Tales of repair and despair

(The “Casa Woes” series has proven to be wildly popular among Inquirer Motoring readers. Thus, we now dedicate regular space to motorists who may have fallen victims of injustice on or off the road, in any form or shape.)

The woeful story of businessman and car enthusiast “EA” (name withheld upon request) started four years ago.

EA bought a brand-new 1.3-liter automatic transmission mini four-wheel-drive SUV for about P800,000 from an Alabang dealership in January 2009. Like all the other cars in his possession, he maintained its upkeep religiously with his dealer.

“At about the 10,000-km mark, I noticed wobbling in the front wheels that translated to severe vibration on the steering wheel,” said EA during a Saturday meeting with R&D. EA also brought complete documents of transactions with the dealership.

He added, “Despite some procedures done on the car by the dealership, the problem persists to this day.” His vehicle has just passed the 40,000-km mark.

EA, who uses this mini 4WD vehicle alternatingly with his other cars, says he has not taken this vehicle on offroads.

EA relates that in October 2012, “the dealership had the car for over two months and again in January this year for almost 2 months now.

“The company does admit there is a problem with the car, and in fact, had issued a service bulletin dated April 9, 2009.”

The dealership posited a theory, which EA readily brushed aside. “The warranty engineer pointed to the road condition in Alabang and Cavite as the cause of the wobbling problem. I do regularly pass through Daang Hari or Carmona to and from my workplace. But that reason is totally unacceptable. Why do my other cars not wobble when I pass the same route?”

On March 2 this year, the dealership e-mailed EA informing him that it had done a “quality check” and conducted a road test on his unit in different locations and at varying speeds (60 to 90 kph) in the South Luzon Expressway.

Shifting the blame

The e-mail stated: “With smooth road conditions, the steering shimmy/vibration did not manifest. While passing through Daang Hari, which consists of (rough) concrete roads, we observed steering vibration.” It concluded, “The steering shimmy/vibration is due to varying road conditions.”

Naturally, EA e-mailed back with the retort: “I am not happy that you are now blaming the road for a mechanical condition that was not present before.”

‘EA’ behind the wheel of his wobbly mini 4WD drive

EA’s son M, who accompanied him for this meeting, said he has conducted his own research, and uncovered similar problems involving the same vehicle in several other countries, particularly in the European continent. Various owners’ online forums even had a name for it: The “death wobble.”

“The problem is the vehicle itself. I forwarded my research findings to the warranty engineer of the Philippine office,” quipped M.

M added: “In other countries where similar problems with this vehicle occurred, there were step-by-step solutions. Owners were able to solve the problem. Our problem is, since we are the only complainant so far in the country, the warranty engineer said he couldn’t promise how the mother company in Japan would treat our case.”

As of press time, the dealer has asked EA for another two weeks to fix the problem.

Strangers to their own

Alvin Joe L. Maranan, a bank executive, bought a 4-year-old multipurpose vehicle (a 2006-model automatic transmission diesel) in February 2010, and was satisfied with it.

Then, sometime in the middle of the year, his vehicle suddenly lost power.

Maranan went to shops for diagnosis, looked up the problem and asked a few friends and mechanics before he decided to bring it to a casa in Alabang to have it diagnosed.

After a week, he was told that he needed to replace the torque converter.

The casa’s estimate was P100,000 for the parts and repair. He was also told that he would have to wait for up to two months since the part has to be shipped in.

Solution from others

“My instincts told me not to proceed with the repair. I brought it to Banawe for a second opinion. I was caught in a traffic jam in one of the side streets while looking for a shop, and probably it was destiny that I noticed a relatively well-known shop with a billboard about radiators, aircon and fuel injectors,” he told R&D during a meeting last Friday.

Maranan brought his vehicle inside, was asked to rev up the engine, and was told that he had a problem with his fuel injectors.

“Not immediately believing that, I went to another mechanic and was told the same thing. The technician even told me that if the problem wasn’t solved, they would reinstall the old injectors and charge me nothing for it.”

He decided to give it a try. The four injectors were replaced at Maranan’s house. The total cost: P48,000.

Maranan says he hasn’t encountered any problem with his car since.

Maranan says he has lost confidence in that Alabang casa. He says he has heard “a few other horror stories about them, but this was the most horrible.”

“Imagine the stupidity of not being able to diagnose correctly one of their own vehicles! If I had decided to go on with their recommendation and the problem persisted, I don’t know how I would have reacted to that.”

E-mail your experience—pleasant or otherwise—to [email protected].