Couple losing hope on flood-drenched SUV

The newly-wed couple who invested a big chunk of their cash gifts on a compact SUV from the land of milk and honey have written in again just to tell me of their despair and lost of hope of ever seeing a fruitful investment by making use of their vehicle with confidence and actually looks forward to more financial drain.

According to them the global car company appears to have no intentions whatsoever to stand up for the durability and reliability of their vehicle, by making good their warranty for a vehicle that stalled in flood waters after a sedan of lower platform and worse, a model exactly like theirs made it through with ease and without trouble. And to make it worse, after their SUV’s engine ceased, other sedans went through the floods without stalling.

According to the couple "the book was thrown at them", so to speak, when the auto firm’s representatives said that they should have read the SUV’s owner’s manual that said their cars should not be driven in waters higher than specified.

"Nobody goes down to the flood water with a tape measure to make sure the instructions in the owner’s manual are followed, you just see if other vehicles can make it, especially the ones that exactly like yours", was all they could say at what they term as the "indifferent treatment" they were given by the car company, which they say is "deprived of any kind of goodwill" for customers who believe in them and the quality of their vehicles that they always brag about.

We can only wait and see what comes out of this classic case before we say our piece.

Isuzu unveils 2007 Alterra

Together with its present line up of vehicles being offered in the market, Isuzu Philippines Corporation shall unveil its 2007 Alterra tomorrow, Thursday, November 30 at the Mall of Asia.

According to the invitation sent last week by Isuzu’s power team handling media affairs headed by Timmy Naval (who has a blissful smile nowadays) with the able assistance of Ronald "Isuzu Joe" Baladad, the "media day" starts with cocktails at center stage at six o’clock complete with the ceremonial exhibit opening, product briefing, audio-visual presentation complete with a ceremonial toast.

The special thanksgiving night shall have no less than Gary "Mr. Pure Energy" Valenciano, Gabriel Valenciano and the Powerplay Band providing entertainment.

If I’m not mistaken this display of Isuzu vehicles goes on up to the end of the weekend for the public to view and enjoy.

New S-Guard vehicles from Mercedes-Benz

The Mall of Asia, now getting to be a favorite launch site of many industries for their new products, shall again be the venue, this time by Cats Motors, exclusive country distributors of Mercedes-Benz vehicles when thy present to the motoring media the latest S-Guard vehicles.

The event, which is a strictly by invitation only, shall have Dr. Rainer Gaertner, head of the Mercedes-Benz Special Armored Cars Department, DaimlerChrysler AG, presenting these specially manufactured vehicles that offer different degrees of protection from projectiles and explosives of different kinds and magnitude.

Several years back, I had the opportunity to visit their armored vehicles manufacturing facility in Stuttgart, Germany (if my memory is serving me right) and it was indeed awesome, to say the least.

Although no cameras of any kind were allowed inside, I was with journalists from different parts of the world who were given several demonstrations of how their armored vehicles can withstand bullets from different kinds of guns of varied calibers — from handguns to automatic rifles.

I understand from Andros Villaraza of Cats Motors that there will be very limited test drives during this Regional Launch of these armored vehicles, which I think would be of particular interest to many of our politicians and government officials as we look forward to next year’s elections and the challenging campaign sorties that go with the exercise.

Auto industry’s yearly service Olympics raises the bar

This yearly event that separately pits the talents of both sales personnel and service technicians that’s held by most, if not all auto companies, indeed improves individual talents and can only mean a continuing improvement of standards of after sales services and customer satisfaction.

Mitsubishi Motors Philippines recently held their own for the 10th year participated in by service advisors, technicians and sales personnel from 18 dealerships from different parts of the country.

"The Service Skills Olympics is an integral part of our culture here at Mitsubishi Motors and every year we celebrate excellence. We do this to improve proficiency of our people in producing customer satisfaction. Of course the ultimate test is how much we can satisfy and meet the expectation of our customers," was how Mel Dizon, senior vice president of MMPI describes this annual event that always much awaited by their employees eager to show how much they have improved and how they meet the challenges of the industry and its market.

At the end of the competition, Union Motor Corporation was adjudged Service Plus and Overall Champion, Fernando Ramos of Carworld, best service advisor, Nelson Bustillo, best technician of Diamond Motor, Anthony Peralta, Genuine parts Champion of Carworld and sales champion Emelinda Maitim of Diamond Motor.

Congratulations to all of you and let’s all keep raising the bar of excellence in the auto industry’s customer satisfaction.

"Race for a Cause"

A few weeks back, November 19, a Sunday, the 7th staging of the Arthur Tuason Memorial Cup was held at the Manila Speedzone at The Fort.

It’s actually a yearly karting event for charity that was first held in 1999 by JP Tuason, founder of Tuason Racing School, in honor of and named after his father who was a legendary motor sports figure.

"I wanted to keep his memory alive by bringing racing enthusiasts together for a day of friendly competition and at the same time, raise money for people who are in need of medical assistance. Our second aim was to get people interested in kart racing," says the youthful racing exponent and now "guru", JP of his "race for a cause".

During the first four years, the event was held at the Carmon Circuit in Cavite and its beneficiary was the Leukemic Indigent Fund Endowment or LIFE, which helped kids with Leukemia — the very same disease that claimed the life of Arthur, the elder Tuason.

This year’s event had six divisions, namely; Novice Light for drivers weighing below 150 lbs and who have never raced in karts before; Novice Heavy for drivers who have never entered in any karting competition and weigh 150 lbs and above; Expert Light for drivers who have kart competition experience and weigh below 150 lbs, and Expert Heavy for drivers with kart competition experience and who weigh 150 lbs and above; Cadet Class for kids aged from 7 to 12; and Media, Celebrity and Sponsors Invitational Race.

Way to go, JP! Congratulations for a successful staging.

Motoring Tip of the Week

You don’t have to rev up your engine when you start it to make sure the oil circulates in its engine. As a matter of rule, you are not supposed to rev it right after you start it, especially in the morning.

Because of laws of gravity much of your engine oil will naturally settle at the bottom overnight. Revving your engine immediately after starting it may mean that some metal surfaces within your engine may not be fully coated yet with lubricant. But, not to worry, the oil will immediately circulate as soon as you start your engine and unnecessarily revving it up would only unnecessarily consume fuel.

Happy Motoring!!!

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