Automotive Repair

[craftbeerlover]

45 minutes ago, BrettGC said:

We've only just hit 20k after 3 years of driving

wow

[BrettGC]

36 minutes ago, hk blues said:

Cheers.

Our final PMS is due in March so I'll confirm with them the situation with servicing and warranty.  As I said, we're sitting at only 4200km after 16 months so well under 

You say you check the levels regularly - what specifically do you check?  

Oil, brake fluid, transmission fluid, coolant level in the header tank and water for the windscreen squirty thingies. It's just a habit I developed from driving courses in the navy. 

10 minutes ago, craftbeerlover said:

wow

It's a bit of a difference from my life in Australia:  40km each way to work but I lived a fair way out of the city by choice.  North of Palm Cove for those that know Cairns at all. 

Edited 23 hours ago by BrettGC

[earthdome]

46 minutes ago, craftbeerlover said:

WOW, I must drive a lot.   I think I drive that much in 4 months, maybe 5 tops

Here in metro manila they should do service based on engine runtime rather than km travelled.

[GeoffH]

11 minutes ago, earthdome said:

Here in metro manila they should do service based on engine runtime rather than km travelled.

You could fit an engine hours gauge like planes and some boats have.

[Snowy79]

My final job before retiring was as an Automotive Locksmith with the Automobile Association in the UK. For those unfamiliar they're a roadside breakdown and recovery Service. I specialized in lost keys and gaining entry into vehicles by picking the locks. 

We had access to every diagnostic tool under the sun. With modern vehicles it's becoming expensive to be a mechanic, pretty much everything is controlled by engine control units and comfort modules, you can have 19 of them on some vehicles. 

We would plug our computers into the onboard diagnostic socket which is usually in the driver's foot well, connect via wifi to the main dealer server which would scan the vehicle and update all the modules at the same time. If it required a new part many parts had microchips built in that were programmed to that vehicle and that vehicle alone. 

The idea being to prevent the scum from stealing a vehicle for parts. If for instance they stole your electric wing mirror because theirs was smashed and they fitted it to their vehicle when they turn the ignition on the engine control units scan all the electrical items in the car and if one part doesn't match the vehicle vin it is immobilized. In theory you have to buy a new wing mirror from the dealer, they install it, they scan the vehicles which updates all electronic parts to the vehicles vin number and now the vehicle will start. 

I left just as they were introducing remote monitoring. You just drive and the vehicle updates via wifi, your speed is recorded, how heavy you brake, how fast you turn the steering wheel and mileage etc. You receive an alert if anything dodgy is detected and you must go to the dealer. You can even lose your key, phone the dealer and following a security protocol they can locate your vehicle, once you are it it they remotely open your door, once you are inside and seat belt fastened they will start your car and allow you to drive either home or to the dealers where you wait for a new key, all other keys are automatically erased and can only be reprogrammed by the dealer. 

[Lee]

7 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

With modern vehicles it's becoming expensive to be a mechanic, pretty much everything is controlled by engine control units and comfort modules, you can have 19 of them on some vehicles. 

This is why I've made the inquiries that I have in my OP when considering the purchase of a new vehicle.

I would ask anyone that might know, are vehicles built for the Philippine/Asian market as electronically sophisticated as what Snowy has described in his post?

Perhaps there is little requirement for emission/security controls here as there in is the UK or the US. IDK.

Consider how a new car owner in the PI might get a key reprogrammed if it were to fail as Snowy mentioned in his post.

 

[Possum]

My 2009 car's  AC finally quit. I spotted a leak in the condenser so we replaced that only to find a leak in the evaporator coil which means taking out the dash to replace it. Past experience with getting parts here told me 1-4 months for parts to arrive if ordered from the dealer and the price is very high. So I ordered the coils from Amazon both were delivered in about 10 days each at half the price if ordered from the dealer. AC tech's total labor for both jobs 8000. Not bad.

Edited 4 hours ago by Possum

[Lee]

3 hours ago, Possum said:

So I ordered the coils from Amazon

Did you have to pay customs duty on the auto parts that you ordered?

I only ask because recently I had to pay duty on two used books.

Edited 59 minutes ago by Lee

[Possum]

1 hour ago, Lee said:

Did you have to pay customs duty on the auto parts that you ordered?

I only ask because recently I had to pay duty on two used books.

The shipping and tax cost wasn't itemized but was likely customs cost in the tax as it was high. But it was still a no-brainer for me. The Hyundai dealer quoted around 17,000 for the evap and 2-3 months shipping time. I paid 7800 total and received it in 10 days. Condenser coil was more expensive but still less than half of dealer quoted price and I didn't have to wait months.

I don't pay customs or shipping on most items I order from Amazon but these items didn't offer free shipping.

Edited 23 minutes ago by Possum

[Snowy79]

12 hours ago, Lee said:

This is why I've made the inquiries that I have in my OP when considering the purchase of a new vehicle.

I would ask anyone that might know, are vehicles built for the Philippine/Asian market as electronically sophisticated as what Snowy has described in his post?

Perhaps there is little requirement for emission/security controls here as there in is the UK or the US. IDK.

Consider how a new car owner in the PI might get a key reprogrammed if it were to fail as Snowy mentioned in his post.

 

The technology is here in new cars already. Some keys from the dealers in the UK were taking up to 5 weeks to arrive and cars like the Volvos there was a stage where no keys were even being made.

We sussed out how to get an old key from a similar model, remove the microchip from it and put it into a new shell. We would read the chip once removed then under the steering wheel there's a module that records the immobiliser details. We would remove the module, find the chip that held the original immobiliser details and erase it. We could then write the new security onto it, rebuild everything and away you go.