Swordie Bloggie

Toyota is one of the biggest car producers in the world… and it has been the leader for many years. But Toyota is facing huge problem since a couple of years…

Toyota is the only Japanese car I like… and I support their F1 team together with Mercedes F1… but unfortunately their F1 team will not be racing this year… same with few other teams which were hit by the world financial meltdown last year.

For the past two years, Toyota has been recalling its vehicles… and it has recalled millions already. They are top in sales but they are also top in recall!!!

But almost all the recalled vehicles are with Toyota US!!! Not here in Malaysia.

Last year they were having problem with floor mat which will slip and cause major safety on the driver’s handling. Now they are having safety issues on the gas pedal… and recently there is a possibility safety issue on the brake system!!! But not all models are affected… only some…

If you are owning any of the US Toyota vehicles which has been identified as having safety issues, I think if you need term life insurance or do not have any right now, you better get it now… else you just have to keep your Toyota in the garage or sell it off…

If Toyota keeps on recalling their vehicles, I’m scared they will vanish from the business very soon… I hope they can improve their safety standard or fix whatever problem they are having in the production line… I hope it is not caused by design flaw because Toyota has one of the best designs… hopefully it’s just caused by bad materials…

Yes I’m a fan of Toyota F1 team and I love Toyota’s cars. But when I read about a device, electronic signal detector, which can be used to disarm a car’s security alarm system, my heart sink when the police said it is used to steal Toyota’s and Perodua’s cars.

The device is so cool that thieves or syndicates who have the device can walk away with any Toyota Hilux, Toyota Vios or Perodua Viva easily. The device is estimated to cost about RM15,000.00 each.

My assumption after reading the news statement by the police chief of Negeri Sembilan, Datuk Osman Salleh is most probably the device is to be used with the factory supplied alarm and immobilizer system.

Now the question is, if we are to temper the factory supplied car alarm and immobilizer system, will it make the car manufacturer’s warranty void? How about the car insurance? My guess is, it depends on how you are going to modify your car’s security system.

The usual method is to leave the manufacturer supplied car alarm and immobilizer system intake. Simply install a new car security system parallel with the existing security system. I guess by doing so, the car manufacturer’s warranty or car insurance will not get void… what say you?

After the fireworks photo session in the previous night, I went back to 1Borneo for the Big Boyz Toys – Beauty & The Beast the next afternoon for car show. The cars are displayed at the LG and G floors.

At the LG floor, they put all the not so cool cars… MPV, mini, sedan etc.

At the G floor, they put all the so called Big Boyz Toys… Z4, Lotus, Lexus, Ferrari etc… Although they called it big boyz toys, I don’t think those cool cars have any PS3 on it like what the Pimp My Ride usually installs. They are all the standard kind of boyz toys… none with ICE.

There wasn’t much car on display too, but good enough for the big boyz toys model photo sessions

They also have photography competition but I’m sure the organizer did not do a proper event plan for the photography competition… nobody knows what to do or how to enter the competition. I approach the MC and ask about it, but he also doesn’t know what’s going on… he asked me to talk to the ‘event manager’… I went to meet the ‘event manager’… he admitted everything are last minute… at the end I did not enter the competition because I only carried my Sony T200 with me although I manage to get some shots at the models

I called my friends and told about it because there will be another session next day, Sunday… And they did go for the event… but I did not coz I was so tired.

Which one, diesel or petrol?

If you’ve chosen petrol, oooo man… looks like you made the wrong choice. Don’t worry you are not alone… me and many more really surprised with this new result.

Hybrid lost to a diesel-powered engine!

A diesel-powered BMW 5-series beat a petrol-based Toyota Prius hybrid in a 545-mile London-Geneva run in Mile Per Galon (MPG) stats. Read more at GoodCleanTech.

My question: Should they scrap-off hybrid-engine research and do more research on diesel-engine? How about environment?

And sooner or later, Sabah Malaysia will be the major producer of bio-diesel made from Palm Oil or Jatropha.

I was lucky today to be one of the fist to see and touch the all brand new TOYOTA Corolla Altis. It has 5 models. Four models with 1.8 engine and one with 1.6 engine. The models are 1.8G Sporty, 1.8G, 1.8E Sporty, 1.8E and 1.6E. You can see the pricing at the picture below.

These are the captions in the brochure…

Step Ahead With Style – You’ve always been known to make a statement. Now make it in style. Introducing the brand new TOYOTA Corolla Altis. Completely redesigned, its aerodynamic silhouette cuts convention, conversation and drag with the same ruthless efficientcy. Take your turn in the spotlights with the all-new Corolla Altis.

Headlights – Signature 3-individual-cylinder style headlamps that can only be at the Corolla Altis.

LED Rear Combination Lamps – Its unmistakable design draws attention from tailing cars.

16 inch Alloy Wheels – Sporty, stylish design that’s more than ready for the red carpet.

Aerodynamic Styling – Aerodynamic designed to suit the sophisticated you.

. . . Continue Reading »

At last, I manage to service my car today. I missed servicing it at 30,000KM and now it is already 34,000KM. My appointment was at 1pm today. I went to UMW Toyota Service Centre at Inanam around 11am. I wanted to be there early so that I can include polishing. When I reached there, no one was at my service counter.

You see, when you book your servicing date and time, you will be given a counter number. Every counter has UMW Service Consultant or something like that. UMW Inanam has 8 service counters…  well 6 actually… the other 2 is more like paying counter. I always asked for the same consultant which is at counter 8.

I waited for a while because I assumed he is at the servicing area. After like 5 minutes, I asked the guy at counter 7. Then he helped me to look for my consultant. It turn out my consultant was on leave and he is replaced by another guy. Luckily he is very helpful.

According to him, service at 30K includes air-cond service which cost around $400! And he also said the next service at 40K is a major service which will cost about $700++. I wanted to push the air-cond service to the next service because I just spend almost $5k for my new Canon EOS 40D, but decided not since it will cost me more than $1k in the next service.

Because of the air-cond service, polishing can’t be done since air-cond service will take a very long time

I went to take my car around 5pm. When I reached there, I saw my car still at the servicing ramp… Oooo man… it’s not done yet

The service cost me $683.20 and no free gift like usual.

While waiting for my car to be serviced, I went to the show room. It looks empty, not like in the morning. Only 1 car in the show room and it is surrounded by the TOYOTA sales personnel. WOWWWW… They just received the latest brand new TOYOTA COROLLA ALTIS 2008! I consider myself very lucky because I’m sure no other people other than the TOYOTA people get the close up of the new ALTIS here

The new UMW billboard in town… put-up this morning. What a coincidence.

  
I manage to enter the restricted area… The service consultant and the foreman…

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Inside the restricted area

  
There was pest fogging outside while I was inside the servicing area.

Gosh… my scheduled 30,000 KM car servicing is way overdue… it is more than 32,600 KM now and it has been more than 5 months since the last service.

It supposed to be serviced every 5,000 KM or every 3 months or whichever comes first. It’s not hard to book for servicing at UMW Toyota but it just that works are so much and time is just not enough. And service centre only opened from Monday to Friday. If it opens on Saturday or Sunday, that will be nice… what to do…

But luckily I’m using syntactic lubricant, so it supposed to last about 10,000 KM or more compared to mineral lubricant which can last to 5,000 KM only… not to worry so much. But of course it’s not good to do it regularly. I wanted to call UMW today (yesterday) but I forgot… I try again tomorrow (today), and hopefully I will get a service slot this Friday… else next week lo…

That Toyota Fortuner Turbo with 1KD-FTV 3.0 litre 16-valve DOHC diesel engine is not mine… because it has manual transmission. I can’t drive manual car, I forgot how to drive manual car. But I just want to put it here so that everyone can see it

First we went to one which is a block away from where we had our breakfast. Then we proceeded to Lintas Square. We stroll at 3 car accessories shops there… but nothing new… boring… then decided to go to Putatan. Along the way, we stop at another shop which is on the other side of Lido.

While there, I saw the tiny car… I saw it many times on the road but never closed to it… not bad… good for crusing around doing nothing I guess.
 
But look at the price… RM90K… that’s about USD$25K

Then we proceeded to Putatan… to Fuji Car Accessories. I guess this is the biggest car accessories in town at the moment.
  
  

Every vehicle on the road must be covered with car insurance. Vehicles without car insurance on the roads are illegal, hazardous to other motorist and also to other road users. There are different types and levels of car insurance cover available. You can choose the most suitable car insurance cover according to your budget.

But, there are many other factors too that will affect the amount of the car insurance you have to buy and also the amount of premiums you have to pay. The factors are like your age, the model and engine size of your car, any modifications made to your car, the location where the vehicle is kept, whether or not the vehicle is alarmed, where the vehicle is kept overnight, past driving convictions, past claims, and more.

As a driver, although it is not a requirement, you should also take life insurance for yourself. It is for your protection just incase something happen to you while you are on or off the road. It is something like a home insurance whereby it protects and helps you financially just incase your house gets burned down.

If you own an automatic or auto transmission car, you should follow this tips. It will make your auto transmission or gear box live longer and run smoother.

If your car has been in stationary (park) for more than 6 hours (like in the morning), you should exercise your gearbox first before moving.

First start your engine. Normally you will start moving after a few seconds. That is very wrong, don’t do that, including with manual car. You will spoil your engine. You need to warm up your engine.

After warming your engine… I normally do it for 3 or more minutes (in the morning)… How can I wait 3 minutes? Well, I start my car engine first then I go wear my shoe lah…

OK, after that, do these exercise… press your break… so that your car don’t move lah… then move your gear from P to R. OK, for benefits of everyone, the automatic gear is normally arrange from top as P, R, N, D, 2 & 1… some with 3, 2, 1. After 10 seconds, move it to N… and so on until you reach 1. Then you have to move back from 1 to P again by stopping at every gear for 10 seconds like before… that will take you about 100 seconds… emm ngam bah kan? I fail my maths bah…

Not only human need exercise, but your car also need it you know… ok lah, happy exercising…