Carless in KL

We have been without a car, our own wheels that is, for a good part of the month now, ever since it stalled in heavy traffic in Ampang on the first of July.

It was then towed to a workshop nearer home in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, but broke down again just hours after we collected it. 

Taken back to the same workshop, it remained there for three days whilst the mechanics fiddled with it. Again.

I was completely pissed when they told us they couldn't put a finger on the problem. I felt they didn't look hard enough.

I guess an old Merc didn't interest them as much as all those luxury makes clogging their space. There's definitely more money to be made from such marques.

In frustration, we had the car moved to another workshop, a place we had patronised a couple of times, in Kg Sungai Pencala.

And there it remained for a week, until last Wednesday, when the mechanic informed the car was ready for collection. 

We thought that was the end of our misery brought forth by this car. How wrong we were! The tin can wasn't finished with us yet.

That same evening, on the way home from Lake Club, it stalled five times along the highway, finally giving up right smack in the Touch 'n Go lane at Bukit Kiara toll plaza, just metres away from Pencala Tunnel.

As it was already late in the evening, almost 11pm, we had no choice but to leave the car there (after notifying the toll plaza personnel, of course) until a mechanic could be summoned to it the following day.

The plaza security guy was kind enough to help push the car out of the lane and to the side of the road. [I think I have bad karma with cars; I always end up pushing them somehow..]

This morning Pak Abu called to check on things, and was told that they were making a thorough inspection of the wirings. We'll follow up again tomorrow.

I don't know how long more do we have to put up with this inconvenience. Carless in KL isn't fun, not when public transportation leaves much to be desired.

To move around we have had to borrow our daughter Ann's compact Viva. Thankfully, the journo is office-bound for now, although I hate to impose on her all the same.

Sometimes I wonder just what exactly is wrong with the blinking Merc....