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Monday, October 31, 2011

Longtermer #2, Vol 24: (40th month): Honda Civic FD2 2.0IVTEC

Longtermer #2, Vol 24: (40th month): Honda Civic FD2 2.0IVTEC
In this blog entry, I'm updating my family's ride.  It's the Honda Civic FD2 2.0 IVTEC.  This is the 40th month we owned the Civic.  The Civic reached the magical "55555km" on 12 August 2011.(Picture below)

There's Nothing much to update apart from the 60,000km Service (a major one as they changed the Air filter, Fuel Filter, ATF Gear oil, Engine oil (Mineral) + Oil filter + washer drain plug.  The Damage: RM420.10 after 15% discount on ALL PARTS (privilege of a Honda Card Member) and 10% discount voucher (from previous service), and some discount on Labour charge.

Well there's a story behind the premature 60,000km (59,479km to be exact) service.  A day before, my dad kena this EXACT TRICK.  Apparently, he was wearing Coat/Tie and IPad on centre console on the way to Meeting.  TWO Indians on a motorcycle pointed at my dad's front left tyre and waved "smelly".  My dad ignored.  Then 2nd motorcycle also with 2 Indians did the "same action" about 200m away along Jalan Parlimen.  My dad then put on the "hazard light" and drove slowly to Bank Negara (his meeting place) which's about 1km away.  There's COPS stationed in Bank Negara so the CROOKS have No chance to "ROB/ATTACK/CON" my dad.



Here's the E-mail forward of this "TRICK"

"Fwd: New Tactic! To Rob You in PJ/KL And Soon All Places

New Tactic! To Rob You in PJ And Soon All Places - spray some liquid on
your tyre which leads to smoke outburst

Just received this from a local police force in Bangsar.

There is a new tactic used by the thieves and robbers & spreading into PJ & other KL areas.
Be careful when there is a motorist approaching while you are driving alone in a car.

These days, the thieves will spray some liquid on your tyre which leads to smoke outburst. When you encounter such a situation, don’t panic. Stay calm & don’t ever try to park your car to check what is going on.

This is the intention purposely created by these thieves to get your attention. Once you get out from your car, they will snatch your belongings or may even harm you.
So, if you ever encounter such an incident, drive to a safe place where crowded people are or to a petrol or police station.

As for the stain, use water to clean it up, that’s all. Look after your own safety, especially to those ladies out there. What ever happens, don’t simply walk out from your car!
This is a true case that has occurred before."

After his meeting, he called me to call "Tow Truck" (picture above) to tow the car to Honda Service centre in Sumber Auto Edaran in PJ.  MSIG (Honda Panel Insurance) did a very good job.  Dispatched a tow truck in 30 minutes.   


The next day, our Civic was "Car NO."1" at the service centre.  Service Advisor Mr. Sew checked the car and found "NOTHING WRONG" with the car.  I then requested for 60,000km service.


Coincidently, the next morning before Collecting the Civic (12pm), my dad took delivery of his 2nd car, the Yellow Perodua MYVI 1.5SE+ Auto (at 8.45am).  That was on 14 October 2011.

Second item I'd like to highlight's the Fuel Consumption getting worse.  The last fill up recorded a dismal 7.1km/l (or 25 cents).  This is the WORST ever.  Though it's 80% City and 20% highway.  I hope It can improve as I planned to buy "KW Fuel Injection Cleaner", I tried it on my Telstar back in May and recorded 20% improvement in Fuel consumption.

Without further ado, let's proceed to LOG BOOK:

Mileage upon delivery: 0008km
Mileage last update: 54,850km


Mileage now: 59,865km
Average mileage per month: 1535km
Purchase price: RM126,000 (less NCB)
Current value: RM98,000.
3 years depreciation: 77% retained value
Interest rate: 2.35% (back in July 2008) for 6 years loan.

FUEL CONSUMPTION (Aug1 to Oct 30):

Best: 13.1km/L (RM0.18/km) 80% highway/20% city, Esso RON95. (1st week of September)
WORST: 7.1km/L (RM0.26/km) (Shell RON95) 80% City/20% Highway driving driven by ME. (October 27)

ALL TIME:

Best: 15.35km/l (90% highway driving) (20 August 2010)
Worst: 7.1km/l (80% City driving, 20% HARD DRIVING) (October 27)

PERFORMANCE:
0-100km/h: 9.2 seconds normal acceleration (9 seconds with paddle-shift)
Top speed: Max I driven is 190km/h but I know it can go up to 227km/h. Someone from Youtube tried it.

That's all...  Well there's a saying a picture's worth 1000 words...  Here are some photos:

Still stylish Multiplex Digital/Analog dashboard.  The NO.1 reason why my dad bought this car
Above: Creative photography.  The reflection of the New MYVI 1.5SE+ on the Civic.

That's all folks, thanks for having the time and patience to read this blog entry. An original Jeff Lim's production. My Original work.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Parts shortage from Thailand forces Honda Malaysia to stop production

SOURCE: CLICK ME


In a statement, the company said the floods have caused a huge number of factories in the supply chain to shut down, which include Honda Automobile (Thailand) Co Ltd and other major suppliers which supply parts to Honda Malaysia.


However, Honda Malaysia is actively accessing the situation and its parts suppliers’ recovery.

Honda Malaysia is also studying the feasibility of sourcing parts from other countries until its suppliers’ production in Thailand returns to normal.
honda2-(4).jpg

“We announce with regret that we have to temporary halt production in Pagoh Plant, in Malacca due to parts shortage.

“We apologise for the delay of delivery and we appreciate the understanding of our customers. We are doing all we that can within our capacity to recover the production here in Malaysia as soon as possible,” said Honda Malaysia managing director and chief executive officer Yoichiro Ueno.

Assembling work at Honda Malaysia's Pagoh plant has 
stopped from today.

“The good news is that all our fully imported models such as the Insight, Stream and Freed are not affected, except for Jazz that is imported from Thailand, which we have sufficient stock to meet the current market demand,” he added.

Asian Honda Motor Co Ltd has recently donated 100 million baht (RM10mi) to Thai Red Cross Society to help flood victims in Thailand.

Honda Malaysia will keep its customers informed of the plant’s progress and it looks forward to bringing good news to the customers.


END OF SOURCE...

My (Jeff Lim's) comments: Two days ago, I visited a Honda Showroom in Petaling Jaya. The Salesgirl told me that they have Limited stocks (while stock lasts) for ALL CKD Hondas and Honda Jazz. >10 units Civic 1.8 and 2.0, >15 units NEW Accord, >15 units New City, >10 units New Jazz in Malaysia

.  Next batch of CKD will arrive only in February Earliest. As a result they "DON'T HAVE CAR TO SELL". Honda Malaysia were forced to bring the CR-Z and Jazz Hybrid to Malaysia earlier than expected. The CR-Z's coming in 2 weeks time while the Jazz Hybrid is coming in December.

In a meantime, Freed (Indonesian Made), Stream and Insight production uninterrupted.

Happy Diwali (Deepavali)!

I, Jeff Lim, would like to wish all the Hindus happy Diwali (known as Deepavali in Malaysia).  May the festival of lights fill your life with the glow of happiness and the sparkle of Joy.  Safe journey if you are travelling back to hometown.



That's all folks, thanks for having the time and patience to read this blog entry. Jeff Lim's original work!

BMW EfficientDynamics showcase at Pavilion, 20 – 24 Oct

In this blog entry, I'm covering BMW EfficientDynamics showcase at Pavilion from 20 to 24 October 2011.  Among the cars on display were BMW Active E (based on BMW 1 series coupe), BMW X1 Efficientdynamics and BMW 320d.  Sadly, I missed this event.  All is NOT LOST, I dished out 2 reports AND a Video on this event:


REPORT 1: AUTOWORLD

BMW EfficientDynamics showcase at Pavilion, 20 – 24 Oct

Report 2:   PAULTAN.ORG: 

http://paultan.org/2011/10/20/bmw-efficientdynamics-showcase-at-pavillion/

WORKSHOP REVIEW: MAX SHINE CENTRE

In this blog entry, I'm reviewing an auto detailing Shop in PJS 8/18.  It's called Max Shine Centre. Here's their Facebook page
It all started back in Early September, I bought a RM33.80 voucher from "Streetdeal.my".  Normal price RM168 for Shampoo+Polish+2 layers wax+windows cleaning.  Initially, I booked for my dad's Civic FD2.  But as I took delivery of the Solid Yellow MYVI 1.5SE+ and seeing "Stubborn rain streaks" @ day 5 owning the car, I called Max Shine and changed the car from BJU xxxx to "WVW 18xx". 

As I reached there, the boss Alvin gave me another "upgrade offer".  Add extra RM150 I'll get 4 layers wax.  This deal is worth RM468.  Without hesitation, I took the offer.  I reached there 11.30am and waited till 3.15pm.  Ie. almost 4 hours.  Thank God they provided Air conditioned customer waiting room with ASTRO, magazines and Wifi (see photos below).


During the entire waxing process, my car was treated professionally logos and plastics area taped and bonnet/windscreen area covered by newspaper. See photo below:


The end results?
Well worth the wait. Well there's a saying, a Picture's worth 1000 words. Here are the photos:


Above: Step 1: Wash and Shampoo the car 1st.

Above: Taped up the lines/badges plastics before (below) Step 2: Polishing.

Above: Step 3-6, applying layers after layers of WAX (4 layers).

ABOVE: Boss Alvin's Estima with 5 layers WAX!!!
The front of the shops.  Address: No 8, PJS 8/18, Sunway Mentari, 46150 Petaling Jaya.  Opening hours: Mon to Sun, 10am to 8pm.  Call: 03-56222788 for appointments.

Above: See how busy they were.  Photo taken at 2pm on a weekday (Thursday) 20 October 2011.
Above: Windows cleaning and finishing touches
ABOVE and BELOW: Other customers' cars.

Above and below: One year old Mercedes C200 after 4 layers wax.  Look at the Mirror like shine.






That's all folks, thanks for having the time and patience to read this blog entry.   Jeff Lim's original work!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Proton eyes world market in pact with Hawtai

Sunday, October 23, 2011


Proton eyes world market in pact with Hawtai

NANNING (China): Proton is not only planning to expand its presence in China through Hawtai Motor Group Ltd but will be using the partnership as a springboard to the world market.


It's not your typical joint venture. It's a cooperation that covers many areas," said Proton chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Nadzmi Mohd Salleh.

"We are looking at the low-cost base of China. We should capitalise on that.

In Malaysia, it's difficult for us to achieve economies of scale because of our low volume."
proton.jpg
Mohd Nadzmi (right) and Syed Zainal Abidin.


"Going to China, we can leverage on its low-cost base, especially on the component industry, which is important because 70% to 75% of the cost of a car comes from its components," he said.

Proton exchanged a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Hawtai Motor at a roundtable dialogue between Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Chinese CEOs here on Friday.

Speaking to Malaysian journalists covering the 8th China-Asean Expo here, Mohd Nadzmi said the MoU would result in an agreement in about 90 days and during the period both parties would study how the cooperation would take place.

"We are talking about product collaboration. Immediately, our (Proton) Saga is ready to come to China, followed by the Exora and also our new model that we will make available for this collaboration with Hawtai," he said.

Proton managing director Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said both parties were still discussing whether to use Proton brand or Hawtai brand in selling cars in China.

"What we look forward to is one day to get our cars produced in China. From China, we can export to other left-hand-drive markets, for example, the Middle East.

"The production cost will be much more competitive. This is one of the big objectives we have.

"We can't rely on Malaysia to export left-hand-drive vehicles. We can use China as a base and because they have a big volume here and our partner will provide us with the facility, knowledge and infrastructure," he said.

Syed Zainal Abidin said Proton products in the C and B segments would complement Hawtai Motor's 4X4 vehicles and D-segment sedans.

Hawtai also has a major plant producing diesel engines for the domestic and export markets.

"So we can also use their diesel technology in our cars to exploit the diesel market, for example, in India," said Syed Zainal.

So, the discussions are not only about products but also on technology transfer."

Hawtai Motor has an annual production capacity of 200,000 vehicles, 300,000 engines and 300,000 auto transmissions.

As for the China market, Syed Zainal said Proton was targeting sales of 50,000 to 100,000 per year and for every unit, Proton would receive revenue whether in terms of components or sales or royalties for the technology transferred.

He also said Proton would not be sourcing parts from China for its Malaysian operations.

"Our priority to support our local vendors."

On Youngman Automobile Group,Syed Zainal Abidin said: "Our relationship with Hawtai is complementing our existing relationship with Youngman. We will continue to support Youngman based on our current business arrangement,"

"Youngman is a straight forward licensing agreement. Hawtai is a different arrangement altogether ... different platform, so there is no conflict of relationship with Youngman," he added.
-Bernama



Sunday, October 23, 2011

CLOSE UP++ Hyundai Santa Fe 2.2CRDI

CLOSE UP++ Hyundai Inokom Santa Fe 2.2 CRDI 6 speed auto.

In this Blog entry, I'm reviewing a Hyundai Inokom Santa Fe 2.2CRDI. This is a "Bang for the Buck" Part time 4x4 Diesel 7 seater SUV. The Santa Fe was launched back in 2007 while the facelift (as featured here) was launched in KLIMS (KL International Motor Show) 2010. Picture below:

The facelifted Santa Fe's mated with 6 speed Automatic. Check out the Max Power and torque. 192hp@3800rpm and a WHOOPING 442Nm@1800rpm Torque. This car comes standard with G-force. 0-100km/h in 9.8secs and top speed of 190km/h. It also comes standard with NAPPA Leather, Elec glass sunroof, Integrated Multimedia GPS, Climate Control etc... As for fuel consumption, it fetches a respectable 8.4l/100km average.

MY RATING: 8.5/10.

Price for High Spec: RM172,000 OTR Private Registration which is a bargain. Used prices are as follows:

Year:........2007......2008........2009........2010........2011 (Facelift)
Price (RM):..80k.......RM90k.......108k........120k........135k

Without further ado, here are some videos:
Video 1: Autocar India




Video 2: Independent review.


Video 3: Independent review:


Well there's a saying a picture's worth 1000 words. Here are the photos:


































That's all folks, thanks for having the time and patience to read this blog entry.