Woman Seeks Replacement After Car Breaks Down Within 8 Hours Of Leaving Sales Centre
"I'm just fighting to defend my rights," she said.
By May Vin Ang — 04 Jan 2024, 12:12 PM
A woman from Segamat, Johor has expressed frustration after her newly-purchased Perodua Bezza stopped working on the same day she received the car
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, 2 January, Nagakanni Subramaniam wrote that she was disappointed to be paying a loan of RM537 monthly for a car that does not work.
The 31-year-old car owner related that she drove the new car home from a sales centre in Segamat at 11am on 17 October
However, almost eight hours later at 7.40pm on the same night, the car could not start.
"On 18 October, I took my car to the Perodua service centre in Segamat and the mechanic there informed me that my engine was broken.
"On the same day, I requested for a replacement for a new car and was told to wait for a decision from Perodua's headquarters, which could take two weeks to a month," she said.
Sure enough, about three weeks later, on 9 November, Nagakanni said she received a call from the Perodua headquarters.
"Customer sales executive Sufian said from their early investigation, the car's engine was damaged by a foreign object, such as sugar, and he said that the substance was not used by the manufacturer," she recalled.
Nagakanni said she had not brought any food or drinks into the car within the eight hours she had it, nor did she have any reason to tamper with the engine.
In trying to solve the issue, Nagakanni said customer service asked her to apply for a new loan to get a new car
However, Nagakanni did not agree with the move, as she was still paying off the loan for the damaged car.
She added that she has not heard from Perodua since they said they would be investigating her car for internal errors on 8 December.
"It's been over two months, but I still haven't gotten a response or resolution [from Perodua]," she claimed.
"I'm just fighting to defend my rights," she added.
Her Facebook post has since gone viral, being shared over 15,000 times and garnering over 6,200 comments from netizens wondering how the issue would be solved between the customer and Perodua.
On Wednesday, 3 January, Perodua chief operating officer JH Rozman Jaafar responded by saying they are still conducting an investigation into the case and would share details in due time
In a statement on Facebook, he assured that Perodua has been in constant communication with the customer since she first reported the issue.
"Since then, we have taken several actions to resolve the matter, including by offering her a courtesy car and we have proposed to buy back her car," he said.
"Perodua has also assured the customer that her case is being prioritised, and we hereby deny any allegation that no action has been taken to resolve the issue," he added.
Meanwhile, Nagakanni said she is still waiting on a definitive solution
In response to Perodua's statement, the car owner said the solution was easy: she bought a defective car and would like a replacement or her money back.
"If Perodua really intends to buy my car back, please proceed. But where is the black and white agreement? Until today, I still don't have it," she said.
"I just want a solution, I'm not looking for trouble or to go viral," she added.
