Ssangyong or Mahindra, that's the question!!

Dear fellow vehicle owners,

3 Years and 6 months and counting - of which I had the actual use of the vehicle for exactly 2 years and 7 months. The rest of the time (11 months) the vehicle has spent in the Ssangyong workshops to be fixed. Very soon another couple of weeks will be added to the non use part.

In my previous post I reiterated the fact that Ssangyong has been incorporated with another well known name brand in vehicles. I did not want to be prejudiced and judge them before I gave them a chance to see if their service were better than what I am used to receiving from SSANGYONG.

Well, a chance they were given, and yet again, I was totally disappointed by the extreme lack of service and the major lack of interest that MAHINDRA have displayed during my recent fiasco with this vehicle I am forced to drive around in. (Yes, remember, I can't sell the piece of crap yet because SSANGYONG loaded the vehicle to sell it to me and I am now sitting with a white elephant).

On the 22 November 2013 I took the vehicle in to Mahindra, Alberton, South Africa so that they can investigate a noise in the engine. The technician confirmed without opening the engine that the noise is caused by a faulty timing chain. I was informed that the timing chain needs to be replaced immediately.

I agreed, as I do not know any better and I need a vehicle for work purposes and can not afford to be without the vehicle. (As a matter of interest I was told by the Ssangyong Dealership when I bought the vehicle that the timing chain will be replaced at 90,000 km as part of the initial warranty. This never happened because the person in question left the company and I am just being told that that was not at all what was said........yet, I know what was said because I was actually there and I still have the person's name).

They went forth and contacted my warranty service provider and obtained authorization to have the timing chain replacement done. This is where the wheels come of all at once.

Instead of first confirming the availability of ALL the necessary parts to complete the work, they got authorization. Only after obtaining the authorization did they realize in all their wisdom that they do NOT have the parts readily available. I was contacted by Mahindra, Alberton on the 24 November 2013 to be told that the parts will only be available after 6 to 8 weeks from date of order.

In effect, this meant that I will be without a vehicle for 6 to 9 weeks at least because the warranty service provider pertinently stipulated that I am not allowed to use the vehicle after the authorization approval and before the repairs were done, as this will cause the warranty to be null and void.

Mahindra, knowing that they screwed up BIG TIME was not at all prepared to assist me by lending me a courtesy vehicle and I do NOT have the finances to rent a vehicle for this period. Therefore I was totally and utterly screwed by MAHINDRA.

To this day MAHINDRA just gives me the cold shoulder and they are NOT prepared to assist me with a loaner, although THEY were the ones that screwed up major league.

I now had to resort to underhanded tactics to at least be able to have a vehicle to use until these monkeys got the parts and fixed the vehicle.

But that's a story for the next blog post.....

Please fellow vehicle owners, if it's the last thing I do on this planet of ours, I would insist that you NEVER BUY ANY KOREAN PIECE OF RUBBISH. Especially not a Ssangyong of any kind or model. First of all, the parts are excruciatingly expensive and secodly, the parts are impossible to obtain within a reasonable time frame at the best of times.

For instance I also need to replace the injectors on this excuse for a vehicle at the following cost: R8750.00 ex vat per injector which is worse than daylight robbery. Other WELL KNOWN name brand vehicles' injectors costs approximately R850.00 to R1500.00 per injector...........

SSANGYONG/MAHINDRA SUCKS WORSE THAN ELECTROLUX!!!!!!!!

I would still love to hear from other Ssangyong owners and their experiences with these (un)intelligent beings from another galaxy called Ssangyong!!

Have a cheerful day my fellow Ssangyongers!!!!! (I can at least try to sound brave, can't I?)   ;-)

UPDATE

Since my last update there has been quite a few changes happening in the AMH Group / Ssangyong setup. Apparently overnight and without much ado the Ssangyong brand name was taken over by another well known brand company. I will not be implicating this company as they were NOT involved with this fiasco from the start.

What I do want to mention however is the fact that since the vehicle was fixed the last time by Ssangyong w.r.t. the gear lever not shifting out of park without using an override function. The same problem surfaced again about two months ago. I contacted the "wonderful" Ssangyong dealer again with my problem to ask them to repair the issue again. I was in no uncertain terms informed that they are no longer interested in assisting me as they are no longer Ssangyong "dealers".

I was told to contact the current "dealers" that has accepted and taken over the Ssangyong brand to deal with the problem.

Now, bear in mind that when Ssangyong "fixed" the gear issue the previous time it was a three day job for which the gear lever assembly had to be ordered (taken from another vehicle on the floor) and it had to be fitted to resolve the problem.

When I took the vehicle to the "new" dealers, lo and behold, it took them one day (and only because the part in question had to be fetched from 80 km away) and it cost me only R150.00 for the little part. It turned out to be a solenoid switch that works on the brake pedal which in turn controls a plethora of functions, including the gear shift, cruise control, brake lights etc. No need for a complete gear lever assembly costing most probably R4000.00 plus.

No wonder I am battling through this fiasco with a bunch of morons on the other end of the equation.

The saga continues and I am still adamant in having the matter settled in court although it may cost me an arm and a leg, I feel that it is a matter of principle that these corporates must realise that they can not keep on misleading us and treating us like dirt and get away with it without consequences.

Have a great one and keep your chin up.......

Long Overdue

I know, I know, It's been too long since I last posted any progress on this matter.

So sorry, but it is not all my fault. This fiasco as I like to call the interaction between myself and the Absolute Minimum Help Group has now reached new heights.

Since my last post I have been having endless problems with the vehicle and it just never seem to stop i.e. radio and amp being stolen from the vehicle whilst it was with Ssangyong Bryanston for repairs over December 2011 (which they at least had the decency to replace at their cost), bad workmanship by the Ssangyong Bryanston workshop whilst working on the vehicle whereby they broke the NEWLY fitted radio trim without telling me about it, faulty electric window winder, noisy differential, rattles and much much more.

They ordered a replacement differential and after making arrangements and putting myself in an difficult position by not having a vehicle for 3 days, they phoned me after the third day to inform me that the replacement diff they ordered was the wrong part. Now, what I do not understand is, why did it take them 2 and a half days to figure this out and, why was all the other issues not fixed in the interim while the vehicle was with them.

When I got the vehicle back after this fiasco, NOTHING, was done to the vehicle and I am still driving around with a noisy differential and all the other small issues that was supposed to be fixed.

Therefore I have now started legal proceedings against AMH Group and the Financial institution who's vehicle this is (still under finance) as they are just as guilty for not adhering to my plea for help and subjecting me to this farce.

I will keep you updated as the matter progresses and hopefully these Corporate bullies will get what's coming to them.


UPDATE 30 JULY 2013

The differential was replaced in the meantime, but the gearbox lever getting stuck in Park intermittently has still not been resolved. 

In the meantime the engine have also started with a noise (sounds like noisy tappets). Of course it makes sense because the warranty have just expired................

I have now come to the point where I no longer have the time or patience to deal with these third world tactics deployed by AMH Group and they will have to bear the consequences.

SIMILAR SSANGYONG ISSUES

Welcome back fellow Ssangyonger's.

Can I be so bold as to inquire if there are any Ssangyong owners out there that are experiencing a similar lack of interest from AMH Group / Sangyong with regards to problems they have with their vehicles.

What gets me is the fact that 3 (three) years down the line I am no closer to a resolution with the dud vehicle that I was sold by Ssangyong Bryanston.

I would like to hear from each and every one of you so that we can compare our experiences and maybe by doing so, we could get to some or other conclusion as to how they (AMH Group) are getting away with it.

Whereas the rest of the motoring industry are really trying their best to prevent just this kind of bad publicity.

Please post comments and/or contact me via my blog if you have some interesting issues to share with regards to the above.