This is one of the most common scams in the industry. The first stage happens after you send your car in, and Dishonest Dave will swap out a perfectly fine part present in your car, with a broken part that they salvaged from the depths of their storeroom. They present the obviously broken part to you and insist on a replacement. Completed is the con when you pay for the replacement part & labor charges only to have them put the exact same part back into your car.

Here’s the riff in the play. Say that your car genuinely does have a part that needs replacing, and the mechanic points it out to you. You agree and ask them to proceed with the job. The workshop then provides a quote for genuine replacement parts, you agree, and they proceed. What you might not realize is that the replaced parts might not be genuine, they might be OEM parts, or used parts reconditioned from the salvage. Always ask for proof of authenticity. Let’s explain why; OEM parts in most cases function well and serve their purpose, and you even get to save a pretty penny. However, the quality of OEM parts depending on the manufacturer can be on par with, or even better than original. Always do your research beforehand. Do have a discussion with the workshop representative and have that conversation parts sourcing.

If you ever wondered why insurance premiums and warranty packages are getting more and more expensive, this is your culprit. Insurance & warranty products are cyclical in nature. Actuary calculations take into consideration, with a certain degree of precision & statistics-based prediction, the dollar value of claims along with the frequency of claims. As fraudulent claims become increasingly present, the insurance providers have no choice but to factor that in or risk making a loss. As a result, premiums get more expensive for the average person.

Workshops and end-consumers alike are part of the problem. Many “opportunists”, caught in a vehicle accident, often claim more than their fair share. Auto repair shops also could mislead the end-consumer by submitting undeserved claims & inflating the revenue.

Now, this is how auto repair shops can take advantage of you and your car. When ordering parts, there are a variety to choose from, and can be classified as 3 major categories- New & Original from Manufacturer, OEM, or Used/Refurbished. Dishonest businesses can propose the replacement of original Manufacturer parts, and with simple sleight of hand use a cheaper used/refurbished part in order to complete the job, they in turn gain the delta from the supposed change versus the actual.

To verify, you can check the quality of the parts supplied by checking the manufacturing number of the part in question, which is usually present & visible physically on the part. A scratched, damaged part number is always a red flag in our books. Always make sure that the business provides documented evidence of the replacement process.

This is another common con. Fortunately, it’s also simple to sniff out too. Service centres often get vehicle owners that want to perform preventative maintenance for their cars, or simply have low mileage on their car due to a lack of use. This is increasingly the case due to the worsening of Malaysia’s COVID-19 situation which results in people driving less. The engine oil from these cars are still in excellent condition (relatively clear and shiny to the eye), and they are stored in containers to be used on other cars without consent. Dishonest service centres will charge full price and posture the sale as a brand-new bottle. When in reality, it’s the leftovers from another car.

How do you check? Simply by observation of ongoing processes as you visit the workshop. Engine oil should be disposed of in large cylinder-like containers that are used to store dirty engine oil and are sent to the relevant companies to be disposed of. Another way to check is to ensure that the seal on the engine oil bottle is not broken.

The premise of this is very simple. It preys on innocence and a lack of knowledge- they will claim parts have been replaced, work has been done, when in reality, the car is the same as before or even worse off.

The con revolves around lack of evidence gathered. Frequently, this happens to customers who do not ask for evidence of work done. In a car, there are simply too many moving parts and components inaccessible or foreign to many of us, putting us at the whim and will of the auto service centre.

Purposeful misdiagnosis is when the business exaggerates vehicle damages when in truth the vehicle does not require as much work done to it, or propose the repair and replacement of other irrelevant parts and systems. It happens even in established service centres of dealerships, where each bay has a certain KPI or monetary target to achieve. As a result, unethical businesses will try to squeeze as much revenue as possible from each car that enters its’ facilities. The red flag in this situation is when the technician does not give grounded advice, and simply insists on replacement of parts without showing and telling.

One may simply countercheck the damages with evidence in the form of photos, videos, and have a second opinion.