This past week, getting into my Hyundai Getz Philippines has been harder than usual because of the intense heat of the sun. It’s ridiculous. My next project? Finding quality heat resistant tint that won’t break the bank. Wish me luck.

My Philippine Hyundai Getz Gina just had her 15,000 checkup, and I couldn’t be more pleased. Remember that I paid somewhere near PHP3,400 the last time? This time, I paid PHP2,900. That is just AWESOME. Plus, Jay Doria and the rest of the very capable Hyundai mechanics team replaced an air conditioning part that caused some strange – not unpleasant, just unusual – humming with the aircon. I was coded today, and the cashier waited for me. Kakahiya, because she was supposed to meet up with some friends for badminton. I gave her a can of Pepsi Light and awesome awesome awesome Leslie’s Cheezy Puffs Sweet Butter and Cheese as a peace offering.

This May, our Hyundai Getz insurance expires, so I decided to renew my insurance with Hyundai Fort Bonifacio’s in-house insurers, Standard Insurance, which offers what they claim is unbeatable insurance protection. I don’t know whether it’s unbeatable, but I liked what they had to offer me. Full coverage, with 0% participation fees, free insurance for myself and my family, and breakfast. Okay, no breakfast, but I could’ve had it this morning when I had my Hyundai Getz Philippines checked up, because I was second in line and they give free breakfast to the first 5 customers, but I thought, well, that’s just taking too much advantage of the goodness of these guys.

Oh, a nice little perk with the insurance? The bill comes to close to PHP13K, but they allow me to pay for it in three gives. Isn’t that nice? It’s not too heavy on my budget – which is important because gasoline is ridiculously expensive now – and it becomes less of a strain. Three post-dated checks. Isn’t that convenient?

Finally, to close my latest love affair with AutoHub and the folks at Hyundai Global City… they still give me SM Advantage points, and they have a raffle titled “Drive and Ride the Waves.” Since I renewed my insurance there, I got two raffle coupons for the chance to win a free trip for me and Cathy via SeaAir and a two-night stay at – get this! – The Tides Boracay! Sana manalo, sana manalo, sana manalo!

By the way, for everyone’s convenience, the Hyundai Fort Bonifacio/Hyundai Global City telephone number is 8180888. Good luck nga lang sa inyo, getting through is a real pain, it’s always busy.

Click after the jump to see the list of 15,000KM checkup checklist.

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My Philippine Hyundai Getz took her furthest trip yet: a four-hour journey to Laiya, Batangas, in search of a resort in which to book dozens of guests for a team-building and training seminar that I’ve been invited to participate in. Here are some of the more stringent notes:

• We left Manila at 11:00AM, encountering terrible traffic somewhere in the vicinity of the Star Superhighway. Boiling heat and bad traffic = overheating Hyundai Getz, right? Nope! Gina stayed on-target and cool the entire way and back. (Mind you, one of the major flaws of the Hyundai Getz, which is the appalling lack of an engine thermostat to tell you whether or not your engine is on the verge of overheating, was glaringly obvious during this time. Yech.)
• The edge of Laiya gives way from smooth paved road to dirt road. I’m not kidding. My Hyundai Getz Philippines handled it with aplomb, taking on the rocky road with finesse. Kudos to her shock absorbers. Plus points, too, for my tires for not giving out. (Will check the brand; tibay din pala ng mokong.)
• So how does Gina perform in terms of fuel efficiency? We replaced the usual standard gasoline (93 octane rating) with a 95 octane rating gasoline from Petron to see if power and fuel efficiency would improve. End result: 11.93 kilometers per liter. Initial conclusion: walang diperensya. Testing is stil ongoing.