Day +785 : It happened again :-( (4)

I am fine today. Continue from yesterday…

I asked the mechanic to check the extent of damage in the Monday morning. Very unfortunately, it was found out that two of the three pistons were burned. There are two options to fix the problem; to replace the engine like what I did last time or to carry out a major overhaul.

Changing the engine would cost about RM3000 which is a lot more than the cost of a major overhaul. I asked the workshop owner to produce a quote for a major overhaul, and I noticed that the labour alone would cost me RM800. Given that the engine was replaced by him in October 2006, and he was also the one who serviced the car and assured me that the cooling system was fine, I believed he should resume some responsibility in this overheat incident by giving me some discount, at least on the labour cost. But the workshop owner was reluctant to give me any discount, even a single cent :-(

I brought the quotation to a second workshop a few shops away, the owner there told me that the labour cost of a major overhaul such as the one in the quotation cost RM450 only; almost half of the cost of the first workshop. But he dared not service my car because as he and the first workshop owner were friend, and he didn’t want their relationship to be damaged.

Another workshop nearby quoted me RM500 for a major overhaul. When I told the owner, Mr Chin, what had happened, he told me that the “fat guy” (first workshop owner) was well known for his stubbornness. One customer got his car serviced there due to overheat problem but the same problem appeared two months later. The fat guy quoted him exactly the same price as the first time's for fixing the same problem without giving any discount. So the customer “defected” to Chin’s workshop.

To be continued and see you next post :-)