It hasn’t been a good week for Gina, my Hyundai Getz. Earlier in the week, someone tried to steal her front left tire. No kiddin’. The would-be thieves tried to pry open our little plastic hubcap. Little did they know – amateurs! – that the nuts and bolts keep the hubcap securely fastened to the tire. So they weren’t able to steal my tire. However, they damaged my Hyundai Getz’s hubcap beyond repair. Ugh.

In the course of their robbery, they found – as I did today – that one of the nuts is fused – again!!! – to the bolt. This is ridiculous! It’s the second time this has happened to me in a span of a few months. When the folks at Hyundai Otis said this was the “sakit” of the Getz, they weren’t kidding. I inquired at the Hyundai Fort Bonifacio branch as to how much it would cost to replace the nut and bolt if it was beyond repair, and the initial estimate is Php1,500. (Wowch, right?)

I’ll bet I could pay Php500 at Banawe. But I’m the hardheaded play-by-the-rules stick-in-the-mud who insists having everything done casa-style. lol Suze Orman says we should keep our cars for ten years minimum to get the most mileage out of them, and I tend to agree. If you know everything in my car was done by the folks at Hyundai, and that the checkups were done regularly, wouldn’t you think that Gina would be in better shape than most other Getzes of her age and make?

So here’s what happened. I scheduled an appointment this Thursday with Hyundai Bonifacio Global City for them to check out my tire. I then take my little girl to school. That’s when it happened. A crack in the left rear tire made itself known. ARGH! I took my car over to the Banawe Car Center along Banawe Avenue in Quezon City to buy a tire to replace the tire, and that’s when I was told by Warren, one of Banawe Car Center’s managers, that the size of my tire was difficult to find. Not completely sold out, but hard to find.

“Do you have any other options?” I asked.

Our Getzes’ tires are 165/65/R14. 165 is the diameter, 65 is the profile, R14 is the rim diameter. Most tires of our kind are harder to find, so he recommended an upgrade to 175/65/R14, a mere 10mm increase in diameter. “It’s a stronger tire,” he said, and offers more traction. The tiny difference in wheel size makes little to no difference with our cars’ suspension, too.

The Federal tire (it’s a Taiwan make, my first time to buy Taiwanese, but come on, my Korean tires have been less than satisfactory lately) in the 175 option retails for a little less than Php2500 each, but I needed two (obviously, if I was replacing one tire with a different size, I’d need at least two to balance things out), he offered me a slight discount. I then proceeded to pay with my credit card – they take VISA, Mastercard, and JCB, cool! – and was out of there in ten minutes. Blazing fast, quick service (cold water or juice on the house), and quality tires. If y’all are looking to buy tires and pay with credit card, I wouldn’t mind recommending Banawe Car Center. Look for Warren, really nice guy.

Driving to the church in the Philippines that I work for can be tough because I live so far away. I live in Caloocan, and my church in Taguig is in, well, Taguig. Getting there from my place means driving through Quezon City (Banawe, Nagtahan and sections of Espana/Quezon Avenue), Manila (Taft Avenue), Makati (South Superhighway or Buendia), and Paranaque (if I take Nichols). Going home, I may pass through Quiapo, including the treacherous Dangwa.

The entire route is open to floodwaters during the rainy season. Driving through these floodwaters terrifies me every single time. This is probably one of the most difficult things about owning such a small car; it gets pretty scary driving my Hyundai Getz through those floods. I remember being taught to drive at a high RPM so water doesn’t come in through the exhaust pipe and “flood the engine.” I’m not really sure what the technical reasons are behind this, but I’ve never been one to question old husbands’ tales, and hindi pa naman ako namamatayan ng makina, so I guess I must be doing something right.

Why are our exhaust pipes so low to the ground? Kakatakot!

Kayo? Do you have a hard time driving through floodwaters? Any tricks of the trade you can share?

Time for a Philippine Hyundai i10 review!

Guess what? My mom didn’t know what she was talking about! The car she bought was a Hyundai i10! After I made it laet pa naman! LOL

I’ll ask her permission to drive it and you’ll get a Hyundai i10 review within the week. *grin*

Remember this post? My mother has apparently made her decision, and it is one that has me very happy.

Mom has chosen a silver Hyundai Getz! Hahaha! Panalo pa rin ang Getz, mga ‘tol! She says she’ll get it sometime in the next two weeks. While I was quite excited about the possibility of another car – mostly so I could compare the two cars firsthand – this decision has me feeling much better. At least I know she’ll be in good hands.

Sorry, Chery QQ, not this time around. After seeing the Paul Tan Chery crash test photos posted by The Unlawyer, I have to admit this was a choice I feel much better about. Yikes.