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.