MARRIED TO THE AUTO

Let us be clear from the beginning. This article is not motivated by any anti-advertising campaign, as it focuses on the services provided by car dealerships. We are not going to cite names and will just say that the situation in the maintenance of cars sold in Azerbaijan through the representatives of foreign carmakers does not benefit consumers. The aim here is to try to change the situation for the better and allow auto dealerships to ponder and rectify the considerable and unhelpful drawbacks in their work. The idea of writing this editorial emerged from the everlasting torment suffered by drivers at the hands of dealership workshops, which we have repeatedly witnessed firsthand. It is worth mentioning that as a result of this mess, local drivers with new vehicles end up in a situation when "the tail is wagging the dog."

New and never been hit  

Let's figure this out first. Why does a rank-and-file Azerbaijani citizen looking to buy a car, having weighed all the pros and cons, decide to purchase a new, foreign-made car instead of a used one? This happens despite the fact that, until recently, used cars, mostly Germany-made ones, were popular and relatively inexpensive in Azerbaijan. Has the local driver lost trust in the ever-reliable German quality? Certainly not. But several factors have been making it more sensible to buy a brand new car in the past three years. First of all, acceptable, although not the most liberal, credit terms for buying cars have been provided in the country, which allows the middle class to buy a new "four-wheeled horse". Secondly, many potential buyers no longer trust the sellers of cars which have been in use for ten to fifteen years. They just don't want to be deceived. And if the purchase does take place, it often turns out that the car had been hit, i.e. it had been in an accident or, even worse, many of its running parts are no longer operational, despite the seller's assurances that the car is in good shape. So, what should one do with such a car? Sell it? That means selling it for a price considerably lower than the one paid. Or not sell it? That means being a permanent customer of repair shops, spending a lot of money on repairs and spare parts. Clearly, a new car is better value in this respect - a car that has not been hit or repainted, one that will serve its owner without much trouble or huge expense, for three years or more. It's all about luck. 

Thirdly, servicing the car. Local car drivers, who have not been "spoilt" by luxury, are lured by the staggering contrast between filthy repair shops, mechanics in smeared clothes, with arms smothered up to the elbow in lubricants, and the sparkling-clean repair shops of car dealerships, staffed by people in neat uniforms. A courteous girl greets the driver, offering a couple of free cups of tea or coffee, while mechanics work to replace motor oil (which is done every 5,000 or 7,000 kilometres of driving - ed.) or perform other jobs covered by the warranty. So, who wouldn't opt for top-notch service, recalling the lack of basic courtesy on the part of mechanics in private workshops? And even if the latter are true professionals, they won't be careful with the inside of the car, so that after the repair, not only thorough washing, but also dry-cleaning will be necessary to remove stains from the velour seats and the roof of the car. There is also no guarantee that after making the effort to find a good mechanic in workshops which are often located very far from your home or office, you will actually find one. 

Owner-dealer  

So, now, you have a new car in a garage or parking lot, with mandatory insurance that is not always provided on suitable terms by the company with which the bank issuing the car loan cooperates (if the car is purchased on credit, the customer is not at liberty to select the insurance company - ed.); the services of the dealership are made available for the period covered by the warranty (the warranty is provided for the engine, electronic control parts and transmission - ed.). Initially, the driver thinks: "It's all right that all these conditions are tied-in. At least I got myself a new car and won't have to worry about any problems for a while." But that is not the case. The times when automakers designed and built cars to last for many years, or even centuries, ahead have long passed. The world financial crisis has set out its priorities and car mechanisms are now made with excessive cost-saving, which reduces their quality and means they wear out sooner. This necessitates the replacement of parts, for which demand is increasing. Certainly, this benefits some. Of course, this rooted opinion of car drivers can be challenged. But one can no longer argue that the world has changed, while the deteriorating environmental situation imposes new practices: cars are manufactured so that they become unfit after ten years at the most. So, what happens in this case in Western and European countries and Japan?  Nothing. The cars are just disposed of, or sold to third-world countries. Naturally, it will be a long time before they start discarding cars after ten years' use in Azerbaijan. Therefore, it is important for the local owner of "the iron horse" for servicing in repair shops, either those run by dealerships or private ones, to be carried out at a high level, which is not always the case. 

What does the owner of a new car do if he notices noises or finds out there is a breakdown, for instance, after driving 30,000 km? It is disappointing, because the car has not been in use for a long time, but that's just the way it is. What is comforting is that he may take the car to a dealership workshop whose employees - from sales agents to metal workers - are required to know everything about the car sold to the customer. But the more the car owner delves into the details of the way dealership workshops operate, the more aggravated he becomes, reaching the opinion that working with private workshops is much easier, cheaper, more effective and easier, because they are located closer to his home or office. It turns out that the driver is unable to get answers even to his most basic questions in dealership workshops and there is a lack of qualified personnel. And, whereas the prices charged for replacing motor oil by official dealerships are the same as those charged by "unofficial" ones, in other respects, the salesmen are merely making money, even if the maintenance job was insignificant and, often, rather inefficient. Moreover, many are angered, without exaggeration, by the fact that the warehouses of dealership saloons lack the spare parts most in demand (spare parts that are frequently worn out - ed.). Car owners have to order spare parts and wait for their delivery. Can you imagine how much trouble it is for a driver who is unable to use his vehicle while waiting for spare parts to be delivered, given that his job depends on his vehicle? But that isn't the worst thing. In this case the car owner often asks himself the question: "Why should I pay more for these spare parts from the dealerships when I can order them at a regular store and buy them for a considerably lower price?" And the condition laid down by the car workshops that warranty-based maintenance no longer applies if motor oil is refilled or a spare part is replaced at a private workshop, does not help at all. Regardless of the quality, the driver wants to keep the warranty services. Therefore, drivers have to put up with flawed and expensive services offered by dealerships which, in any case, are turning into some kind of monopoly, imposing their prices and conditions. One has to be very lucky to have a malfunctioning part replaced swiftly or get an explanation about the reasons for the malfunction. This requires the driver to be quite obstinate and bothersome, to be exceptionally lucky, or the car must have a clearly evident production defect. There is no other way. There are also ways around this when the driver informally agrees with a dealership representative to buy a spare part at a store but to have it replaced in the "official" workshop. Certainly, in this case the representative has to be "sweetened", but this is still more cost-effective than ordering spare parts for which dealerships charge unreasonably high prices. 

Special ritual… 

Furthermore, car owners are rather indignant with "officials" not allowing them to approach their vehicles during repair work. They have to wait in the hall until the repair has been completed. Thus, the driver does not have a chance to ask questions of the mechanic and get advice. Dealerships explain this by safety considerations, but wouldn't it better to find an acceptable solution to this problem? Here is the view of a car driver who shared his impressions on an automobile forum of a popular Azerbaijani website: "I don't like the repair shops limiting the presence of the car owner during maintenance work and repair. Perhaps, from their point of view, this is reasonable…but the soul of a car driver cries out against this! Deep down inside, I was happy that the warranty on my auto had expired, just for that reason. Now my mechanic Elkhan (a top-notch specialist and "unofficial" repair man) gives me free tea in his workshop, talks to me from the pit where he works about the condition of my vehicle and even suggests I get down and look at the limber box etc. 

P.S. "Repair and maintenance of my car is a special ritual for me which I have to be personally involved in and be able to track progress visually! I won't accept other options!" the forum post said. And such car owners make up the majority. 

So that's evidently the current situation. The owners of vehicles purchased not so long ago are unhappy with the quality of maintenance provided in dealerships, due to the lack of qualified personnel and technical capacities, and an irresponsible approach to work. A good mechanic would not trade pay of 1,500 manats per month at a private workshop for a job at a dealership that pays a fixed salary of 500 manats. It is common knowledge that a good mechanic costs a lot of money, which is not offered at corporate workshops. So it turns out that dealerships employ inexperienced mechanics who need refresher courses in the country the vehicle was manufactured in. But, needless to say that many car dealerships won't bother to arrange this training. 

Here's a typical conversation between a car owner and an indifferent dealer posted on the same Internet forum by a Baku motorist:

Driver: The car just doesn't pull…

Mechanic: Replace the gasoline…

Driver: The steering wheel steers to the right…

Mechanic: What to do? The roads are bad…

Driver: The paint comes off all the time…

Mechanic: Buy a garage and keep the car there…

Driver: The motor is "sneezing"… 

Mechanic: Just drive it like that, we'll see after 40,000 km… 

Driver: When I turn the steering wheel all the way, it clings to something and makes a strange noise…

Mechanic: Just don't steer it all the way and pay no attention to the sound, this is a regular problem with all models of this vehicle…

"This is a regular problem with all models of this vehicle" This is the most common answer a car owner may hear in dealership workshops. This leads to the conclusion that the latter are overdue to change their concept of car maintenance and their approach to work. The car salesman should, first of all, feel a responsibility towards his customer, so that the latter doesn't feel entrapped. And if we rephrase the well-known expression "we are responsible for those whom we tamed", the car dealer should be responsible for those who purchased the vehicle. Without marketing research and statistics, one may just presume that the demand for new cars in Azerbaijan will increase in the foreseeable future. Besides, new legislative decisions on the domestic car making industry are not far off. Hypothetically, parliament may enact a law banning imports of cars made before 2000 or 2005 for environmental reasons. It appears that such legislation might give car dealerships more monopolistic leverage and impunity. This is a drastically erroneous approach but, more importantly, this is disrespect to the customer. So, many car owners tend to compare themselves to a helpless wife whom her husband has deprived of all rights. And you can't help saying "now I am married to my auto" and just spread your arms helplessly.