Congrats and I’m definitely subscribing to this thread for your assistance in the future! 
[quote=“jands”]I am the customer that Jamie referred to in this post, and I am still happy with his service. My original review of his services is posted here: forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.php?f=75&t=79306
I have had the car for about 5 weeks now and have driven it maybe 5 times in that time. Two days ago I noticed that the car was suddenly overheating.
I took it to the Nissan service center in Keelung (Jilong) and this is how I found out that the mileage had been adjusted. Their records showed that the car had last been serviced at a Nissan service center in August 2008 with a mileage of 130999, compared to the 80000 it showed when I bought it. Their records also showed that the car had more than one owner.
The overheating problem was caused due to metal fatigue in the radiator, basically the area where the top hose was attached had just cracked off. So, the radiator had to be replaced.
Jamie has offered to pay for my repairs (NT$6000). However, I asked the Nissan mechanic if this is something that should have been obvious to Jamie when he did the inspection and he said that metal fatigue cannot be detected in a normal inspection. My husband then rang our Taipei mechanic (the ‘family’ mechanic) and asked him the same question, and he also confirmed this. I therefore declined Jamie’s offer of payment and refund.
I do have a big problem with the car dealer for lying about the mileage AND the number of owners, and I will file a complaint against him for false advertising. I am not sure if this will lead to anything, but hopefully the consumer protection bureau will have more info for me when I talk to them.[/quote]
The VERY same thing happened to me with the LEXUS, only i was driving at high speed when the radiator connector corroded and caused the hose to spray water everywhere… very scary.
Impossible to detect really, it sthe previous owners fault, they dont change the fluids and it just corrodes away the plastic in the radiator 
[quote=“smellybumlove”]The VERY same thing happened to me with the LEXUS, only I was driving at high speed when the radiator connector corroded and caused the hose to spray water everywhere… very scary.
Impossible to detect really, it sthe previous owners fault, they dont change the fluids and it just corrodes away the plastic in the radiator [/quote]
Well in this case it was a fatigue fracture according to the technician and not corrosion which caused the failure. The radiator and system did contain an adequate quantity of anti corrosion/ antifreeze and there was no rust present.
Here is another problem second hand (or more) cars in Taiwan. I am sure mine have over 120,000km but it showed something like 74,xxxkm when i bought it. I can’t believe it because i drive 35,000km in a year and the car is 2000 model. I told the guy i don’t believe you so he say i give you 1 year guarantee if anything goes wrong i fix it. I said yeah, thinking i might not even find the shop the next day there but give it a try. I still couldn’t find out the original km and still pretty sure it is changed, but didn’t have any problems with the car so far.
I have the digital odometer, and it should be easy for Taiwanese to play with it.
Yes, we have covered the subject of odometer readings.
As long as there are no official records of odometer readings, then they can always be changed with little or no effective recourse available.
One year guarantees are only worth as much as any binding paper they are written on. Words and mouth movements don’t guarantee anything.
[quote=“sulavaca”]Yes, we have covered the subject of odometer readings.
As long as there is no official records of odometer readings, then they can always be changed with little or no effective recourse available.
One year guarantees are only worth as much as any binding paper they are written on. Words and mouth movements don’t guarantee anything.[/quote]
Yeah, i got the paper from him. Need to have a Taiwanese friend to make sure they are giving something official like i did. My Chinese sucks.
sulavaca,
Any thoughts on 10 year old Pajeros? Are they costly to maintain or fix?
Mitsubishi don’t tend to cost the earth to repair. I’ll say there are very few Pajeros around really for me to be make general comments on them even. From having more experience with their Shogun model and other local model saloons and hatch I would say as a brand they are reasonable value for money, on a similar footing as Nissan, only they don’t always produce as satisfying a vehicle.
Their four wheel drives I would say are there strongest vehicles in terms of usage and reliability for their intended use. Having said that a vehicle such as the Pajero is never going to be the cheapest vehicle to run. They cost fuel and may not be as reliable as other brands of saloons, so its a question of reliability versus other alternative right? I think many of the alternatives would be similar in reliability to be honest. I think the biggest challenge as with all these vehicle types however is finding a decent one to begin with which is often tough.
Pajero in Taiwan? It is like looking for Land Cruiser isn’t it? Are you after a 2 door version? I don’t remember seeing any but there are many suzuki vitara’s around. Would be easier to find a good one and easier to fix
If it was for the purposes of purely off-roading, then yes I would agree that a Suzuki with adequate modifications would be the better choice over the Pajero. I’m not sure that’s what the OP is interested in though.
sulavaca,
thanks for the quick reply and information, I will be making an appt with you soon. Still deciding on
T4-VR6
Jeep Wrangler Post 98
Pajeros…
scratch scratch…seems like a Pajero has everything i need space, 4wd, comfort on highways…
2 door pajeros are kind of overpowered but kinda of nice like a wrangler 4.0, but havent seen any 4.0 wranglers though//
You’re welcome. That’s a list of some very different vehicles. I like the T4 and its on the list of my Taiwan’s Top Vehicles article I wrote a year or so ago as a large transportation/loader.
It would be better to get the T4 with diesel engine.
[quote]As long as there are no official records of odometer readings, then they can always be changed with little or no effective recourse available.
One year guarantees are only worth as much as any binding paper they are written on. Words and mouth movements don’t guarantee anything.[/quote]
Suggest you take the license plate number and go to the manufacturer’s service center, they keep records and if you are lucky the previous owner(s) may have taken their car there.
As for a guarantee, what you need is a contract. I am currently going through a complaint with the Consumer Protection Bureau, they have told me that there is probably little they can do, BUT if the buyer and seller have signed a contract that includes items like a guarantee that the odometer has not been adjusted, then things change drastically and it gives the bureau a LOT more power to help the buyer.
It is interesting that I saw a Consumer Protection Bureau commercial in the cinema last week, this commercial basically tells people to use contracts for any purchases they make (the commercial appeared to focus on beauty and weight loss products).
Would anyone with some legal and car experience be willing to put together a template contract that we can use when buying a second hand car?
The contract idea is a good one jands.
Taking the license plate to a service centre most likely wont yield any results however. The service centres require the vehicle owner’s documentation before they can officially reveal a vehicle’s service history. Anyone can nick a license plate from a car, so that shouldn’t suffice.
[quote=“sulavaca”]The contract idea is a good one jands.
Taking the license plate to a service centre most likely wont yield any results however. The service centres require the vehicle owner’s documentation before they can officially reveal a vehicle’s service history. Anyone can nick a license plate from a car, so that shouldn’t suffice.[/quote]
Also sometimes they give you a new license plate number when you register the second hand car from a dealer. They might check with the VIN number but i don’t think they look at that here.
[quote=“nazmikarakoc”][quote=“sulavaca”]The contract idea is a good one jands.
Taking the license plate to a service centre most likely wont yield any results however. The service centres require the vehicle owner’s documentation before they can officially reveal a vehicle’s service history. Anyone can nick a license plate from a car, so that shouldn’t suffice.[/quote]
Also sometimes they give you a new license plate number when you register the second hand car from a dealer. They might check with the VIN number but I don’t think they look at that here.[/quote]
I don’t think they have VIN here, do they? where is it written?
There are VINs on all vehicles sold in Taiwan or at least there should be 
Yes, main dealer service centres keep records of VINs for obvious service and warranty references so that’s what is needed as well as vehicle registration documents to obtain the vehicle’s service history.
Can anyone point out where is the VIN located on which document?
