Chery fire risk

I took my Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max for its 5000km service on the 5th March 2024 to the dealership where I purchased the vehicle. I left it at the dealership for 4 days to address the following two highlighted faults: 1) Wiring on Towbar stopped working (fitted by dealer), 2) Clock losing time at unacceptable rate.

1. Tow Bar module fire risk – Fault description: • On collection of the car, I was informed that the reason for the faulty wiring was an electronic module in the loom which burned out. Instead of fixing the fault or notifying me when it was discovered, the locally manufactured module was refitted to the loom and left as is. • The dealership informed me that the module does not carry any warrantee and emphasised that I would have to replace the full towbar and loom to get the module replaced, since the module cannot be purchased on its own. • Photos of the module will indicate how close the incident was to setting the vehicle alight. • A description on the module indicates that it has short circuit protection build in, therefore, in the worst-case scenario when something caused a short circuit from the user side, the protection should have kicked in without causing a risk to fire. • Since the feedback as received was unacceptable, I contacted the local manufacturer directly and was sent a replacement module overnight, without an investigation and to no cost. • Going forward, to mitigate the risk to myself as well as other Chery owners, I forwarded emails asking for an investigation into similar incidents on other Cherys countrywide. • After numerous attempts to the Dealership as well as Chery SA, I still do not have a response. • The only response I got from the dealership after months, is that a 2-year warrantee will now be provided on the towbar and loom, and that the modules will be replaced by the supplier in an instance where something like this happens again. • Due to a lack of wider ownership on the risk, I informed both the dealership as well as Chery SA on the 23rd April 2024 that I will be using the Hello Peter platform to ensure the risk is properly mitigated. This statement was repeated on the 7th May in letters to both parties, but still no response. We can therefore have vehicles burning out due to a lot of ownership.

2. Clock losing time: • On collection of the vehicle for the dealership, I was informed that the fault on the clock was sorted, but later discovered that only a reset was done. The root cause of the fault was not investigated, and the fault therefor still not fixed. • I forwarded pictures indicating how the time on Android Auto differs with the cars clock within days. Since it is not possible to sync the two, one needs to adjust the cars clock manually. • To date this was not resolved. • I have also requested feedback on what an acceptable tolerance will be for Chery China, but did not receive any response on it either. • After the second time at the dealership, their only response is that they will have to investigate the issue further.

I have purchased the flagship of the Chery brand, but do not receive a level of customer service after the purchase that can be or should be acceptable. On top of it, Chery SA may have a risk of fire to family vehicles, due to a locally manufactured towbar installation, but the decide not to act on it. The intent of this letter is to raise my frustration and concerns, and to warn other users to the risk they may have.