Tag Archives: Car

Dumbass Mechanic 2

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Update 1: The problem finally solved! I went to my usual workshop (with proper appointment) and I did not had to wait for long. The mechanic took almost 1 hour to resolve the problem. The ECU was flashed and the brake switch was checked and reinstalled. The check engine warning light went away and it remained so. The mechanic informed me that I should not have the problem (not like the previous dumbass mechanic) but went further to say that if the problem still remained, the next course of action would be to change the entire brake switch itself.

Back to the original post…

Read the first instance here

check engine light

(The last thing I expected to see on any car is the check engine warning light and that too on a well maintained new car. But I understand that over time all things will deteriorate and breaks down. The important thing is to get it fixed on time and without much hassle. The last thing we need is a dumbass mechanic in the equation. Image source: http://www.progressiveautogroup.com)

It was almost a perfect ride up North last weekend – the morning was cold, the traffic was light and the music on the radio was good. It was a good time to “clear those carbons” from the exhaust (I noticed that the fuel consumption often improves greatly after a long journey north).

I had my grandma in the car (she followed us to go to her younger brother’s house which was on our way) so I had to ensure that I make the necessary stop for this fragile old lady who is still going strong at a very old age. Just when I was thinking of stopping at the next R&R after Tapah, I noticed something flashing up on the dashboard – something I missed earlier because I had my left hand “covering” it (I hold the top of the steering wheel with my left and the bottom with my right). The check engine warning light was on – it never appeared before and I just did a major service to the car couple weeks ago. Maintenance has been top-notch and I don’t push the car to its limits.

Certainly something was amiss here and stopping at the next R&R made a lot of sense – I was also worried that there could be a bigger problem with the engine (although I did not notice any difference in performance and the fuel consumption kept improving). We stopped and immediately my wife, my son and my grandma got out stretching their legs and then head to the toilet, leaving the baby at the back seat (she was sleeping) and under my care. I double checked on the baby and she was sleeping rather nicely. I checked on the buttons inside the car – to make sure I had not pressed any of the wrong buttons or dials. I switch off the ignition and on again but the check engine warning light was still on. Since the baby was sleeping and my wife had came back, I switched off the engine and got out of the car and did a quick check to the air-intakes – nothing out of the ordinary. I went back in and counted to ten and switch on the ignition – the check engine warning light came on for a moment and then it went off.

I thought that was the end of it until after we had reached our destination and after driving around the town, the warning light lighted up again (good thing, it was not flashing which is an indicator of a more serious problem). Unfortunately it was a Sunday and the authorised service was closed. As before, I tried to switch off and on the ignition and as before, the check engine light went off.

I decided to head to the nearest service centre near home first thing in the morning the next day. I decided to go to the one near my house instead of the one in Taiping because I already expecting to be wasting my time at the service centre for the whole day (hallmark of any car service centre in the country, I suppose). We left to KL quite early in the morning – hoping to reach the service centre near the house as early as possible. Throughout the journey back, the check engine light did not lit up and the journey was smooth and uneventful. By the time we reached home, it was already 9 in the morning. The warning light still did not lit up. So I decided to go for a quick runabout for lunch and some investment and 2 packets of cold cendol first (it was worse in Taiping). Perhaps the long run back to KL had perhaps cleared something and everything was back to normal. So I thought. With plenty of time to kill, I decided to cancel my trip to the service centre and head out for some chores in PJ. Just as I drive out from my residential area, the nagging check engine warning light was back!

Feeling frustrated, I made a U-turn and headed straight to the nearest service centre, hoping that there will be few cars on queue on the appointment. It was not. I reached there almost at 12 pm and saw the customer area full of people (some were even sleeping on the sofa – they must have come in early) – thankfully I already an early lunch. I told the sweet lady behind the counter that I did not have an appointment but I was willing to wait as long as I could get to the bottom of the nagging check engine warning light. The lady told me that there were plenty of cars to be checked for the day but she was willing to slot me in (those who came in later without any appointment was promptly turned away).

So I waited for my turn by drinking the freebie water, reading the same old magazine over and over again and of course, taking short naps on the sofa.

It was almost 4 pm when I saw the mechanic looking at the charge sheets on the wall and selected mine. I followed him to the working area as he parked my car in the working bay and hook it up to the diagnostic computer. I stood next to him and explained on what had happened but he was not listening to me. He was seriously looking at the computer screen and waited as it run through a series of tests. I gave him the benefit of the doubt – after all, he is the professional, well trained mechanic and he knows what he is doing.

All were in green until one red mark popped up – the stop light seemed to have short-circuited and need to be grounded (the stop light were still working though). He checked something in the car. He ran the test again and I noted the same error message was still displaying on the screen. He went back and checked something – I could not see what he was doing under the dashboard and then suddenly he disconnected the computer and started to drive out the car from the working area.

He did not update me on what was the problem and what has been fixed. I caught him and asked him what was the problem and has it been fixed – he with a blur face (or rather surprised face) remarked that it has been “solved”. He then drove around the car, slammed on the brakes a couple of times and then parked it. He walked to me and passed back the keys and said settled. I asked if the problem would occur again and his remarks (with the same blur face) were “maybe, if yes, bring back the car”. It was not as assuring as I wished it to be. What the fuck he meant by “maybe”? Did he and did he not fixed the problem? And why the comment “bring back the car” – as if I had nothing better to do in my life.

I didn’t trust the mechanic, not by the way he responded to me. Just to be sure, I drove around – I still had to settle some of the outstanding errands but I kept with one eye on the dashboard. The check engine warning light did not come back for rest of the day. Perhaps the mechanic did fixed the nagging problem for good. I had a good night sleep that day – at least one problem has been resolved. The next morning as I got ready to drive to work, I was suspicious but the check engine warning light remained switched off. Is everything back to normal? Unfortunately it was not – I left the workplace in the evening and barely 10 minutes into the journey back home, the check engine warning light lit again and it has been so for past few days. Switching on and off the ignition somehow solves the issue but not on long term basis – I am not sure what else is being damaged in the process.

Damn that mechanic! Now I have waste my time again to make appointment and get my car checked again at another service centre – hopefully one that has less dumbass mechanics.

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Damn, I Got Screwed!!

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I got “screwed” twice over, couple weeks ago and I almost got “screwed” for the third time around.

Screw on tire2

(Not the photo of the screw that “screwed” my tires weeks ago but it’s close to what I experienced. Good thing was it did not lead to more serious consequences like my car flying off the highway and causing a bloody mess along the way but still it was a major annoyance . Image source: http://www.the370z.com/)

Let’s start on a fine Monday morning where I got before the alarm which is a rare these days. The baby had slept early the night before and rarely woke up in between, leaving us to take a good sleep. So I woke up feeling rather fresh. The morning was great too – the air seemed fresher than usual. My spidey sense should have tingled by now but it did not. The time on my watch showed it was still 6 in the morning. I got into the car and as I started to drive, I felt the steering to be a bit sluggish. Then I heard the loud scrapping sound from the front – I immediately knew that my tire was flat even before I got down from the car. I usually do a “pre-drive” inspection (just like how a pilot checks before he flies a plane) but somehow this morning, I failed to do it. The tire was flat and the front body kit had scrapped the road (but it was not obvious). It was too early in the morning for me to drive to the nearest tire shop.

With a mixed feeling (I was both furious and shocked), I parked the car back into the porch (another scrap of the front body kit, ouch!) and decided to change to the spare tire first. But first thing first – I need to change my clothes first – I know it is going to be hot, sweaty and dirty. It was a good exercise in the morning if you asked me – I was profusely sweating and legs & arms aching by the time I got the car jacked up. The opening of the wheel nuts was a big challenge – it was tighten using a powerful air-powered wrench, so I knew it will not be easily opened using a hand-held wrench. The wheel nuts simply refused to budge even after I used all my strength to press down the wrench. I then decided to stand on the wrench and do several small jumps. With a loud “thud”, the nut finally started to get loose and I did the same for the other 3 nuts. Nuts taken out and the car well jacked up and you will be thinking that it will be easy from there onwards. It was not the case. I could not move the tire – I then decided to kick the flat tire from the wheel hub and only then it started to move and I managed to get the wheel off the hub. Then I found the culprit for the flat tire – a small screw right in the centre. How it got there was a mystery since the tire seemed fine as I drove in to the porch the night before. We suspected that the bloody f**cking screw must have dropped on the porch when we did house cleaning a day before.

The flat tire taken out and the spare tire were fixed without much hassle but then I had nothing else to do until the tire shop opens late at 9.30 am. As my shirt was rather wet with my sweat and the dirt from the tire and a couple of hours to kill, it was time to take the shower and go back to sleep. So much so for waking up earlier before the alarm goes off.

(The right way to change the flat tire – I missed some of the steps mentioned here though)

I thought that was the end of my troubles. After the first flat, the drive did not feel as smooth as it used to be before the flat. It could just be my perception but still, I decided to check the tires and alignments at the tire shop – it has been sometime since I did that so I would be “killing two birds with one stone” – get alignment done and also to check on any damage to the rim. The current tire had plenty of tread left (thanks to the low mileage and having 2 cars in the house) but I was prepared to change the whole tire if need to. The place I usually go was packed so I decided to drive around until I saw a large tire shop with fewer cars at the bay and some of mechanics sitting down, waiting for the next customer. I drove in and asked them to do the wheel balancing and alignment which was done rather half-heartedly especially on part of wheel balancing (the guy claimed that is the best that they can do, which I know was untrue).

They did not do a good job there and I regretted coming to this run-down shop. And what the mechanic said to me after taking my car to test confirmed my impression of the shop. Seeing that my car had low mileage (compared to make year), he probably mistook me for a newbie and said that I need to change my front shock absorbers as it has been ‘damaged’ due to the rain & sunshine (come on lah brother, this is Malaysia). Yes, it was clear that he was pulling a fast one on me – if he had simply said that shock had damaged and was leaking, I would have believed him and would have been ready to throw hundreds of ringgits on the spot for a new set. But no, his reason to persuade me to change the shock absorbers was rather dumb. I knew I need stop on my tracks and get second opinion elsewhere (unfortunately I got an equally dumb answer from the authorised service centre). I know that firstly a good shock absorbers can last for at least 50,000 to 80,000 kilometres (it lasted almost 83,000 on my old car) and secondly a quick bounce test (not necessarily accurate) shows that the shock is still in good working condition. The mechanics were urging me to change the stock shock absorbers (with even dumber excuses) but with an equally dumb face, I said no – even if I had decided to change, certainly this would not be the shop I would go to. This is one kind of “screw” I do not want to be whacked with at the moment.

Despite the wheel balancing and alignment, something was still not right – at a distance of my mind, I started to wonder if the mechanics at the tire shop had told me the truth but as I drive more, the drive was not that bad. And after the periodic service, it got much better but I know I need to deal with tires and shock absorbers when the time comes.

Then I ran into another disaster on the weekend when we went over to Putrajaya where they had the International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta. We have been planning to go there for sometime now (the Big Boss have been bugging me day and night on this) but could not find the right time to go. My son had swimming classes in the morning and it was too early for my wife and the baby to wake up (I too dread the thought of waking up so early on a weekend – who wouldn’t right?). We decided to go in the evening when it is cooler and when they will fly the hot air balloons again. But sensing that it will be a bit too much trouble if we bring along the baby, we decided to leave her with my mother this time around. We barely drove out from our residential guard house when we seemed to have driven over something. As we continue to drive, there was a loud “thud, thud, thud” sound so we quickly stopped by the road side and checked the tires. Although it was not so visible when I first checked but another close inspection revealed a large screw firmly entrenched on the tire.

Kicking myself (in my mind), I checked and suspected that the tire was loosing air, so there was no time to lose – as the tire shops are closed on Sundays, I had to drive back to the house before the tire goes completely flat and we are “stranded” by the roadside. It will not be easy (and safe) to change tire by the road side. It was a blessing in disguise that we did not drive far from our housing area and we had decided to leave the baby at home. With the loud “thud, thud, thud” sound, I slowly drove back to the house and parked the car on the porch and checked on the tire again – it has yet to go flat but there was no time to change the tire. We quickly hopped into my wife’s car and went to the hot air balloon fiesta. When we came back almost at 8 pm, I had expected my car’s tire to be completely flat but it was not (the air in the tire to be holding well despite the large screw stuck to the tire). My wife and my sister commented that it may be possible for me to drive to the tire shop the next day but before I agreed to that, there was one more test to be done. I took a bit of the soap water and ran it on the place the screw was stuck – the tire was indeed loosing air (bubbles was forming) and I knew that another 7 – 8 hours later, the tire would be indeed flat. So it was time again to change my clothes and take out the spare tire. I rather do it in the evening than in the morning.

Flat tires was nothing new – since I started driving a car, I probably had about 7-8 of them but it was the first time I got screwed twice within a week and thanks to my past experience with car workshops & dubious spare parts, I managed to avoid getting screwed for the 3rd time. It is still a phobia to drive out – sharp end of screws and nails and any sharp objects that can puncture the tires are damn hard to see. The good side of the story was that it happened near to my house and I must thank my good karma for that. It would have been bad if I had to change my tires by the road side or worse, driving fast without me knowing about the puncture.

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Prepping in Malaysia Part 2

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Read Part 1 here

Before we proceed further, here’s an interesting revelation on the Mayan calendar that I recently read in the internet:-

Many, many people have tried to work out why the ancient Mayan Long Count calendar ends in 2012. Relatively few people have investigated why it began in 3114 BC. This date is long before the existence of the Maya, and even the Olmec. So what sorts of things were happening around the date of 3114 BC?

In Egypt the Pharoanic age began with Narmer, (aka Menes – the Scorpion King), who became ruler at roughly 3100 BC. He unified Egypt. The current age of the Hindu religion, Kali Yuga, began in 3102 BC. 3100 BC is when the first stage of Stonehenge was constructed, as well as the first stage of Newgrange. And the Tarxien Temples of Malta were also built at the same time.

(Source)

Just an interesting thought that the Mayan calendar calculation started at about the same time as the start of Kali Yuga (considering that we are about to enter the last month of the year 2012).

(A must have for doomsday preppers or anyone who often misplaces the batteries – more durable LED lights without any batteries! Image source: Tesco)

My “doomsday” storeroom is going quite well with the number of my canned food increased and not “reducing” so drastically as before.

But it takes a good sum of money and time to properly stock with the necessary items (namely foodstuff) and presently a portion of that money is now channeled to my baby’s diapers and milk powder which we now buy upfront and in a larger package and stock up in the “doomsday” storeroom. But then, there are also other developments for the storeroom – a couple of boxes of charcoals (in smaller boxes that nicely fits the storeroom shelves) are recent new addition. And I also got a large packet of a good quality charcoal from Pasar Borong (for less than RM15) which I know will come in handy when our 2 LPG gas cylinders (1 in use, another is a spare and is in full capacity) goes empty (I already bought a large charcoal stove several months before).

It was time to kick-start the next stage – having a basic bug-out-bag when I am on the move. Most of us spent more time outside and far from the comfort & safety of our homes during the weekdays and we also need to consider the possible readiness that one can do if there is an emergency and it is not possible to drive back home. The roads that we often use may be flooded or severely damaged, the weather may be too severe to venture out, the integrated public transportation may break down and on a worst case scenario, violent riots may break up causing us to hole up at workplace as how many of the New Yorkers found out recently during Hurricane Sandy.

I started with looking for a bag big enough to keep enough items to last couple of hours assuming I have to make my way without driving or taking public transport back to the house. The suggested contents of a bug-out bag may contain the followings:-

  • Enough food and water to last for seventy two hours. This includes (4 litres (1 gallon) of water per person per day, for washing, drinking and cooking, non-perishable food, water purification supplies, cooking supplies & cutlery and cups/dishes).
  • A first aid kit. Fire starting tool (i.e. matches, ferro rod, lighter, etc.)
  • A disaster plan including location of emergency centers, rallying points, possible evacuation routes etc.
  • Professional emergency literature explaining what to do in various types of disaster studied and understood before the actual disaster but kept for reference.
  • Maps and travel information.
  • Standard camping equipment, including sanitation supplies.
  • Weather appropriate clothing (poncho, headwear, gloves, etc.)
  • Bedding items such as sleeping bags & blankets. Enough medicine to last an extended evacuation period.
  • Pet, child and elderly care needs.
  • Battery or crank operated Radio.
  • Lighting (battery or crank operated flashlight, glow sticks).
  • Crowbar (weapon, building and vehicle entry, etc.)
  • Cash and change, as electronic banking transactions may not be available during the initial period following an emergency or evacuation.
  • Fixed-blade or folding knife.

But that list above is for a bug-out-bag when one had to leave the comfort of the house in case of an emergency. I needed a “lighter” version of it and I decided for start, to have these items for the mobile bug-out-bag (wrap with plastic bag to keep the bag dry)

  • A change of dry, clean clothes
  • A crank operated flash light
  • A couple of cans of tuna (one with easy ring pull tab)
  • A multi-purpose Swiss knife
  • 2 bottles of water
  • A spare dry shoes and a pair of socks
  • First aid bag
  • A couple empty plastic bags

It does not take too much space in my car boot too and I know that I usually not that far from my car (which explains why my wife complains when I do not want to go to places where I have to park my car far), so that means I am not that far from my “mobile” bug-out-bag.  I need to stuff the bag with more items as and when I have the time to get them but still within the “light” version borderline.

To be continued…

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No To Cheaper Cars?

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(The latest Toyota Camry 2.5 is priced RM180,000 in Malaysia whilst the premium model only costs RM91,000 in US. So why is the huge difference in the car pricing in this country? Imagine source: TheCarGuys)

Folks, the general elections are coming soon and as I mentioned in my blog in the past, we must insist on voting for politicians who are able to see the bigger picture and be more intelligent enough in ensuring the issues that they raise in the public arena are of public interest and shapes the general policy and direction of this country.

One of the recent issues that were raised is the Pakatan Rakyat’s proposed plan to reduce price of cars in this country.

The proposal to reduce the prices of cars in this country by Pakatan Rakyat (an issue where a proper closure has been long overdue) if they are voted into power has sent a rather disturbing ripple among BN politicians. The reasons and the benefits to reduce car prices obviously works in good favour of the ordinary citizens and yet, we have not seen any BN politicians (except perhaps this guy) who had come out in the open with full support of this proposal.

Why? Is it because the proposal was initiated by the opposition and thus the support for the proposal is seen as a support for the opposition?

In argument against the said proposal, some argued that it will put the local automotive industry at a disadvantage once foreign cars were made cheaper. Valid argument no doubt but then again, how long more the local automotive industry needs to be able to compete on a global sense after almost 30 years in existence? Others try to stir racial issue by saying that the majority employed in the industry from a particular race and the impact of cheaper cars means a challenge to the race’s rights, which is rather nonsense as all races in this country are also involved in the industry one way or another.

Then we have this argument:-

Dalam keghairahan Pakatan Rakyat untuk menurunkan harga kereta, mereka terlupa untuk memberi maklumat kepada rakyat Malaysia apakah impak cadangan tersebut terhadap kualiti alam sekitar dan kenaikan sisa karbon serta kesesakan lalu lintas di jalanraya.

Ramai orang merasakan cadangan mengurangkan harga kereta ini bercanggah dengan tindakan kerajaan untuk menubuhkan Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat (SPAD) yang dipertangggungjawabkan untuk mereformasikan sistem pengangkutan awam di negara kita.

Seperkara lagi, orang kampung di luar bandar tidak akan mampu untuk membeli kereta walaupun harga kereta diturunkan. Tetapi mereka akan merasa implikasi dari cadangan ini. Besar kemungkinan mereka terpaksa berkorban kerana sekolah dan klinik di kawasan pendalaman terpaksa di kurangkan akibat kekurangan peruntukan pembangunan disebabkan cukai kereta berbillion ringgit yang dipungut oleh kerajaan sudah berkurangan.

Ini belum lagi membicarakan tentang komitmen negara kita untuk mengurangkan intensiti karbon negara sebanyak 40% sepertimana yang diperakui oleh Malaysia dalam Protokol Kyoto.

(Source)

The MP for Kota Belud raises two key issues in response to Pakatan Rakyat’s call to reduce the price of vehicles in this country. One is the impact on the environment due to more vehicles purchased (since it is cheaper acquire them now) and two, the expected increase in traffic jam. He also said that the call for cheaper car is going against the on-going reformation of the public transport by the Government (although I don’t see the direct implication of cheap car on the reformation process as public transport still need to be reformed regardless whether cars are made cheaper or not) and the Government would lose a sizeable income and will cause the country unable to meet the carbon intensity by 40% as dictated by the Kyoto Protocol.

Before that, let’s ponder why Pakatan Rakyat is calling for reduction of car price in the country in the first place?

High taxation is the reason why cars are so expensive in Malaysia. Currently, according to Rafizi, Malaysians pay 70% in taxes when they buy locally-made cars of below 1,500cc.

“Buyers end up paying almost RM16,500 in excise duties and sales tax for a car worth RM40,000,” he said. “On top of that, car owners also pay about 4% in interest for the loan.” According to his estimation, a typical car owner in Malaysia pays nearly RM600 a month towards settling his car loan. Toll charges and the cost of petrol would take up another RM400 of his monthly income.

Rafizi said Pakatan would phase out excise duties on cars to reduce household debt and increase disposable income.

Citing the Statistics Department’s Household and Basic Amenities Survey Report 2009, he said 53% of Malaysian households earn less than RM3,000 a month. “The report also shows that 71.9% of Malaysians own a car,” he said. “High car installments have become one of the reasons Malaysians are burdened with huge debt.”

As of May 2012, car loans repayment ranked second highest in household debt, standing at a staggering RM134 billion, he added.

(Source)

It is not a big secret that Malaysians are paying ridiculous price for cars in this country compared to other countries. And a bulk of the price is attributed to excise duties and sales tax. And seriously I am in favour for cheaper cars – the benefits are just too obvious – more people will be able to drive in cars that are safer, more economical, environmental friendly and equipped with better technology. And with car price cheaper, the hire purchase amount would be lower and Malaysians would have more disposal income for their family, education and healthcare. If you think about it, a good portion of the hire purchase loan is now being used to pay off a bulk of the excise duties and sales tax which has incorporated into the overall car price. This means we are in high debt to pay taxes to the Government.

Let’s leave aside the issue of the impact on the local automotive industry (there will be some impact no doubt but what is more important is how the industry plans to address the current shortcomings and go head to head in the global market) and on how Pakatan intends to make up the loss of a sizable income for the Government due to reduced excise duties and sales tax.

Let’s focus on the Kota Belut MP’s 2 main argument’s against the lowering the cost of cars in this country.

Impact on the Environment

(The standard that we use for emission evaluation – the European Emission Standard which started back in 1992. Where is the Malaysian version of this? Image source: Wikipedia)

We must recognize that modern cars are far more efficient than the cars that we drove 10 – 20 years ago. With the influx of hybrid cars and cars that meet the European emission standards (with EURO 6 coming up soon in 2014), the impact on the environment is low and in general sense, is improving with a more stringent emission standards put in place.

If we still insist on meeting the reduction of the carbon intensity by 40% as dictated by the Kyoto Protocol, then we should not only address the emission from vehicles on the road but also holistically, greenhouse gas emission from other industries (such as the energy industry) as carbon dioxide is just one of the greenhouse gas identified in the Protocol. And if we are only looking at emission from vehicles, then shouldn’t we insist on a stringent emission standards for all vehicles in this country? We don’t have our own emission standards but often rely on European emission standards and how many vehicles in this country meet the latest European emission standards? Only the very latest Proton models (running on Campro CFE with CVT) seem to meet the latest EURO 5 emission standard but what about the rest?

Average Car Carbon Emission in European Union Countries = 160 g/km
Target for 2012 = 120 g/km
Target for 2020 = 80 g/km

Proton Gen-2 Carbon Emission = 157 g/km (ranges from 131 to 192 g/km for other models)
Proton Waja/Impian Carbon Emission = 167 g/km (manual transmission) 172 g/km (auto transmission)
Proton Satria Neo Carbon Emission = 177 g/km
Proton Savvy Carbon Emission = 134 g/km

Proton Waja and Proton Satria Neo beat the average car carbon emission in Europe. Seems like Proton Savvy is the greenest of all (not so green though) at 134 g/km considering that it is only a 1200 cc.

If you drive your car 10,000 miles per year and have an average polluting car (i.e 160g/km of carbon emissions) then every year your car will emit 2.6 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide. If you wish it offset this amount by planting trees you would need to plant at least 4 trees for every year you spend driving the car.

Proton’s cars are not so green. In fact, there are no information regarding carbon emission in Proton’s official website or Proton’s brochure. It is only mentioned “Low carbon emission” in the sales brochure. Well, not so low after all!

(Source)

We still have “tonnes” of older Proton models on the road, still emitting greenhouse gases year in, year out. Why not we enforce the emission control on them and other older models? By making the price of new cars cheaper, aren’t we accelerating the change of the older fuel guzzling, higher greenhouse gases emitting vehicles to newer fuel saving, lower greenhouse gases emitting vehicles?

Impact on the Traffic Jam

Even with the current high cost of car ownership, there is no positive improvement on the traffic jam especially in the Klang Valley and other major cities.Perhaps the situation is all rosy and well in Kota Belut but not so here – just try to drive during the peak hours and see how fast you can go.

This is because we have to come to a situation where having a car is no longer a luxury but rather a bare necessity. It is also safer and more convenient compared to one using the public transport (which is still in the process of revamping itself). Most household these days have at least 2 cars as it is also necessary for housewives to drive for daily shopping and to send & pick up their kids from school, etc. So before we can argue that cheaper cars means worsening traffic jams, we need to see the condition of traffic movement at the present and what is being done to elevate the situation.

Just look at Klang Valley with it’s all road infrastructure and public transportation integration at the very best, the traffic condition is still bad. Number of cars on the road is obviously a reason for the bad traffic jam but there are other factors as well. Queue jumping at key bottlenecks chokes the overall traffic system and gets cascaded all over. Another is the lack of feeder roads to the main roads especially from one residential area to another. The traffic jam is made worse due to high number of vehicles with low occupancy rate (just check and see how many people in most of the cars) and a lack of coordinated travel time similar to the one deployed during the festive season (or based on registration number which will force a greater use of public transport) for day to day travel to and fro workplace.

If cars are made cheaper, it will not necessarily means that the traffic jam will get worse (it already is) by a very drastic rate. There will be some increase (perhaps by those motorcyclists who now can afford to buy cars) but how much the increase will be is highly dependant on other factors as mentioned above. And there are others costs need to be considered as well – maintenance charges, parking, toll and fuel which will play crucial role on those who wants to drive around in a car on a daily basis.

Final Say

It is easy to say that all of Pakatan’s ideas are bad ideas and throw-in the usual arguments towards it but we need a solid solution for the existing problems as well. In the case of Pakatan’s call for cheaper cars in this country, one would strongly agree that there will be a major impact on the local automotive industry and the revenue for the Government (which Pakatan said is manageable if the general expenses are well managed) but then again, does that mean we should keep the car prices arbitrarily high and keep the people in high debts and away from better quality, safer & a more environment friendly cars?

If the Government is not agreeable in reducing the car price down, then what would be the alternative measures to increase the household disposable income of those who need to use a car for their daily routine and yet a bulk of their income is tied to high car price & loan? A more flexible hire purchase arrangement (like using monthly rest and not Rule 78 or multi tier hire purchase rate) or perhaps some kind of long term cash rebate or sales tax relief for those who drive a more eco-friendly (remember we need to address the targets under the Kyoto Protocol) cars? Or perhaps some staggered tax policy that based on the capacity of the vehicle and net income of the car owner?

Can we have this now? No, not the cheaper price for cars but rather, a better focus of the issues at hand.

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Trip to Oriental Paris – Part 1

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(Part 1 of many parts, I hope)

(The flight was full but I was looking forward to the trip with a good selection of on-demand movies to kill the time. MAS’ inflight service and food was tip-top as usual, something that holds an edge over other airlines)

It literally started with a BANG!

Another overseas trip and I was kind of “ok” of missing Deepavali again. I was packing my luggage and somehow realized that I did not pack my toothpaste (ya, of all things!). I checked my drawer and realized that we have run out “travel sized” toothpaste. The fact that I will be staying in a 4 star hotel where they provide complimentary tooth paste on daily basis or I can always buy one at the nearest convenience store did not occur to me. I looked at my watch – there was 4 hours to kill before I need to head to the airport.

So, I decided to go and buy myself toothpaste and just as I was leaving the house, my son ran up and wanted to follow me (I guess he is already missing me). So there we were after buying that all important toothpaste, in the car chatting and listening to good music when we neared a junction. There was an old beat up Wira at the front. I waited for the car to exit the junction and somehow I kept looking towards my right. I saw there was a gap in the traffic and decided that the car at the front had exited and foolishly pressed on the accelerator. BIG MISTAKE! The bugger did not move at all and all I heard was a loud bang.

Damn! My first accident on my new car and it was due to a simple silly mistake (or rather toothpaste). I came out after telling my son to sit still in the car. First thing I looked at was the other car’s bumper (I was dreadful to see the damage on my car). The damage was not that bad and being a Wira, the bumper clip had come out and I knew that it could be easily fixed. The driver came out – an old man and he looked at the bumper and started to exaggerate the damage – he said the whole bumper had gone under his car but I was not buying it (I admit that it was my fault and I was willing to pay for the damage but not to the extend that I was willing to be taken for a “ride”)

Then I turn to look at damage on my car and I got a shock. Not a scratch at all. At bit of the bumper plastic came out of place but I managed to fix that in back (I later realized that 2 bumper clips had came out as well but it was not that obvious). We exchanged some details but surprisingly the other driver did not take down the most important details of all – my phone number.

As I am rushing for the airport now, I decided to take him to the nearest workshop which I knew. I went over and had a “friendly” chat with the workshop owner and discussed the cost to repair the damage – the whole thing was settled for RM60. I paid the owner the money and told the driver that he will get his “already damaged before this accident” bumper fixed. Then I rushed back to the house, threw the bloody toothpaste into the luggage and went down to put the bag into the car. I double checked my car for any more damage but nothing bad was visible from the front. I need to check this again when I take my car for the next service. But it was painful indeed, very painful.

Made it to the airport in good time and met up with a colleague of mine who was traveling with me. Body wise, I was at the airport but my mind was elsewhere – wondering if I could have turn back the time and avoided the accident. But you know what the most painful part of the whole journey was – I never used the toothpaste that I bought in Malaysia. It was not a good start that I hoped for but for now, I was looking forward to the 5 ½ hours journey and almost a month long stay in Shanghai – the Oriental Paris.

To be continued…