Owning a private vehicle has become almost essential to Malaysians and this is evident by the report made by the Malaysian Automotive Association that more than 600,000 new cars are on the road in Malaysia last year and it is expected to increase in the years to come. Nowadays owning a car is so easy and relatively cheap to compare with those days as there are too many affordable cars offered by the automobile industries (both local and foreign brand models). However the investment doesn’t stop with the car payment, every mile one drives the car it cost money, whether it’s in maintenance or repairs.  

If you are a vehicle owner, you are bound to encounter one or two problems with your vehicle after a certain period of time. Typically consumer will send the car for repair at the workshop and with no doubt, one have to fork out a lot of money to carry out the said repairs. 

It is no longer a surprise that among all the categories of complaints received by the National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC), the biggest complaint ringgit loss for consumers is car and automotive -related services. Complaints that the NCCC has received, not only vehicles that are used for certain period of time, or used cars, but surprisingly there has been a lot of cases involving new purchased vehicles less than 6 month old. 

In 2015, The NCCC received a total of 3,816 complaints against the Automobile and Auto-Workshops industry. Although coming in at fourth place in the number of complaints received, with monetary value of staggering RM 81,065,376.00, the automobile industry topped the total of value attached to complaints received under a specific sector. The automobile Industry sector has maintained its position for recording the highest Ringgit value of loss since 2011.

Among the types of complaints received by the NCCC are as follows:
•    newly purchased cars have various problems
•    faulty gearbox
•    repairs not carried out properly
•    selling fake vehicle parts while users have paid for original parts
•    despite making cancellation, consumers were denied of their deposit money
•    Issues with warranty
•    Delay in carrying out the repairs
•    Charge dispute/over charged

With the continuous increased in the complaints related to vehicles has led one questioning the build quality of the vehicle whether it has been compromised? Below are some advices to consumers on what the consumers should do if they faced with problems mentioned above.

Advice to consumers

•    Consumers who are dissatisfied with the service provided or worry about the safety of the vehicle, the user can inspect their vehicle at PUSPAKOM. It is a vehicle inspection centers designated by the Malaysian government to conduct vehicle inspections.
•    Make sure the receipt / invoices are kept as evidence.
•    Make sure the vehicle is serviced at the authorized service center to avoid breach of the warranty. 
•    It is important to read the owner’s manual and to adhere the maintenance services on time. Failure which, it could breach the warranty of your car.
•    The complainant can lodge a complaint at National Consumer Complaints Centre, Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism or Tribunal for Consumer Claims.
•    Do make clarifications as to how long and what are the parts covered under the warranty.


If you are facing the same problem or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact NCCC at www.nccc.org.my / This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / 03-78769000