Eventful July (Part two)

So I've talked about the ice cream, the breakdown of the house router and the discovery of the whereabouts of my Kongsi's erstwhile caretaker in my last story. All in the month of July. To add to all these, the family car broke down. Yes, the Prius C broke down.

Actually, it was not that the car developed any mechanical problem. Mechanically, the car was fine although the absorbers are starting to be somewhat problematic. No, the issue was with the hybrid battery. When my wife and I decided to buy a new car in 2012, we chose a hybrid car for its fuel efficiency. Most times, we could get more than 20 kilometres to a litre of petrol. With some luck, we could push till 25 kilometres. We were aware that the battery of a hybrid car was expensive but we didn't think too much of this in 2012. After all, the battery came with a five-year warranty. And Toyota was confident enough that their hybrid batteries could last longer than that, that they extended the warranty period to EIGHT years soon afterwards. As the car aged, I learnt that the lifespan of the hybrid battery was winding down. It was going to die sooner or later. The only question was when. Would it be before or after the warranty period finishes? Nobody could tell, least of all the Toyota service centre. All they could tell me was that there was about 25 percent usage left. And it was about six months to a year ago.

Anyway on the 22nd of last month, we were crossing the Penang Bridge to get back to the mainland. We proceeded along the highway and turned into Seberang Jaya. And then, the warning signal appeared. Stop the car immediately and check the hybrid system, the message flashed on the dashboard without warning. Oh oh, I thought to myself, here comes trouble. Something's the matter with the car now. I pulled over to the side. Luckily, it was a wide road and the car wasn't blocking any traffic. I called Toyota and was told to have the car towed to the service centre. So I made arrangements for a tow truck. Took about two hours before the truck arrived. By the time we arrived home it was almost eight o'clock.

The next day, the service centre confirmed that the issue was with the battery. But never mind, it was still under their warranty. They would replace it without charge. Was I glad to hear that? You bet! The hybrid battery died three months before the warranty expiry date in October. But I had to wait until Thursday week before they could replace it since the part had to arrive from Kuala Lumpur first. Under my breath, I was muttering that they could have asked for a month and I would have agreed with them. Readily agreed with them. Anything to avoid forking out RM6,000 for the battery. Yes, that's how much it would have set me back if it had conked out after October! Not to mention their labour charges and the battery disposal cost too. Would have set me back a tidy sum.

You know, this was not the only time that I had benefited from Toyota's warranty. In 2006 when my Avanza was still within its warranty period - less than 30,000 kilometres on the meter - the automatic gearbox started giving problem. Whenever I hit a certain speed, I heard a roar above the engine's sound. I took it to the service centre and was given a new gearbox. FOC. Free of charge. But I nearly flipped over when they asked me to sign on some documents and I saw that the cost of the gearbox was something like RM28,000. So thank goodness for the car manufacturer's warranty. Came in useful for me twice.

To be continued....