my lil'Chomel

My car's air cond really want to kaput. I really have to part with large sum of money. Why me?!? Why now?!? I guess my car's old age-ness means more repairs to come... Ouch!! Touch wood touch wood. So, I must learn how to take care of my car better, right? "Yeah right" says Hubby. Prior to the news that I have a major repair work to do...

Symtoms:
The air cond was blowing fine one minute. The next minute no cool air coming out. I thought the gas leaked so I asked the mechanic to check the gas. They found a burnt fuse and fill-up the gas.
One month later, the same thing happened again. The mechanic replace the fuse and it was burnt the minute he place it in the fuse slot (with the engine runnig).

Diagnosis:
A burnt fuse may indicate a short circuit.

Initial recommendation:
I was told that I have to replace the air cond's compressor and it will cost me RM500 in total for the repair (RM380 for the air compressor + workmanship + other parts that needs replacing).

I felt like I need a second opinion. Now feeling a bit cheated cos I might not even need to fill up my gas in the first place!

Second opinion:
"Why do you need to change the compressor when only the coil is spoilt?" asked Hubby's mechanic in his hometown. So, Hubby offered to drive down to his hometown to get it repaired since he has to do some work there. God is great! The mechanic changed the coil, replace the gasket and some other things and it cost me RM200!

Lesson learned:
1. Always get second opinion for major repair or send it to someone you really really trust.
2. Mechanics nowadays want to cut corners whenever they can i.e. change the whole assembly instead of checking the part one-by-one. Time is money to them. Don't trust them entirely (almost similar to point no 1)
3. Go to a smaller town like your hometown to do any car repair. Or when you are visiting/ on holidays in smaller towns... change tyres also cheaper le.
4. Last but not least, take care of your car. Susah lah macam ini.

Shida, why didn't I ask your brother about this ah? Aiyaya.

for my car loan anymore. It is true when they say a car is a liability. The cycle is as such... when you are done paying the loan, its time to spend money on major repair work. Its like human actually. After you have used your body for about 50 - 55 years, its time to do major maintenance: menopause, arthritis, heart disease, high blood pressure, your body parts begin to fall apart... and then die. OK, not to scare anyone here.

My car's aircond decided to throw in the towel. Not really dead yet but the mechanic ask me to be prepared: not to have any nice cool air or dig into my pocket till it make some holes. I might have to change the aircond's compressor (seriously I don't know how it looks like) and usually when it comes to car issues, I'll just trust the mechanic. And then I get a bill like I've just changed a car! Sigh! So this time, I did something different. Called Hubby, explained the situation and I DECIDED not to do anything till Hubby has a word with the workshop's boss. Hehehe. Hubby knew the boss a bit after he had "invested" some money to the workshop (major repair la). So, for now, I still have cooled air until the compressor really decided to be mean to me.

Timing couldn't be any better. The whole of Malaysia is on sale!!!