Car owners find ways to reduce maintenance costs

Car owners find ways to reduce maintenance costs

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): If we had to choose between being stuck in a
traffic jam in our own car or in a public vehicle, with the risk
of being ripped off by pickpockets, many of us might take the
first choice.

But with the skyrocketing prices of spare parts and car
repairs, car owners are having to take efficiency measures.

Adi, who has a Suzuki Esteem Sporty 1993 sedan and Escudo JLX
1994 jeep, said he had to spend about Rp 350,000 every three
months for each car.

"Now that the cost of car maintenance and spare parts are
getting higher, it's better for me and my family to only use one
car," said Adi, an architect.

Previously, Adi and his wife drove separate cars to their
workplaces. But now, every morning, Adi drives his wife in his
jeep from their house in Pondok Bambu, East Jakarta, to her
office on Jl. Hayamwuruk in West Jakarta before heading to his on
Jl. H.R. Rasuna Said in South Jakarta.

"I have even forbidden my son from using the other car as he
used to, just in case he doesn't handle it properly," said the
father of two.

Adi has even considered selling his sedan if he finds that
having two cars is still too expensive. "I have a family to
support, not only my cars," he said.

Hanjaya, who drives a Mitsubishi Eterna 1992, has another idea
to cut down his car-maintenance expenses.

He now spends more time checking his car. He even refills the
lubricant oil and washes it himself instead of taking the car to
a service center, as he used to do.

He decided to regularly take care of his car at home after
learning that the prices of spare parts have skyrocketed by 300
percent of precrisis prices.

"Previously, it was always hard for me to find time to
regularly check my car. My work takes all my energy. But now,
with everything is getting expensive, I have to be careful. If I
have to change my car's parts, the price will certainly kill me,"
the state bank employee told The Jakarta Post.

He even planned to buy second-hand spare parts in case he had
to replace something.

With only limited skills in fixing a car's engine, he can only
do so much.

"I do what I can, check the radiator and other simple things.
Sometimes, like on a Sunday, I check my car, including its brakes
and clutch pedal, and wash it on my own," said Hanjaya, who lives
in Depok, in the city's outskirts, but works on Jl. Gatot
Subroto, Central Jakarta.

"I can save at least Rp 100,000 doing this," added Hanjaya,
who bought his second-hand car three years ago.

You can also save on car maintenance costs if you do it
yourself at home. If you don't know how, learn from your car
manual.

Auto2000's service manager, Heri Wasesa, said every new car
comes with a manual to help owners conduct maintenance at home.

Auto2000, Indonesia's sole distributor of Japanese-made Toyota
cars, serves about 1,000 clients a day at its 21 service centers
in Greater Jakarta. It charges Rp 12,100 only for replacing the
engine oil of a Kijang van. The service fee can reach hundreds of
thousands of rupiah, depending on the car and the job.

Heri said car owners could regularly check or refill their
car's engine oil on their own. They could also clean up air and
fuel filters, change the brake oil, or check the car's clutch
pedal and tires, without having to go to service centers.

Of course, not all jobs can be done by the car owners.

"Car maintenance which needs special equipment, such as the
measure of the quality of car's battery, should be conducted at a
service center," Heri said.

A new car should also be taken to a service center when it
reaches 1,000 kilometers, and then check again regularly every
5,000 kilometers.

"If you take care of your car properly, every 5,000
kilometers, I guarantee there will no problem, unless there's
something beyond our control, such as a tire exploding," Heri
said, adding that the 5,000-kilometer check is usually conducted
once every three months to four months.

For a thorough check of a Kijang at its first 5,000-kilometer
service, Auto2000 charges the owner an about Rp 87,000 service
fee.

The higher a car's kilometer count is, the greater the
tendency that the service fee would increase. "It depends on
whether there's a replacement of the engine's components," Heri
said.