Compared to the early years in the 1960s and 1970s, the car industry today has developed tremendously. In the beginning, only a few well known brands of vehicles were available in Malaysia. As a young boy, I could recall models such as Austin 7, Ford Falcons, Ford Prefects, Volkswagens and Vauxhall Vivas being seen on the road. Most of the above vehicles were mostly continental makes.

At that time, vehicles were all imported into our country. When the famous beetle shaped vehicle was introduced here by its agents Champion Motors, believe it or not, it was sold at less than RM10,000. The Volkswagen Polo costs more than RM250,000 today. Das Auto Motors is its agents in Malaysia today, while its original agent then Champion Motors was located in Kuala Lumpur. It has since wound up its business here in this country.

Later, Japanese makes of vehicles began to make its appearance into the Malaysian market. Models such as Datsuns, Toyotas began to make its headway into the lucrative motoring industry of our newly independent country, Malaya which later on was to become Malaysia in 1963. Datsuns were imported by Tan Chong Motors. Toyota cars came under the franchise of Toyota Motors until today.

From a being nation which used to import its cars initially, Malaysia advanced into first of all locally assembling its cars here. Datsuns and Toyotas were some of the vehicles that were assembled. Cars became cheaper as a result.

But locally assembled vehicles became not only cheaper, unfortunately the standard of such cars fell or deteriorated as a result. Consumers became wary about locally assembled vehicles. They began to prefer imported cars which were costlier but of better quality. They were more reliable. Its parts were said to be longer lasting and more reliable.

In the later years, under the Dr. Mahatir era to be exact, Malaysia became a nation interested in not only assembling motor vehicles of its own, Malaysia became a country that was to produce its own national car imitating America, Germany or England.

As a result, Proton Holdings Berhad was inaugurated. In the beginning, most Protons cars used imported parts which were from Japan. But soon, Malaysia slowly moved towards more and more of using local made parts.

Locally produced parts such as brake pads, seats which were made of coconut husks instead of springs and rubber which were found in conventional cars from Germany, England and America. As a result of many locally produced parts being used, locally made Proton cars lacked the quality and were said to be unable to last long. Quality control of the cars produced caused consumers a lot of problems.

I once owned an imported model of a Toyota Corolla DX, which was produced in 1980. Until around 2008, when the above car was finally disposed off, believe it or not, the odometer never gave any problems at all. Comparing it to a Proton Saga 1300c.c. car which I happened to own for a few years, I had to change the odometer, fuel meter and other assorted meters found on the dashboard, a total of at least 3 times. And the above meters, I tell you, were not cheap. They in actual fact, costs nearly RM200.

Malaysians who used to use locally produced vehicles by Proton Malaysia used to be told, if one should fail to hear rattling sounds from a Proton car, then it is believed it is not a Proton car at all. But all these perceptions have since changed.

Proton has made a move to erase any doubt over defective parts of Proton cars. This is especially true with regards to the power window unit that is being used in Proton cars. Owners of Proton power window units are today being offered a lifetime warranty for all new Proton models that are registered from September 1st 2011. Likewise, all vehicles that are still under the manufacturer’s warranty as at September 1st are covered under this proposal as well.

According to Proton’s Group Managing Director, Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir, the lifetime warranty for Proton’s power window is limited to 250,000 km or 10 years from the date of the vehicles registration, whichever comes first. Proton Malaysia is providing this warranty as it intends to encourage customers to fully use the power window unit extensively. Should any problem exist, Proton will guarantee to fix it free of charge.

According to the Proton authorities, the 250,000 km is consistent with global standards of the average lifespan of a vehicle. What is the reason for Proton coming out with such a warranty?

Proton cars have been associated with the belief that the national car has always been noted for its power window failures previously. This perception regarding poor power window performance of Proton cars have in fact given Proton cars a rather bad image.

Syed Zainal, Proton’s Managing Director further added newer Proton models are now free of any power window maladies. Pertaining to Proton’s power window woes, this problematic issue was addressed as far back as 2006 or 2007. All Proton models have since not had any such power window problems since then.

Meanwhile, Proton will invest some RM3 million over the next 10 years. This move will eventually go on to benefit some 450,000 Proton owners that still qualify for the manufacturer’s warranty.

It should be kept in mind that the Proton warranty for power window units is only applicable to Proton car models sold in the domestic market only. It should also be noted that 4 main components for the power window unit, which encompasses the door regulator, power window motor, power window switch and also the run channel are involved.

With Proton’s latest campaign on power windows, it is hoped will go a long way in redeeming Proton’s image in the Malaysian motoring market. Kudos to Proton Holdings Berhad for its concerted efforts!

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In one of my articles, 5 Good Reasons Why You Should Buy A New Car, I wrote on the subject of the pros and cons of owning a brand new vehicle. Amongst the good things of possessing a new car was that it gives you prestige. Besides that, a new car I said was more reliable.

Furthermore, a brand new vehicle or car would be capable of providing you with better mileage consumption. On the other hand, I also reiterated, a second hand vehicle has its advantages as well. It’s cheaper and therefore requires less finance to purchase. It’s also less prone to be stolen as well.

But if you think owning an old car, especially one that’s more than 10 years old, is all a bed of roses, then you are sadly mistaken.

First of all, allow me to inform you one thing, just in case you are unaware brand new vehicles for one thing, requires 1st Party Insurance coverage. It can cause lots of headaches for the owners. Therefore, we should not always envy those who own posh, new vehicles. They in fact face many problems too.

While going up the hill of Genting Highlands, my “haram” or illegal taxi driver friend, Encik Johari, 55, saw a BMW 5 series car overtaking us at great speed. In a twinkling of an eye, the BMW had disappeared up the steep slopes near the Cradle Rock.

Do you know how much the BMW 5 series cost? Johari asked of me. When I replied in the negative, my friend answered, over RM550,000! I immediately suffered a massive headache.

But is it true that owner of old vehicles or 2nd hand ones have not much to worry about as compared to those who own brand new and posh vehicles? Let’s contemplate about it.

Every year, when the time comes for old vehicle owners to renew their mandatory road tax and insurance cover for such vehicles, they in fact face a lot of problems. Ask any of the owners who own vehicles that are over 10 or 15 years old and you’ll know what I mean.

On the 12th of October, 2011, the Star reported in a headline “No Age Limit For Vehicles”. If you are an owner of an old vehicle like me, tarry a while longer. Don’t jump for joy just yet! Read further a little bit more.

At the bottom, it continued, “Inspection for road worthiness a must”, says Deputy Transport Minister, Abdul Rahman Bakri.

Permit me to quote the full text of what the above minister said. Readers can thereafter make your own conclusion. Decide for yourselves whether the authorities are pulling the wool over our eyes or otherwise.

The full text is as follows: -

There shall be no age limit for vehicles. All well and good. But all vehicles must undergo inspection to determine their roadworthiness before being deemed safe for use. However, the government will not impose any age limit on them.

Furthermore, Deputy Transport Minister, Abdul Rahim Bakri went on to tell the Dewan Rakyat that the Transport Ministry has no plan to enforce a vehicle disposal scheme like in Singapore. One good and pertinent point about old vehicles was that the main cause for accidents was speeding. Age of a car was not a contributing factor at all.

But what I would like to comment on what the government just recently announced about the inspection of old vehicles is this “Does the authorities realize why the majority of kampong people or village folks, senior citizens and those of the lower income group opt for old and 2nd hand vehicles?

The answer is plain simple. They just cannot afford new cars. Having owned old rickety bone shaking vehicles, how do the authorities expect the above said group of poor people to upkeep these old vehicles and send them for a compulsory test yearly by the Puspakom authorities’ inspection exercise?

As a driving school instructor for well over 42 years, I have sometimes involved myself in the inspection of cars for friends too. Permit me to quote you the cost of attempting to send a private vehicle for yearly inspections.

Very roughly, the cost of sending your vehicle at Puspakom inspection centres, whether at Sg. Manggis, Banting, Padang Jawa, Klang or anywhere else, are as follows:-

i. Runner or middle man fees or charges can easily amount to RM100 – RM150.

ii. Insurance for 1st Party Insurance coverage currently total RM550 – RM650 for RM14,000 1st party coverage. On top of that, a motorist is forced to buy a compulsory RM10,000 Personal Accident Policy from the company which is willing to cover your old vehicle. This comes to about RM100.

iii. Of course, one can opt to go to the post office to secure your insurance coverage. This writer understands 1st party coverage are cheaper there. My elder brother, B.H. Yap tells me he recently obtained his old car’s insurance / road tax at RM100 less as compared to insurance companies privately owned.

Old cars being sent for inspection must ideally be in fairly condition. As such things, as I list down below should be attended to:

a) 4 new tyres will cost approximately RM100 x 4 = RM400

b) A vehicle’s brakes system will have to be serviced prior to its being checked by Puspakom authorities and it costs RM80 – RM100.

c) Paintwork touch up service for an old vehicle’s bodywork will cost RM100 approximately.

d) Wipers, horns, brake lights, indicators, all these will have to be in good, working order. The cost for replacing these can easily reach a sum of RM40 – RM50.

e) An old vehicle’s ball joints, suspension system, and undercarriage, wheel balancing and alignment procedures all have to be checked carefully if it is expected to pass Puspakom’s stringent 5 point examination, cost for the above repair mentioned, it is believed will come to approximately RM200 – RM250.

f) The inspection fee charged for inspection by Puspakom is RM50 per test. Subsequent tests are normally charged RM25.

All in all, an old vehicle or 2nd hand vehicle, which is more than 10 years of age, will need anything from RM1,000 – RM2,000 if it is expected to pass the 5 point inspection test conducted by Puspakom. Only then will an owner obtain the B5 certificate which will then enable him to secure his road tax disc from the Road Transport Department.

It is indeed going to be a big hassle for owners of old vehicles if they are to be forced to send their vehicles for inspection every year. Think about it carefully.

Won’t it be a better idea just to write off the old junk you are now possessing and buy another newer car rather than sending it for inspection at Puspakom! The authorities should consider carefully if what they intend to do is something viable or otherwise.

Anyway, even though my suggestion is good, it would be rather an impossible task to implement. The public will without a doubt make a hue and cry over it if indeed it is carried out.

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In my last blog post, I wrote about one of my driving student who was working as a night club bouncer in Johore Bahru back in the 1970s. I told the story of how my student drove so fast our highway police could not catch up with him. Luckily he was not charged because back then, our Malaysian police do not have the necessary tool to measure the excessive speed he was driving.

The situation today is very much different. Malaysian police today are using the latest equipment to nab motorists who speed. They have the help of H.D. or high definition cameras!

Speed cameras called LT120-20 Tru which are said to be capable of capturing very sharp images are being used. If can even show clearly registration numbers of speeding vehicles.

Malaysian motorists who are caught speeding along our expressway, have all along challenged the police and J.P.J. summons issued. Even in the courts, there is not enough conclusive evidence to prove that a motorist has been speeding. All these will end soon.

Tens of thousands of the 285,000 motorists found speeding within the last four months of 2011, have been caught by the newly acquired 5 H.D. cameras and other 36 laser speed detectors.

Permit me to unfold to you some of the TruCam specifications and you will know what I mean. Then, decide for yourself whether you can escape from its clutches or otherwise. The LT120-20 TruCam sophisticated specifications include:-

i. Speed range: 0km/h – 320km/h

ii. Temperature range: 10°C – +60°C

iii. Maximum distance: 1,200m

iv. Measurement time: 0.33 seconds

v. H.D. image of speeding vehicle is captured and its speed detected using laser technology.

vi. The image of the offender’s vehicle is cropped out of the original picture, attached to the summons and sent to the vehicle owner.

The LT120-20 TruCam is said to be able to identify vehicle make and its model, license plate number and driver’s plus passenger’s characteristics. All these are good evidences which the courts will need to pin you down for the offence that you have committed.

The U.S. made LT120-20 TruCam, is reputed to cost approximately US6,000 (RM17,000). Summonses captured by the above unit, is normally despatched to the offender within 7 days of the offence being committed along with the captured images.

J.P.J. advised that initially offenders are sent reminders to contact the authorities concerned for an interview with them to verify the authenticity of the summonses. A failure to heed the above advice will result in a RM200 penalty. The final follow up procedure will be hauling the offender to court eventually.

In conclusion, it is believed that some 2,375 motorists are caught speeding in Malaysia everyday. With the LT120-20 TruCam it appears that the days for Malaysian motorists who fancy speeding along our highways and expressways dangerously are indeed numbered.

Your waterloo so to say, has finally arrived. Like Napoleon Bonaparte, who lost to Admiral Lord Nelson in 1815, your “D” day is imminent. Hurrah for the LT120-20 TruCam recorder!

The authorities especially the Police and the J.P.J. should buy more of them! They say the ends justify the means. TruCams may be expensive. But eventually, it will go on to save a lot of lives.