Of course, we live in the Philippines, so if we actually bought a pair, five bucks says people would steal them off my Hyundai Getz in two minutes. Sayang, no?

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.

Costs:
Emissions Test – Php420
Compulsory Third Party Liability (CTPL) – Php890
Actual registration – Php1960

Total: Php3270.00

I did not have to pay any fixers. I did not have to pay any tip money. To top it all off, the service was fast and efficient. I was quite surprised and pleased. Good job, LTO!

Did you know you could find the chassis number under your chair??

I felt violated for Gina. It's like someone putting a pipe in your butt and asking you to fart.

All you apparently have to do is type the keywords LTO(space)VEHICLE(space) then send it to 2600. I got the following response for my Hyundai Getz:

It works! So the next time you get in a situation where the veracity of your license plate is called into question, you know what to do. Thanks, Glenn!

I went downstairs and to my Getz to getz it (Getz it? Get(z) it? lol), but I couldn’t find it! The whole tool set is missing! There’s a culture of borrowing things without permission (and not returning them) in the compound in which my family lives, but all the likely suspects deny it. I can’t recall using (and losing) it myself; I’m the type of person who will always return things to where I got them (thanks, Dad), so this is a big puzzle for me.

Meanwhile, I’m deathly terrified that I may run a flat and be unable to change the tire. So I guess I’m going to hie my fat ass to Ace Hardware and pick up a new set. I’ll let y’all know how expensive that’ll be so you’ll know how much you’ll need to spend if and when you need to replace your own set of tire tools. *sigh*

Update: I found them! They were underneath my spare tire! How they got there, I’ll never know. *facepalm*

After he put it in, his exact words: “parang sinukatan.” What can I tell you? The Hyundai Getz’s trunk space is HUGE! I just folded the chairs back, and BOOM! Two sofa beds, plus groceries, and my son’s school things.

See? Perfect fit!

Bit of a mess, but hey, I’m not known for impeccable organizing skill.

Oh, and as an aside, I just thought y’all should know that some kind-hearted driver apparently nicked my Hyundai Getz Gina. Hit and run, apparently. I’ll take a picture tomorrow and pop it in, just as a record, because, well, it’s ugly.

As predicted by my visitor Robbie, my Hyundai Getz’s Bosch headlights conked out. :p I decided to therefore go with Hyundai Fort Bonifacio to take care of it, even if it costs so much more than the bulbs available at Ace or Blade. It’s Php590 per piece. OUCH, right? Plus, Php400 for labor to install it. But I did the math, the bulbs I bought for a little less than Php800 lasted five months because I wasn’t ready for it. In theory, the Php1,500 I spent will last me at least two years. Worth it, because it’s all Hyundai original. Haaay.

The flyer said the following of Shell’s e10:

• Shell e10 gasoline will not damage car engines and neither is it corrosive.
• Shell e10 gasoline contain a corrosion inhibitor additive, which provides added protection to engine component parts such as carburetors, fuel pumps, and fuel injectors.
• Shell e10 gasoline fully conforms to the Philippine National Standard (PNS) for ethanol-blended (E10) gasoline.
• Shell e10 gasoline does not contain water or any impurities that could damage engine component parts.
• Shell has developed and put in place stringent quality assurance procedures for storage and handling of ethanol and E10 gasoline to ensure that e10 gasoline is not in any way contaminated with water or any impurities along the supply chain from source to the vehicle’s gas tank.

So, there. If you wanna give e10 a shot, why not try Shell’s e10?

I clocked in roughly 12:40pm. I left at approximately 3:45pm. That’s supposed to be faster? Please! *roll eyes*

Many of my friends said I should’ve gotten it done at the mall. Now that I think about it, I should have. It’s just frustrating that we can’t get the same level of service at all LTO branches. Plus, quite frankly, while the whole biometrics thing was cool, I dislike peeing with the door open. (Apparently a new policy.) The angle ensured the lady manning the computer might actually be able to see me peeing, and while my wedding ring is an effective deterrent to the exhibitionist in me, I really am not fond of using public toilets to do my business.

So there. I have three years to be bitter with the wasted three hours of my birthday life as well as this goshawful picture that makes me look so fat. Plus when I got back into my Hyundai Getz, sobrang init!

What are your license renewal or car registration stories?