Last Sunday, as my wife and I were making our way back from KL to PLR we ran into some car trouble. It happened in Seri Iskandar, about 50kms away from Sitiawan. I was accelerating after the traffic light turned green when suddenly we heard an explosion. I quickly took my foot off the accelerator and started merging to the left lane. By then the back of the car was swerving all over. I pulled over safely and reversed slowly to a safe spot. Got out and saw the tire had exploded. I was already planning to have my tires changed as they were just over 2 years since I last changed them in Langkawi just before coming back to KL. However, I wasn't expecting the back tires to go first as they were in much better shape than the front ones which were pretty worn.
I brought the triangle out of the car and placed it on the road and proceeded to get the spare out of the car. Then lo and behold it starts to rain... tiu... my wife held the umbrella for me while I tried to unscrew the cap that held the spare in place. I turned and turned and turned for what seemed like an eternity and till my hands hurt but it just didn't come loose. The thread of the screw was gone. The spare was stuck. It was now pouring... I went to the glove compartment and brought out the glove and tried again... then the 'equipment' came out... I tried using brute force to pry it open but it remained stuck. It's a Sunday. It's just after 5pm. The town is about a kilometer away but I doubt I'd be able to find a shop that would be open.
So after much contemplating we decided to have the car towed. I called the office to have them call our panel workshop. They happened to know someone who was coming from Tronoh and told me it will cost me RM120. I agreed and we waited. In the meantime the office was sending a car to pick us up. While waiting, my wife and I chatted... she was pretty impressed that for a 10 year old car, I still had all the 'extras' in the car. The spare tire, the jack, the gloves, the triangle and even a mobile hazard lamp. Of course la... I take driving very seriously. :)
After waiting for 80 minutes, the tow truck came. There was a slight problem. He had to tow from the front or the gearbox might get damaged. But we can't do so without changing the back tire first. The spare was stuck. So we had to swap tires with the front. But he only has one jack. My jack can only be accessed if the spare was removed. Alamak! So the poor guy had to improvise... in the rain. He had to use everything he had on his truck as 'stands'. After about 30 minutes, he succeeded in swapping the tires and the car came just in time to pick us up.
On Tuesday, the workshop changed my tires. They were closed on Monday. I wanted Yokohama C Drive 2 but they were not available in Sitiawan in the profile that I wanted so I had to settle for Continental CC5s. Tires, balancing and alignment came to RM1.2k. And on Thursday we took the car out for a drive and also cleaned it up.
The CC5s have softer sidewalls compared to the Dunlops that I had. So, we have a softer ride now. I then gave my wife a lesson on tire pressure and what not... and most importantly, I thought her to care for our car. I am a firm believer that if you care for your car, your car in return will care for you. Never miss your servicing. Send your car for frequent waxing or do it yourself. Buy GOOD tires, and brakes... good does not necessarily mean expensive although it usually is. I NEVER EVER buy second hand stuff for my car... NEVER... I just don't have the confidence nor do I want to gamble with my life. But that's just me... and maybe that's why my 10-year old CBU car is in better shape than most 5-year old locally assembled cars.
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