
I have an unfortunate problem with one of the agencies here in Kuwait (Toyota). You see before i bought my car (FJ Cruiser) I checked with them about servicing my car with them, and they said well, if you are importing your car from abroad, you can service it in the agency as long as your number plates remain from the country of origin.
Why i didn’t buy my car from the Kuwait Agency?
Simply when I wanted my car, it wasn’t available ! There was a black one and a blue one, and I wasn’t really into those colors, and when I said ok i’ll take the blue one, they said it was a mistake and it was already reserved and the black one was sold. I said ok, here’s 4000 KD (just sold my other car) book me a yellow one! I’ll wait but i need to know when it will arrive. What they said? No. We cannot book a car if there’s nothing showing up in the computer, and now we are totally not sure when it will arrive, and if that color will be available.
Where I got my car from?
I got it from the Toyota Agency in Khafji, full gulf specs, with more options than the Kuwaiti Agency, and nearly the same price (due to the additional options).
What happened next ?
The first 2 services I did in Kuwait, and then the agency, decided somehow to ban servicing any imported cars! This can only happen in Kuwait, I don’t know how you can ban servicing or issuing providing a customer service! Especially if its the only authorized Toyota service center in Kuwait!!
Toyota Japan ?
i emailed toyota Japan, had to send several emails to get it to the right person, however they said Toyota Kuwait will solve your issue. I was contacted by a guy in Kuwait, went to his office, his solution was another garage to service my car which was not an authorized toyota service center!
My Question..
Is it legal for Agencies to BAN servicing imported cars especially if they are the only “authorized” ones in the country? I need a legal answer.. seriously any help will be highly appreciated.
What I Currently Do?
Every 1.5 months I have to go to Khafji to take my FJ for an oil change, so that I do not loose my warranty, sometimes I think its’ not worth it.. But it is, you never know whats going to happen, I know its a toyota, and I can service it anywhere and it’ll still run, but having a valid warranty is mandatory for me especially on a new car.
Possible Solutions for this problem (All out of my hand):
1. Toyota Kuwait to allow servicing of imported cars by :
– Taking an initial fee (which is what most agencies in Kuwait do)
– Only allow minor servicing (i.e. 5000 Km oil changes)
– Charge Extra money from the service which i’m sure a lot are willing to pay instead of driving to khafji.
– Just allowing imported cars that have a full service history!
These are possible scenarios from the top of my head, i’m sure there are other possible solutions.. But seriously is it legal for them to BAN servicing imported cars, and why do they ban servicing – I love Toyota, if there was one here I would’ve bought it from them but unfortunately in my case there wasn’t. I have to live with it i guess.
Did Any one face this issue ? Any Solutions ? Any Thoughts?