understand if we had added a monstrous amount of kms but the car had only done 5k since the previous service.

No amount of remonstrating could change it..........

[OMGImInPattaya]

Isn't there a thread somewhere?

A lot of Thais do zero maintenance, on even expensive cars. Stuff like no oil changes etc. So the car fails and they take it back to the dealer, complain and try to claim on the warranty. As has been said most manufacturers have tried the long-term warranty but it backfires for the reason I alluded to.

Same thing also occurs with construction equipment like bulldozers. Caterpillar have also experienced the zero maintenance "trick"

Is this really true? I hear about it but still hard to believe Thais would spend 1M(+) on a vehicle and skimping on a B1000 oil change!

[stevenl]

Isn't there a thread somewhere?

A lot of Thais do zero maintenance, on even expensive cars. Stuff like no oil changes etc. So the car fails and they take it back to the dealer, complain and try to claim on the warranty. As has been said most manufacturers have tried the long-term warranty but it backfires for the reason I alluded to.

Same thing also occurs with construction equipment like bulldozers. Caterpillar have also experienced the zero maintenance "trick"

Is this really true? I hear about it but still hard to believe Thais would spend 1M(+) on a vehicle and skimping on a B1000 oil change!

Naw, I think it is not true, I would say quite often Thai take much better care of their car than foreigners. There's always exceptions, and if some people want to see the exception only to fit their perception, up to them. Does not make it true though.

[transam]

Isn't there a thread somewhere?

A lot of Thais do zero maintenance, on even expensive cars. Stuff like no oil changes etc. So the car fails and they take it back to the dealer, complain and try to claim on the warranty. As has been said most manufacturers have tried the long-term warranty but it backfires for the reason I alluded to.

Same thing also occurs with construction equipment like bulldozers. Caterpillar have also experienced the zero maintenance "trick"

Is this really true? I hear about it but still hard to believe Thais would spend 1M(+) on a vehicle and skimping on a B1000 oil change!

To a large extent yes.

Not only with four wheels, how many bikes do you ''hear'' with virtually no oil in the trans. I hear them every day. Trucks with the suspension hanging off, clattering and banging, no tail lights at night, which is a cheap easy fix.

[Jobo]

There seems to be universal misunderstanding here of BMW's BSI and Warranty conditions.

Firstly Warranty - 2 years only

Secondly BSI - free regular servicing of oils and filters and I believe brake pads for 5 years or 100,000 km

The service intervals are dependent on mileage and driving conditions and are determined by the onboard computer,but not more than every 12 months.

The 2 year warranty is very poor in my opinion.

[OMGImInPattaya]

Isn't there a thread somewhere?

A lot of Thais do zero maintenance, on even expensive cars. Stuff like no oil changes etc. So the car fails and they take it back to the dealer, complain and try to claim on the warranty. As has been said most manufacturers have tried the long-term warranty but it backfires for the reason I alluded to.

Same thing also occurs with construction equipment like bulldozers. Caterpillar have also experienced the zero maintenance "trick"

Is this really true? I hear about it but still hard to believe Thais would spend 1M(+) on a vehicle and skimping on a B1000 oil change!

To a large extent yes.

Not only with four wheels, how many bikes do you ''hear'' with virtually no oil in the trans. I hear them every day. Trucks with the suspension hanging off, clattering and banging, no tail lights at night, which is a cheap easy fix.

Interesting...two diametrically opposed views one after the other. With motos maybe I could understand the lack of maintenance as many owners are on shoestring budgets and many of the female owners don't know how/when/what to service (sorry not to be sexist but just being realistic). What I tend to notice about many Thai owned cars/trucks is how tricked/chromed out many like to make them and how regularly they take em to a car spa. I assume they spend a little on maintenance too but maybe the concentrate on the exterior showy "face" stuff.