Chinese cars continue to be in high demand among Russians, but difficulties with their repair arise more and more often, as reported by the Octagon publication with reference to experts and service station representatives.
“It’s more expensive to repair a Chinese car. There are no parts, they are difficult to order. If you order, they will deliver for a very long time, and with a high degree of probability the product will not be what you need,” said the founder and head of one of the technical centers, Mikhail Palmov.
Chairman of the Board of the Mezhregionavtotrans association Sergei Khrapach called the lack of unification of components one of the main problems. At the same time, European and Japanese brands strictly follow the principles of unification, and the same part is produced by dozens of factories around the world.
“In China there is no intra-industry GOST. For example, the muffler on your car was produced by one plant. A year later, the muffler needed to be changed, but during this time the manufacturer of the unit also changed. Now it is produced by another company, and it no longer fits your car.. The repair time is automatically extended, and the car can “get stuck” in the service station for a long time,” explained Sergei Khrapach.
Due to the increasing number of Chinese car models in Russia, this problem, according to Khrapach, will only grow. He does not exclude that Chinese cars will repeat the fate of smartphones, which even after several years of operation become impossible to repair.
Auto expert and presenter of the Ministry of Transport program Vyacheslav Subbotin said that one should not expect a resolution to this situation. He recalled that the Chinese still do not have not only machine repair manuals, but also the industry for their high-quality service as a whole.
Subbotin believes that owners of Chinese cars in Russia will soon begin to encounter a number of problems related to engines, gearboxes, suspension, and so on.
