Car Maintenance

I sent my car for the routine service last weekend. I did some alignment and balancing since I felt that the car's handling was really out. Wow..the bill was high since I opted for the authorized service center. You know, up till today, I am still asking people if they know any reliable workshop. Actually I found one quite near my place but since I am going to shift soon to my new place, I didn't make the effort to try it out. As most of you have guessed, you will never know whether a workshop is good unless you have already tried it.

So, I got some problems solved. One of them was the squeeling sound coming from the belts in the car engine. The solution ... change all three belts. One was for the fan, one was for the aircond and one was for the steering. Costs me a bit on those three belt. The end result, no more squeeling sound when doing a cold start in the morning. I guess it was ok. You see, nowadays, most of these workshop would recommend changing the parts rather than just figuring out what the heck is wrong. I did gotten the belts tighten but it only solved the squeeling sound temporarily. After a while, the sound came back. One the other hand, sometimes if you don't solve the problem in the car, it might cause other problems. Something like the spill-over effect, except that it's a bad spill-over effect.

Well, one problem solved another crops up. After having my car's alignment and balancing done, I had a funny feeling while driving. There is a feeling of a slight "tud" while driving. I did check. The road was even and eventually, I felt the slight bump when driving in the parking lot. Darn...something must be loose or something must have broke but I certainly hope it is not the latter. So back to the workshop tomorrow to have it checked. I thought it could be my imagination but in the end, I just can't ignore that slight feeling of a bump. So I solved one problem and try to solve another problem and eventually got them problems fixed. However, a new one cropped up.

I guess owning a car is like that. Especially locally made cars which tend to be a bit .... sissy. They're just not durable. I certainly hope i can describe the problem to the supervisor. I've even checked with the local auto forum and most of them say something must be loose when they did the alignment.

Oh yeah, not to mention the lesson learnt. Don't do your alignment and balancing at a normal workshop that does everything. Do it at a tyre shop. Why...tyre shops do what they do best....tyres and wheels. Man... this kinda hit me. Because prior to the car service, I was pondering on whether to get the alignment and balancing done at the tyre shop nearby my place. Well, like they say...if you don't try, you won't know. Idiot !!!!

So...what do I need to do?
Simple, find another workshop which is convenient and reliable. And of course, most would probably charge less than the authorized service center charges.

Man...I really need a beer. Oh..i just had one. Hahaha....

Ya Baby!!!