Chinese cars stalled during service – Kommersant FM
[ad_1]
Owners of Chinese cars purchased through parallel imports encountered problems when repairing their cars. Dealer networks often simply cannot connect to cars purchased under this scheme, players in the domestic service market told Kommersant FM. According to them, official diagnostic equipment does not see such cars in the databases.
This makes them much more difficult to inspect and repair. First of all, difficulties arise with automobile control units, says Ilya Plisov, a member of the board of the Union of Automotive Services of Russia: “Chinese cars are to some extent a “raw” product. It happens that something breaks off, the rear view camera does not work, the instrument panel turns off.
Another “raw” product is service. Cars made for the Chinese market are appearing on the market. And dealers are not always equipped to inspect cars that come as parallel imports and are not designed for Russian operating conditions.
The first and simplest thing is that not everyone has complete Russification of both diagnostic instruments and panels. Secondly, some blocks may differ between machines produced for the Russian market and for other regions. Therefore, it may turn out that dealer equipment is simply not ready to test a certain unit and configure it as necessary.”
According to Izvestia, difficulties with servicing concern vehicles purchased through parallel import of the Geely (and Exeed) brands. Large Chinese concerns told the newspaper that manufacturer’s warranties apply only to cars purchased from an official dealer. However, difficulties may also arise for those who bought cars under brands that are not yet represented in Russia at all, emphasizes the vice-president of the Automotive Service Association Alexander Kazachenko:
“Zeekr and other manufacturers that do not have a representative office in Russia are a pig in a poke. Before you buy such a car, you need to ask the seller whether he will service it and who will bear the warranty obligations. The machines come with software in Chinese, there is not even English. When connected to diagnostic equipment that is available in Russia, the equipment may not show some errors or may indicate this error incorrectly. It can be fixed, but you don’t need to go to official dealers, it’s better to go to those people who deal with specific brands and can carry out the appropriate work. But it costs good money. For example, to Russify a car – 150 thousand rubles.”
Purchasing Chinese cars through parallel import is noticeably cheaper than from an official representative, but the cost of servicing them can be quite high, says Sergei Klimov, co-founder of the Dolavto company: “You can buy a so-called dealer car, and one imported through parallel import. The difference in price can reach 500-600 thousand rubles.
We all work for money, and if the client is denied warranty service, he will not come to you to change the oil, pads, and so on. Therefore, they resort to tricks: they offer their own guarantee in exchange for the increased cost of maintenance. Multi-brand salons and services have wider opportunities. If it is, for example, a car of a brand of which we are dealers, then we have an official scanner, documents and program. But there are also universal ones that fit different cars. With a probability of 80-90%, we will still be able to help the client, but we are talking about working for his money.”
Chinese manufacturers, which are officially represented in Russia, meanwhile began to admit technical problems with their products. Haval has announced that it will recall more than 32 thousand locally produced cars due to possible problems with electrical wiring. As Rosstandart clarified, we are talking about the F7 and F7x models, sold in the period from December 1, 2022 to December 27, 2023. In the recalled vehicles, there is a risk of moisture getting into the harness connector under the seat, which could cause a short circuit and melt the connector. Repairs will be carried out free of charge for the owner.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
[ad_2]
Source link
