24 August 2011

Yesterday I was supposed to pickup our brand new car in Pandan Indah. Since I had to be in Sungai Buloh with my colleague who didn't manage to finish his work until late at night, I had to take a train to get there. Just my luck, the train ran an hour late so by the time I got to KL Sentral it was already Maghrib. So after stopping by to pray, I quickly board the LRT to Masjid Jamek and then to Pandan Indah.

It's been quite a long time since I last took a train so I struggled a bit to find the right train to the right destination. There were only two trains but there were also 4 different lines that they took. Choosing the right one and waiting on the right platform was rather tricky. Anyway I did made it to Pandan Indah. I thought I would just walk a short while to Pandan Capital but when I got there it was dark and I had no idea where that building was. Lucky for me I called the car salesman and he willingly agreed to pick me up from there. He took me to the showroom and I signed some documents and he explained to me a bit about our new car. Half an hour later I was driving home our brand new Alza. But that's not all, I went to pick up my wife and then she drove the new car to my office so that I can take my Savvy home and then we went out to Seri Kembangan for a test drive. You know so that she would be familiar with the routes to take when she drives the car tomorrow to work.

Working the whole day at the factory and taking 3 trains to Pandan Indah, that was super tiring. We only got home around 12:40 in the morning. The great thing about today though, I drove home with my brand new car. Just seeing my name on the vehicle registration paper just gave me an enormous sense of pride. I couldn't afford to own a car before. My last loan application was rejected in cold blood by the bank. So yeah, today I was quite proud. It felt amazing.

1 March 2011

Have I told you the time when my car broke down by the highway? No? Well that's because it just happened this morning. We had just finished dropping of the kids at their school and nursery and took the exit near Sierra 16 when I saw smoke coming out of the front bonnet. A quick glance at the temperature meter showed it was over the roof. So I quickly stopped by the roadside heading to Cyberjaya to see what's wrong.

When I opened the hood, my coolant tank was completely dry. I swear I regularly checked them like once every 2 or 3 weeks. So I called a few people and they said to wait until the temperature goes down a bit before attempting to drive again. So my wife and I sat there for like an hour or so with our hazards light watching people heading to Cyberjaya/Putrajaya/Serdang/KLIA/Kajang drove by. Truly a classic moment. To be honest, I'm just glad none of those pesky tow trucks came by to offer us 'help'. When the car sufficiently cooled down, I poured 2 liters of water into the tank and cautiously drove the car to a Proton workshop in Equine Park. In the end, we had the radiator fan motor changed for RM300+ including labor. Even then the mechanic managed to screw up the car's wiring causing the hazard light to turn on and off occasionally. File this one under shit always happens if you buy a Proton and after it turns 5 years old.

21 August 2010

A few weeks from now many of us we'll be going back to our hometowns to celebrate Raya. Therefore it is prudent that we get our cars serviced before making the long return trip. As usual I went to my Proton Savvy specialist workshop in Puchong Perdana, R.S Auto. This time we got the timing belt kit replaced apart from the usual service. The towkey was quite surprised that we waited until the car clocked past 100,000KM before changing the belt. Usually people change that thing after 70,000KM. If it snaps while we were driving, say good bye to our engine. Scary stuff.

R.S Auto may not be the best or comfortable service center that I've been to. There's no air-conditioned lounge to relax in or comfy sofa to sit on. No free flowing drinks, magazine or WiFi to hook up to. However one thing they are committed to is not to rip you off. They tell you what is actually wrong with your car and only replace parts if only absolutely necessary. Like when I service my car there, they didn't replace the spark plug or air filter cause they're still good and usable. And most of the spare parts and charges there is a lot cheaper than what they charge you at Proton service centers for example. The timing belt for example is RM200 cheaper than Proton. Honesty and value for money, two things you'll be hard-pressed to find these days.

26 March 2010

Just when I thought that my car's windows are not covered by insurance, they are! Apparently my wife thoughtfully paid an extra 75 ringgit to cover all our windscreens as well. What would I do without her.

So I went to this panel windscreen workshop for Allianz insurance in Serdang Raya to get my rear windscreen replaced today. The name's Dr. Cermin and they did a swell job at fixing my car. Although I had to wait in line for 2 hours, I didn't have to pay a thing because they too care of everything about the insurance claim. Just had to bring the cover note, that's all. If you're looking to fix or replace your windscreen, call Dr. Cermin at this number - 0123313625.

30 May 2009

It is that time in your life again where you had to spend a bomb to replace and service your car tyres. I always dread when this day come. My front tyres is like really bald and the rear ones is not looking good either. So this payday, I had no choice but to replace all my car's tyres. Thank God I live in with a sugar-mommy (i.e my wife). She helped a little with the bills.

I didn't have any recommended/favourite workshop in mind so I just go to this Piau Joon workshop in Desa Serdang. I heard that you can get really good price for tyres in Klang but the problem is there's probably a million workshops there in Klang and I don't know which one to go. I wanted to get some cheap Silverstone tyres at first but then they told me my car can ony wear a 15" Goodyear NCT 5 tyres. After much haggling the mechanic agreed to give me 12 ringgit off for each tyres.

For the record here's how much I spent for the tyres today:
- 4 x Goodyear Eagle 15" NCT5 tyres: RM632.00
- 4 x tyre valves: RM20.00
- Front wheel alignment: RM15.00
- Front wheel chamber adjustment: RM50.00
- 5% BN Government Tax: RM3.25
- Second time haggling discount -RM7.00
- Grand total: RM713.25

The mechanic said all my rims are crooked and bent everywhere and recommended that I change them for an arm and a leg to which I said no. Then he said I need to adjust my front wheel chamber which I did see a little bit out of place. But if the mechanic took me for a ride, I wouldn't have known. 713 ringgit is a lot to spend in one day. Suddenly the cheap tyres from Klang didn't sound so far away anymore.