How should we judge a government?

In Malaysia, if you don't watch television or read newspapers, you are uninformed; but if you do, you are misinformed!

"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X

Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience - Mark Twain

Why we should be against censorship in a court of law: Publicity is the very soul of justice … it keeps the judge himself, while trying, under trial. - Jeremy Bentham

"Our government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no
responsibility at the other. " - Ronald Reagan

Government fed by the people

Government fed by the people

Career options

Career options
I suggest government... because nobody has ever been caught.

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?
Corruption is so prevalent it affects English language?

When there's too much dirt...

When there's too much dirt...
We need better tools... to cover up mega corruptions.

Prevent bullying now!

Prevent bullying now!
If you're not going to speak up, how is the world supposed to know you exist? “Orang boleh pandai setinggi langit, tapi selama ia tidak menulis, ia akan hilang di dalam masyarakat dan dari sejarah.” - Ananta Prameodya Toer (Your intellect may soar to the sky but if you do not write, you will be lost from society and to history.)

Monday, July 28, 2008

Possible reasons for Proton's bad image

A couple of years ago, I intimated to Proton’s Head of Security about the possible hanky panky involving servicing of their vehicles because some mechanics were being offered motor oils, spare parts and so on, at a discount. I highlighted the importance of maintaining control as any service not properly done, for example, no change of oil or use of inferior oil, use of inferior parts and so on, will affect the image of the manufacturer through no fault of its own or its products’ quality.

For example, instead of the usual 5,000km service using a certain grade of oil, it was substituted with poor quality oil, and/or using imitation oil filter, or even oil not changed for the first 1,000km service. The impact would not be shown immediately but the engine or gearbox will fail prematurely. Just imagine the damage to Proton’s image if this happened very often.

There are so many parts which are not visible to the car owner and it is a case of trust or good faith in believing that what are claimed to have been done are truly done. Some workshop operators are dishonest themselves while others have dishonest staff.

Cases of good parts being replaced while being serviced have been known and the owner will blame it on the manufacturer! For example, the original part in 80% condition is being replaced by one in 30%.

The latest from Sunday Star (excerpts):

Proton suspends Terengganu dealer (updated)
Proton Holdings Bhd managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed told reporters at a press conference on Sunday that the company would also be cooperating with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) while conducting its own investigations into the matter.

He said apart from the dealer being suspended, Proton also found that only 35 of the 67 Proton Perdanas bought by the state government were being sent to authorised workshops. It was found that 93% of the RM1,071,669 (cost that was reported in the media) was spent outside of the Proton service system.

"If a car is taken to an unauthorised workshop and non-genuine parts are used, there are bound to be problems. Putting in non-genuine parts only compounds the problem."
"Furthermore, if repairs to a car are done outside the Proton warranty system, there is no way the company would be able to know what is going on."
Syed Zainal Abidin said preliminary investigations into the matter found that there was overcharging and second hand-parts being sold as genuine parts.
"In some instances there was also 'over-servicing' of the car," he said, adding that the average maintenance cost of a Proton Perdana was RM2,373 per year."


In the case of dodgy workshops, I have even heard of a possibility that service costs of other private vehicles of the person could have been charged to his official car! Perhaps, this is not too far-fetched and should have been looked into.

3 comments:

bayi said...

Dodgy unauthorised workshops offer more prospects for ****, you know right?

Then you can also claim that the Perdana is no good and ask for another model.

I used to drive a Perdana with gearbox problems. My bills for the five years I used the car totalled less than RM20,000, including servicing it every 5,000 km. This includes changing the wipers, gearbox parts, engine oil, gearbox oil, brake fluids, brake pads, engine mountings, air filters, aircondtioner servicing, etc.

If you love your car, you will get things right. And I had never thought of buying a Mercedes then.

Now that I am driving a Camry, it's a far better cost-option than a Mercedes or a Predana.

KoSong Cafe said...

Thanks Bayi.

'Over-servicing' is likely to cover private vehicles of the user. Sometimes, people got carried away without realising the total cost looks incredible.

Quality control makes all the difference. It costs money to maintain good quality before delivery. Imagine the cost of returning the new car for respray because of paint scratches and so on, upon Pre-delivery Inspection.

Proton's case had been protection since day one, and people even had to take a different colour instead of waiting.

I happened to know Kyo Fujioka a Director of Proton representing Mitsubishi, who left in 1992 and it so happened the Proton Saga Auto was proven to be so reliable. He was heartsick when he heard about the problems in later years.
Was it coincidence that it was around that time when management control was left to locals?

bayi said...

One perpetual and irritating problem with Proton Iswara and Wira models is the auto mechanism for the driver's window. There wre so many complaints that the mechanism gets faulty quickly. This is a manufacturer's weakness. You see drivers opening their door all the time to pay toll.

Deapite the numerous complaints, Proton never took the initiative to get this fault rectified. The company was over-protoected, leading the management to think that they were invincible. This was in fact how Perodua overtook Proton. Proton decayed with pride and had no motivation to be innovative.

Sad. Real sad. And our taxpayers' hard earned money too.