Repairs and Bills

Okay, I am at a information overload right now. I had work planned at the lab, and I swear I was going to do it, but that got over ridden by the fact, that my family is going to Indonesia tomorrow morning at 5.30 am. The Naza Ria needs servicing which included replacing the timing belt. The brakes also needs checking since I have no confidence in emergency braking in that MPV. So to my shock the front disc pad is worn out, and the rear brake pump is bleeding. That is almost RM 400, this does not include the normal service interval that uses two 4 litres bottle of lubricant (the MPV needs to use only 6 litre, but apparently the so called Naza workshop does not have the 1 litre bottle). I am beginning to doubt that this service centre is actually a Naza approved service center. If this was a Naza service centre, they would have almost all the parts in stock, or the very least they would know how much each part cost, instead of having to make calls every time I ask how much each would cost. Could I blame them, this workshop is fairly new, because I think this used to a tires and wheels centre instead of a full service centre. I am not sure if I am being to hard on the clerk, since I believe she has no idea what type of engine oil she is selling. I don’t think she knows the difference between 10w-30 and 20w-50, but only on the quantity of engine oil a car needs. (when I said the 10w-30 is for a Myvi, she replied “oh no, there is another engine oil for that.. *tries hard not to choke the clerk).

Arghh now the front disc brake is warped, and that is another RM 300 flying off. Did I forgot to mention the Mercedes is still in the workshop with a 4 figure cost of repairs…. Yes boys and girls, owning a car is very expensive, and most modern cars are bloody expensive to repairs with all the gizmo and glitz built in them. Owning a car that was built to last, is also very expensive to repair later in the future, because they used high quality (expensive) materials to built them, which why the Mercedes rarely needs repairs but after 18 years, its going to cost you.