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Traffic was crawling along the northbound side of EDSA the other day, and I was driving at the innermost (left) lane, turning toward the Estrella Flyover. Just before turning left to the flyover (going to Rockwell), I noticed that there were several street kids on the center island. As traffic started moving, a couple of the kids started moving toward the center of the road. I wondered what they were up to. Were they going to ask for alms? Were they just going to play a dangerous round of patintero with moving vehicles?

Turns out they were up to something more mischievous.

One of the kids suddenly pulled open the passenger-side door of the taxi cab in front of me. He pulled it with so much force that the door went fully open and almost hit a Honda Jazz to the right of the cab. The kids then ran back to the center island, seeming happy with their deed.

This brought back old tales of goons forcing open unlocked doors while in traffic or at stoplights. My dad once told me some men tried to force open his doors along Kamias Ave. (which is near my neighborhood).

So here’s a reminder to all motorists. Keep your doors locked. If you have a car with power/centralized locks, make it a habit to do a tactile check every so often. I click the “lock” button on my armrest several times during a trip; that’s how OC I am. Or, make it a habit to ask all your passengers if their doors are locked. This could save you a lot of trouble from potential incidents like the one I witnessed.

If you’re riding as a passenger, then make sure all the doors are locked, too. This is especially important when riding taxi cabs. For one, most cabbies are too lazy to lock their doors. Most cabs don’t have power locks, and unlocked doors make it easier for them to pick up passengers. Secondly, having unlocked taxi doors can add to the risk of being held up by robbers in cahoots with bad cabbies.

Again–lock your doors. Best to keep your windows closed, too, especially in traffic. Weather in our country is often hot, anyway.

Image credit: flickr/lobsterstew

As a car owner, finding out your average gas mileage will benefit you in many ways. It will, first of all, aid you in budgeting how much you’d want to spend for gas over the course of a week or a certain period of time. Besides that, it will help you alter your manner of driving as to not waste too much gas. So take the time to learn this particular subject.

Figuring out your car’s gas mileage is easier than it sounds. Some newer cars will have multi-information displays that automatically tell you your current mileage. Not all cars have this feature, though, so you will need to learn how to do it manually.

Follow these six easy steps. You may need a calculator, pen and paper, or you may calculate mentally.

1. Fill up your gas tank until it is full or until the fuel pump stops automatically. Take note of the number of kilometers currently displayed on your odometer.
2. Keep track of how many KMs you have driven until the next time you fill up your tank with gas. To do that, simply subtract the number of kilometers you had when you filled up your tank from the number of KMs displayed this next fill up. For example, your mileage was 10,000 on your first fill up, then 10,200 on your next. Therefore, it should be computed like this: 10,200 – 10,000 = 200. The total number of KM you have driven is 200.
3. Gas up and take note of how many liters of gasoline you have bought. Then the total number of kilometers should be divided by the amount of gasoline you purchased. For example, 200 KM / 20 liters = 10 kilometers per liter or KPL.
4. It is ideal to do this counting on a long road trip since you will be traveling continuously and it will get your mileage to easily increase as opposed to driving short, separate trips within your town or city.
5. Repeating this over a period of a couple of weeks will help you garner an average over this span of time.
6. Take several measures to efficiently make use of gas—several measures, such as, obeying speed limits.

Note that you can also reset your trip meter to zero to help you count the number of kilometers you travelled. This will be more accurate, since the trip meter counts to the nearest 100 meters, while the odometer will only count to the nearest kilometer.

Doing this is not just another one of those difficult math problems that you have to solve for over an hour. Although getting the variables take quite long, solving it is as easy as counting 1-3, especially with the help of a calculator.

It is important to be familiar with such a seemingly petty issue such as this—finding out your gas mileage. This may seem insignificant at first but in the long run, it will be of good use to you. Not only will it make an impact on the way you handle your car but it may also unknowingly help you in taking better care of it and encourage you to obey traffic laws. So go grab a pen and a piece of paper and get driving and solving now!

Image credit.

I’m in the market for a new(er) car these days but with the slew of Ondoyed vehicles, you can’t be too sure which ones in the second-hand market safe(r) to buy. I might violate my personal finance rule of never buying a brand new car since the depreciation alone in the first year is devastating.

I just find it funny that many cars posted online don’t seem to bear the rightful price for the vehicle. Why is it that an 18-year old two-door Civic still sells for Php 160k to 200k. I’ve seen ’93 Corollas still sell for 150k while their fair depreciated value would only be around 80k, perhaps 100k tops if it’s still well-maintained and bears low-mileage for its age.

Some would cite the number of modifications they’ve done to the car as the reason for the high pricing. Sure, modifications do cost money. An engine swap alone can set one back as much as 60k. However, modified cars, unless they’re modded by experts and if the owner keeps meticulous records, are migraines waiting to happen than prize catches.

You might be lucky if you find someone selling his modded car that’s only been used for “pang-porma” but chances are, the owner would probably have redlined it once or twice. As far as my experience goes, it’s always better to go with an all-stock car.

Still, it’s a challenge to find a second-hand car that’s been pretty well-maintained by the previous owner. I just can’t believe the prices that many sellers still set for their cars. I refuse to believe that cars have stopped depreciating since three years ago. Cars depreciate, you know.

One thing I learned in my years of driving and being a car owner is that dealing with the Land Transportation Office can be a pain. This is especially so during those times in the year you have to renew your driver’s license and your motor vehicle registration. It’s not too difficult to determine the schedule for registration (which is usually based on the last two digits of your plate number). However, sometimes you find the need to check for vehicle registration, especially in times of emergency.

For instance, when I got into an accident sometime last year, I used my mobile phone to check the registration details of both my car and the other vehicle involved. This helped determine if the plate matched with the vehicle, if the registration was valid, and if there was no LTO alarm (such as carnapping) on the vehicle. This technique for checking registration is also helpful, to some extent, when checking used cars before buying. Although the registered name does not appear, you can at least check if there are any LTO “alarms.”

The procedure is fairly straightforward. You just send an SMS to 2600 with the following keywords:

LTO VEHICLE ABC123

where ABC123 is the plate number. You will then get a response detailing the car’s brand, make, year, color, and date of last registration. Now this won’t necessarily tell you whether the registration is still current or expired, but based on the plate’s endings, you can at least estimate if it is valid for the current year.

You can also check license details by texting this to 2600:

LTO LICENSE XXXXXXXXXX

where XXXXXXXXX is the license number. This can be pretty useful when checking for the driver’s identity and validity of the license.

To get motor vehicle transactions and keywords, send “LTO MV” to 2600. For other permit and transactions, send “LTO DL” to 2600. Each message costs PhP 2.50.

The recent onslaught of typhoon Ondoy (international name: Ketsana), which left majority of Metro Manila and outlying cities flooded has resulted in the loss of many lives, homes and property. Part of this is the flooding of automobiles. Some had been fully submerged. Some partially submerged. And many others had to pass through floodwaters, probably stuck in traffic or just to get to higher parts of the city, to avoid further damage.

What should a car owner do in the event that his or her vehicle is submerged in flood waters?

How to wade through flood

The best way to deal with flooding is to avoid travelling at all. But if you really have to brave the floodwaters, then here are a few tips, mostly based on an article I wrote for Study Driving some time back.

• Turn off your air conditioning–both the thermostat and the fan. In the event flood waters reach your aircon system while it’s running, it will be costly to clean and repair.
• Use other cars as a reference when checking for depth. If the flood waters are up to halfway of the wheels, then it’s probably still safe to pass through. If it’s already reaching past the wheels, then there’s a high likelihood that the waters will enter the cabin and also the engine bay.
• Check for possible obstacles and changes in depth. With floodwaters, you won’t be able to see the sidewalk or any open manholes.
• It’s easier to wade through flood if you’re driving a manual transmission vehicle, since you can “play” with the engine revolution by adjusting the clutch and accelerator pedals while moving forward. You need to make sure your engine is revving enough such that water will not enter through the tailpipe. So stick to first gear and keep the engine revved to at least 2,000 RPM until you are sure you’ve exited the waters.
• If you’re driving an automatic transmission vehicle, be sure to stick to first gear, too. Do this by selecting “1″ or “L” on your gear selector. You can probably “play” with engine revolution by clicking the gear selector button such that the clutch will disengage and let you rev up the engine without moving forward, in the even you need to stop while in the middle of the flooded street.
• Make sure the water will not reach up to your engine’s air intake. Once water gets in, your engine will choke as it will no longer be able to combust fuel. Some diesel 4×4 vehicles have snorkels that act as air intakes. Since these are located up high, you can theoretically submerge the car in roof-deep waters, for as long as the snorkel is above-water. But of course, most of us drive regular cars, and not flood-proof 4x4s.
• Be sure to check or dry out your brakes right afterward by tapping and pumping to check if they “bite” properly.

After a flood

Based on discussion threads on Vios Club Philippines and Tsikot, here are a few things you should keep in mind if your car gets submerged under flood water while running or while parked.

• Don’t attempt to start the car. You have to make sure the engine is not waterlogged.
• Disconnect both terminals of the battery.
• If water has reached your car’s computer box (ECU), it’s best to have your car towed to the casa or service center without delay. You will probably not be able to do any DIY fixing here.
• Uninstall the air filter, and dry out. You may also replace this is replacement is due anyway.
• Dry out all electricals, especially the relays, plugs and other switches before plugging the battery back in.
• Check your oil dipstick. If it’s coffee-colored (with cream!), then it means water has entered your engine’s cylinders. Oil will have to be changed several times, for this to be flushed out.
• Have all fluids replaced.
• Have all joints and bearings re-greased.
• Have spark plugs dried or replaced.
• Look for drain plugs underneath the car’s carpeting, and also the trunk (usually under the spare tire well).
• Be sure to dry out the car in the sun, weather permitting.
• Have your car’s interior detailed, as the flood will most likely leave mud and other stains inside. Worse than this is the musty, murky smell that water ill leave inside the car.
• If in doubt, have the car towed to the nearest service center or casa.

Repairs for flooded vehicles would usually involve replacement of electrical parts, replacement of spark plugs and fluids, cleaning of the interiors, and additional rustproofing or undercoating (as flooding would be one reason for early corrosion).

Flood insurance

Most insurance policies do not automatically cover “acts of God” or “force majeure,” so be sure to check with your insurance provider if you can file claims for repair or replacement of a flooded vehicle. Most would cover for AOG with a premium, but some would include this as free in the policy. I’m pretty sure insurance companies will be deluged with calls from car owners as an aftermath of the storms.

Has your car been flooded by the recent typhoon? The staff of Pinoy Auto Blog extend our sympathies, especially for families who have lost lives, homes and properties. We will be joining online relief and rehabilitation efforts soon.

Image source: flickr/floriebassingbourn

If you are in the market and looking for a sensible car to invest in at the moment, chances are many car owners would recommend the 1990 AE92 Toyota Corolla. Why? Well for one, it is the most logical choice if you are looking for style and budget. Actually, this car plays along the range of PHP 90,000 to 130,000, depending on how souped up it is. It is a wise investment since spare parts are easy to find and the repairs to maintain it are not that hard on the pocket.

To customize it is not that hard to do either. You can just buy the old style 15” magwheels with 50 or 60 series tires and then setup a manageable sound system and you have a great car to use. It is likewise economical as far as gas consumption is concerned but this would depend on how well the engine is maintained and the manner of driving to which is all up to the owner behind the wheel.

It is spacious, fast and easy to fabricate. But one thing about the Toyota Corolla 1990, do not overdo the fabrication part. As it is, the car is a class on its own and many car enthusiasts are already all praises for it with minor tweaks to its overall stature. That is how easy it is to whip up an enticing model of the 90 AE92 Toyota Corolla versions.

We all know that these days, global warming has resulted in warmer sunny days to which car air conditioning systems may need all the help they can get to ensure that proper climate levels are maintained inside cars. One resort is to have heavily tinted vehicles to make sure that sun rays find it harder to penetrate. But on the other hand, it may make driving harder, especially during the evenings.

Another issue here is security. Heavily tinted vehicles are being pulled over due to the rampant crime rate which has involved drugs, kidnappings and smuggling to which most of the dark-tinted cars can expect to be pulled over and warned of their tint. Some would heed the warning while others will not. Others even use people in power to protect themselves and with that, you can wonder how any form of control can ever be placed on this issue locally.

On the normal route, it is hard to see the road with these dark tints. Whether you are driving normally or backing up, chances are your car is up for bumps and dents if you are not careful. Having people guide you because of it is an option but with that, you are gaining quite an attention. So why bother using dark tints?

Using the heat as a primary issue is lame. But if there are people to be blamed then perhaps that would be the car accessory vendors. If they would stop selling these dark tints then perhaps people would not even consider using them. So fix that and you may get some order from all of this dark tint issues.

If there is one thing familiar to you these days, it is that of banning the use of mobile phones while driving. It has become customary to answer calls or text messages regardless if you are on the road. Through this, the growing number of car accidents have swelled mainly because a single second of taking your eyes of the road can lead to dire consequences which most drivers today totally disregard.

This is really a habit that should be corrected. Actually, drivers know that this should not be done and yet they continue to disregard such. Keeping your eyes on the road is a must and this includes being on a full stop or on the move. People claim that they need to answer their messages or calls but perhaps if they would consider what would happen if they bump into another car or worst, a person due to their hard-headedness.

To date, there have been laws where drivers who use their mobile phones will be apprehended. Not a bad way to make people to stop texting while driving. But what if they are using a heavily dark tinted vehicle? How will the traffic enforcers or police be able to know if the people are indeed using their phones while they are on the go?

The sad thing about society is that people always want to live on the forbidden side. Texting while driving is something that doesn’t need to be enforced by law. But since people are so enthusiastic about using their phones while driving, more lives are being claimed by the day. Hopefully though it will not be yours.

Ask anyone on what is the most sensitive part of modern cars these days and you may perhaps get the computer box as the answer. Rightfully so, it is considered the heart of modern cars and once it gives way, you are in big trouble.

Unlike older cars, car computer boxes of newer models from Mitsubishin, Honda or Toyota are hard to replace. In fact, that is your only option since they cannot be repaired. There are people in Banawe who may claim it can be fixed but if you want to take that risk and solicit worse problems for your car, then by all means grab it. But the reality of it all is that if other parts of your car can be fabricated, your computer box cannot.

The normal occurrences that would contribute towards car computer boxes being damaged severely include:

1. Floods or being soaked
2. Length of use
3. Wrong installation or has been tampered with

Not even the usual electricians would dare tinker with it for the reason that they know how sensitive this part it and how expensive it would take to replace it. The price could go as far as a second hand car!

So if your computer box goes on the blink, better start saving for a new one. There are no second hand ones that can last in the same way that your old computer box was. Certainly, it is a part that can be expensive to replace but it may take eternity to wreck depending on how you take care of your car.

One thing about cars these days, you want to be as comfy as possible. This includes the manner of driving to which most people prefer to have the automatic transmission to avoid the need to shift gears frequently.

But while that may seem like a luxury, it also comes with a price. If your automatic transmission gives way, for sure you are talking bout close to Php 50,000 at the least to have it repaired. It may cost more and it would all depend if you can find one in the market.

Another thing about automatic transmission, you cannot afford to see your battery go dead. If it does, you may find yourself in a heap of trouble especially since they cannot be started using the normal jackrabbit start you can push it and instantly release the clutch to start it again. In these scenarios, if your car is an automatic, it would be best to have a series jumper cable in tow just in case you find your battery go dead.

Also, during the rainy seasons, you cannot just go through flooded areas. Unlike the manual transmission vehicles where you have to maintain a certain RPM to go through them, automatic transmissions change gears on their own. That cannot be applicable in flooded areas since you cannot maintain that high RPM due to automatic shift changes.

This is not to say that automatic transmission vehicles are problematic. It is just that in these cases, you have to watch out for these scenarios. Either you avoid them or take the risk.