It was heartbreaking to see NIK AI being towed away to the nearest workshop. It all happened last night when we heard a loud pop sound under the car when we were on our way to the laundromat. The engine oil indicator immediately lighted up and we could hear the engine was making lots of noises. We went ahead to load our laundry in the washer and immediately left to the workshop which changed the car oil in the morning. Unfortunately, the workshop was closed already by then. We had no clue what happened to the car!! ... and what they did to the car during the regular car service in the morning!!
On our way back from the laundry, the engine just died before we reached home. Farhan and I were pushing the car while D was controlling the steering. A sad story indeed! Consulting our dear friend in Michigan, Bulan the car expert, helped us in understanding the incident better. We later found out the pop sound was the oil filter which got detached from below the car and the car did not even have a single drop of engine oil when we sent it to the workshop. The workshop, of course, did not want to admit their negligence when they changed the engine oil that morning! Update: We were informed that the only way for NIK AI to be on the road again in by replacing it with a new engine which will cost us a few thousand bucks :(. We had to rent a car for the weekend since we had already invited Malaysian students here to come to our open house on Sunday. The good intention must go on, eh? We just had to delay our sadness as we had to prepare the food and entertain our guests. Dear God, please give us strength! We are now mourning and looking for the silver lining behind this unfortunate incident! Being carless here is not easy since we're not staying in university family housing where transport to the school is not an issue. |
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OMG I am so sorry to see the car being towed away like that.This must be one of those days when money flew away just like that. Last week before going to KL I sent my Vios for regular services and guess what? They discovered both the dive shaft was damaged. But the left drive shaft was damaged so badly that it had to be replaced immediatedly for safety reason.. It cost me $3600.00 and when I reached KL Zan told me that he cannot open the bonnet of his Wira.. He told me the brake failed when his friends who was driving in front of him brake suddenly. It cost me $200.00 to fix the dent and had the bonnet repainted. Then the window regular regulator also not working and fuel gauge not working.It cost me another $675.00. I hope you are taking all these in your stride because it seems that some cars that are more than 3 years old will start giving you problems.That is why some people like to change their cars every three years..
Datinnikzaharah · 2009-10-28: 06:01
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Ohh... so sorry to hear about your two cars! Hmm... what happened to all our cars?! That's why some people over here prefer to lease a car for 2-3 years rather than own a car.. no need to worry about maintaining the car at all..
elinordin · 2009-10-28: 14:21
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can you lease a car for 2 to 3 years?. I think that should be a smart options.
Datinnikzaharah · 2009-10-28: 16:29
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yes but the monthly payment is not that cheap and at the end of the day the car is not yours. it's probably a smart option for those who have high credit scores as they can get best rates.
elinordin · 2009-10-29: 11:05
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your car had served you so well and brought you to so many interesting and beautiful places. I love it too and hope you will not send it away because of that little breakdown.
Datinnikzaharah · 2009-10-29: 12:04
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So sorry to hear about the car. Camry is a good and reliable car. Very unfortunate for the engine to be damaged because the oil filter popped out like that. Most likely, the filter was not fitted properly by the mechanic at the service center. We are just back from Houston recently. I saw Walmart ads numerous times on TV there promoting people to change car engine oil by themselves. The ads makes it sound like it is such an easy task. I've never done it before but hearing what happened to your car, I'll be very careful if I were to change the oil myself especially even a car service center could screwed-up like what happened to your car.
Jatt · 2009-11-05: 18:44
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We're still car-less and hope to get it back by next week as promised. Hopefully the replacement engine will be as good as the original. Yup, we all need to be careful next time.. Houston is too far if not we cud have met yeah Jatt.. Ma, yes the car has served us well, brought us around the US for more than 30 states. Nope, we're not planning to sell it.
elinordin · 2009-11-08: 15:56
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