Dear Editor,
So, two years ago, I walk into the Haval dealership in Simpson Bay to buy a new car. They quote a price; we agree on the terms; I write a check and it’s a done deal. Seems pretty simple. Then the car has some minor problems. One big… but mostly small, easy-to-fix stuff. But the dealer who just took a fair bit of money from me on a car that that is factory new, does not want to hear it. They effectively say, “tough luck, that’s the way it goes.”
I found this annoying. The small stuff like the tires going flat every few days and other things I could deal with, but the fact that when you stepped on the gas to try to go up a hill and the car would just say to you
“maybe some other time“ was pretty disconcerting, especially for my wife who was the reason I bought the new car in the first place. So, I contacted the Haval mothership in China and we had a perfectly good professional exchange about the basic notion that –while their hardware may or may not be pretty good– the fact that “their after-sale service and local warranty were being handled by a bunch of bozos that you wouldn’t normally let mow your lawn, probably wasn’t good for their image over here.
To their great credit, the Haval mothership took it seriously and, pretty soon, we heard from the Dealer and, low and behold, all the little problems got fixed. The bigger problem took another more technical discussion with the Mothership which, after I told them where to look for the problem and the procedure to fix it ( common issue in modern electronic cars that most competent professionals are aware of) and that info was passed to the Dealership. Then that problem was resolved as well, and now the car is a perfectly good car.
Right up until the other day. Another nickel and dime failure. No big deal at all. A warning light comes on that says the battery in the key fob is failing. Now, as most people know, that key fob runs everything. When that’s bad, the car neither starts nor runs and you are dead on the road wherever you are. So, my wife being the rational and intelligent person she is, calls the Dealership where the car came from 24 months ago with about 6,000 miles on it, and says, “Can I come in and get this fixed please before I get stuck somewhere”. And they tell her, “ No… we don’t do that. Take it to a Chinese market somewhere, buy a battery and do it yourself “.
Really? She was happy to pay. Never asked for warranty or wanted it free. Just wanted it done right. Clearly an unreasonable request. The device itself is worth about $300 and probably still under warranty and you would think that having some Haval dead by the side of the road might reflect badly for the dealership. Apparently not. What they seem to want is some nonprofessional to pry this thing apart with a kitchen knife and take a whack at fixing it themselves. Why? So, they say later, “Gee… someone screwed with this… sorry, that will be $300 please, and four months to get it “.
And what do they think she is going say the next time someone asks, “Gee, how do you like your new Haval?” Probably something along the lines of “Well, the car is ok once they sort it out, but the Dealership is the worst place I have ever dealt with in some 50 odd years of buying cars. The next one will be a Toyota.”
Forest Gump said it best, “Stupid is as Stupid does.”
Steven Johnson
