DISHONEST CAR DEALER – A1MOTORING PTE LTD
A1MOTORING PTE LTD, a used car dealer located at Toh Guan Road, sold a used Mitsubishi Evolution to me by means of misrepresentation.
I had purchased a Mitsubishi Evolution X from a salesman (likely to be the boss or director of the company) by the name of Mr Chua. Thinking back, the deal seemed dubious and shady.
I had contacted the first salesman by the name of Steve. Steve told me that there was already an interested buyer who had offered $300 off the listed price. It seemed doubtful to me, as that was standard salesman talk. I ended the conversation with Steve on the pretext of further considering.
Five minutes later, Mr Chua phoned and apologized for the earlier conversation with Steve. He insinuated that Steve was lying and asked me if I would like to proceed down to view the car. I agreed for a viewing the following day.
On the day of viewing, I requested for a test drive but Steve declined, saying that the owner of the vehicle was his friend and that test drives were not allowed. Mr Chua intervened and requested Steve to let me go for a test drive. During the test drive, alarm bells sounded in my head when Steve told me not to push the vehicle too hard as there was a major servicing due. The costs of this said major servicing was to be borne by the owner at that point in time.
Despite this reassurance, Mr Chua at the end of the test drive, said that the cost of the servicing was to be split between myself and A1Motoring. There was already a conflict in information but I brushed this aside. Pending further negotiations, the servicing cost was determined at $1000 with both parties bearing half the cost.
Moreover at the point in time during the test drive, I felt that there was an idling and Air Fuel Ratio Issue. This ran the risk of the engine pistons having issue should the vehicle be running too lean.
Mr Chua directed me to a workshop and requested me to raise all servicing issues with them. I requested that A1Motoring send the car for a full check at the said workshop. I further requested that a compression test was to be done to ensure that the vehicle had no major mechanical issues. A1Motoring agreed, and it was confirmed in writing that should there be any major issue on the engine or gearbox, the deposit of $2000.00 would be returned to me.
Upon negotiating the final purchase price, Mr Chua suddenly added an admin fee of $200. Despite that, I still went ahead with the purchase as I really liked the vehicle. I then proceeded to place a deposit of $2000.00.
This is where things went downhill.
Upon checking the vehicle, it was uncovered the engine leaking from the top and bottom rather badly. This was agreed to be repaired by both parties, A1Motoring and myself. The workshop and A1Motoring further confirmed that the vehicle was repaired. The vehicle was then handed over to me, and I was requested to sign a warranty indemnity form, as all repairs were deemed to have been fixed by the parties involved.
The following day after collection, the vehicle did not seem right to me and I sent it in for another check. It was then uncovered that the workshop had not done the compression test (they had forgotten to do so) and I was right about my gut feel on the engine fault.
The workshop apologized for their mistake and oversight and agreed to carry out an engine overhaul for me at $3600.00 (claiming to be their cost price). I approached Mr Chua with regards to the issue, as it was misrepresented to me that the car was problem free and serviced prior to handover. It was also further misrepresented to me that the vehicle had already been fixed, thus no further warranty claims can be raised against A1Motoring. Mr Chua has since been ignoring my messages (showing blue tick in Whatsapp) and when I went down personally to confront him, he still had the cheek to ask me how the vehicle was cheekily! He refused to bear his share of the repairs and taunted me to go to the authorities or relevant organisations.
Further checks on their Facebook site, it seems that the dealer deletes unfavourable comments and reviews. There was a negative comment which was then defended by two “customers”, Steve and another lady, citing that their relatives had purchased vehicles from A1motoring with no issues! (The review was deleted, so you won’t able to see it when you visit the site)
Do share this around so that this dealer may be boycotted at all costs!
Source: Danny Teo
https://www.facebook.com/dannyyyloves/posts/10216104341153003