S’porean woman spends S$300 to tow car back from JB after workshop allegedly loses car key

JB car

Singaporean woman spends S$300 towing car from JB after key lost

A Singaporean woman recently drove to Johor Bahru (JB), Malaysia to have her car serviced.

However, the workshop allegedly misplaced her key, and the customer had to spend nearly S$300 to tow her car back to Singapore.

Drove to JB to service her car

When interviewed by Shin Min Daily News, the car owner, Ms Cai (surname transliterated from Mandarin), shared that she sent her car to NK Car Care, a car workshop in Bukit Indah, Johor Bahru, on 29 Dec 2024 for maintenance.

This included changing the engine oil and inspecting the air conditioning compressor.

Recounting the incident, Ms Cai said she received instructions at about 3pm to park her vehicle at a car wash next door.

She then handed the keys to the workshop owner’s older brother, who said she could pick her car up in about five minutes’ time. 

Workshop allegedly loses her car key

At about 6pm, Ms Cai unexpectedly received a call from the workshop, informing her that they misplaced her car key and needed some time to look for it.

Her car key was still nowhere to be found as of 9pm — the workshop’s closing time. Her car had also not been serviced.

Ms Cai was also told that it was Sunday and that the locksmith was unavailable. As such, she had to wait until the following day to open the car door.

Taking matters into her own hands, Ms Cai hired a locksmith herself. However, as the car’s settings were different from those in Malaysia, the locksmith could only open the door, but could not start the engine.

She then requested to have the car towed back to Singapore and have the car reprogrammed with a new key by an authorised dealer.

Workshop refused to tow car back to Singapore

Folks at the workshop rejected the request. Instead, they asked Ms Cai to bring the spare car key from Singapore for them to make a duplicate.

Ms Cai disagreed: “If someone finds the lost key, they can access my car. If my car goes missing in Malaysia, who is going to be responsible?”

She shared that she had patronised the workshop several times in the past, but did not expect them to push aside responsibility for this incident. 

Ms Cai later spent RM900 (S$274) to tow the car back to Singapore.

“I will never go to Malaysia for car repairs again. This experience has been such a hassle, and I don’t want to save a little only to lose a lot.”

Also read: ‘Not happy, get your car washed in S’pore instead’: JB car wash allegedly charges S’porean S$3.65 but no vacuuming done

‘Not happy, get your car washed in S’pore instead’: JB car wash allegedly charges S’porean S$3.65 but no vacuuming done

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Featured image adapted from NK Car Care Centre Sdn Bhd on Facebook & Shin Min Daily News.

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