Santa brings service for Opel car owners

By John Aglionby

AS the holiday season approaches, many people start to contemplate the idea of heading out of the urban chaos for a bit of rest and recreation in the country.

You book the hotel, pack up the car, throw in the kids and set off, only to get out on the toll road and have your vehicle die on the outskirts of Jakarta.

Well, this holiday season, Opel drivers need not worry, with the local distributor, PT General Motors Buana Indonesia (GMBI) launching mobile service centers on main roads in Java.

GMBI's marketing director, Terry Johnson, said the service centers were to ensure that as few of GMBI's customers as possible suffer motoring problems during the coming Christmas and Lebaran periods.

Johnson said: "During the holidays, we will have about a dozen very visible mobile service centers in heavily trafficked areas, such as Puncak. They will be open to all Opel drivers."

The service was first introduced in January 1996 to coincide with the launch of the company's sport-utility vehicle, the Blazer.

Johnson said: "The centers were well received, so we thought it would be worthwhile to reintroduce them during these holidays."

Meanwhile, a recall of 250,000 small Opel cars will not affect Indonesian owners.

Johnson stressed this week that none of the vehicles it had sold were among the cars that GM was recalling after detecting engine problems.

The German newspaper Rheinpfalz reported last week that the recall affects all sedans made by GM's European arm, Adam Opel AG, with 1.4- and 1.6-liter, 16-valve engines made between 1993 and 1996.

The recall began several months ago, after it was discovered the engines, in Astra and Corsa sedans, had defective parts. It was decided not to make the decision public because the defect did not jeopardize the vehicles' safe use, the company claimed.

Astras are sold as Optimas in Indonesia; Corsas are not available here.

"In Indonesia, we are not impacted by this decision at all because the Optimas are fitted with a different, 1.8-liter, engine," Johnson said.

"This is because of the fuel requirements here, regarding both its quality and lead content." He said the fuel available here worked better with lower compression engines, such as Opel's 1.8- liter variety."

GMBI has sold about 1,100 Optimas in Indonesia since it was launched here in March 1995.