Know Your Car Basics 101: Looking For A Good Car Service

My car was up for its regular 5,000 km service again last week and after a total mileage of 129,200 km to date, I sense the car was falling apart especially in the mornings.

So, having the Monday off was a blessing in disguise – my regular workshop had fewer cars to work with and that allowed my mechanic to concentrate on my car from the time I parked the car in front of the shop. My hopes for a cheaper service was however dashed when it was found that the bearing near the air-cond belt had become faulty and need to be changed. That explained the weird sound coming from the belts.

Unlike others, I like to dirty my hands working on my car and my mechanic knows that. He took out the faulty part and put the greased laden part on my hand. He asked me to turn it and hear for the uneven sound. He put the new part on my hands and asked me to compare it.

But when it comes to the car and faulty parts, I don’t question my mechanic’s diagnostics – the last thing I need is to be driving an unsafe car with my family in it. Since I was at it, I also decided to check on my left rear door locking system which had failed for some time now. It locks and unlocks if I have been driving for some time but when it is stationary, it fails to unlock.

Of course, the “original” Proton part will cost me RM60 plus and time to order it. The mechanic had a cheaper alternative but it gets the job done the same. My right rear door had the same problem 2 years ago and I used the same cheaper alternative to get that fix. Interesting that the rear locking system fails after just 3 years I had bought the car (brand new).

Total cost for the day – RM240 including the usual oil and filter change.

Once again, thank you Proton

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