Hot Wheels in Trouble..

I am not sure if witnessing cars on fire are a norm else where but I manage to take a snap shot of a taxi on fire, it causes quite a long traffic congestion along Jalan Kepong heading to Sungai Buloh during afternoon rush hour on the 12th of May. To be honest, I have heard and seen a few of our national cars, the Proton, catching fire since it rolled off production line in 1985 (if my old memory is still functional).

I am beginning to wonder if seeing & hearing more Protons catching fire are due to the overwhelming presence of these national cars or they tend to have more mechanical problems than the rest of cars of other manufacturers.

Since I am consider a "Tar Kong Chai" or just a regular working guy who just want to "cari makan" (making a living), getting a Proton would not be a bad idea for the time being. In short, that's the approximately the cheapest car around that doesn't look like a canned tuna or as small as a mouse deer lah...if you know what I mean.

Getting spare parts are pretty easy too since you have many 3rd party vendors manufacturing cheap accessories everywhere. Honestly it's just a car that takes you from spot A to spot B (period). I am not the type of driver who modify the car, almost 100% of the car has retained its original features, provided you don't take into consideration the extended rear mirror and my MP3 player I had gotten recently to replace my nearly dead Clarion player after more than 8 years.

My 1st Proton car was my dream darling (besides my wife..ahem) that took me over 45,000 kms a year for the last 8 years!! I took up what I thought was a great number, 4318. Yup, but the engine finally went burst, as in exploded while driving down NKVE's Bukit Lanjang. I was traveling downhill at 80-90kph with no response whatsoever from my accelerator and smoke bellowing out from my engine. Well, I survived to share my experience after having a new engine and being without a car for 2-3 weeks. The mechanic showed me a hole as big as my fist located right where the pistons were...

Maybe one day I can afford a nicer car when I have the opportunity to earn more. Meanwhile, just have to be happy with whatever that comes along.

Hope you like my little true experience. :D