| Hi Everyone - This is Ravi Sharma Joining in
Hi
I am Ravi Sharma a writer by profession and an engineer by education. I believe a car is less of technology and more of a companion. It's an intrinsic part of the family. One that stands through your worst and best times, when even your friends and relatives are not with you.
I took a long time to own my second hand Maruti 800 Dx. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. 12 years down the line it is still with me. It has seen me through some of the best times. It has helped me bond with my family. It has been a stress buster in the sense that whenever things became tense, me and my wife would drive away on it and talk out the stress.
Between selling it and fitting a CNG 4 years ago, I chose the CNG option despite negative comments from many. Not only did it turn out to be a wise decision, it paid me back handsomely. My car that I would have sold for 35,000 at that time, has saved me more than 90,000.
Yes today it is old. And has become a bit unreliable. I have to go to garage almost alternate Sundays. But the annual maintenance is not more than 1100 per month, much less than the depreciation of any car that will replace it.
But my family now wants a new car and at 48 myself, I too am a bit tired of an increasingly indifferent brand of mechanics - be it the small workshops or authorized workshops. They all are overworked and don't care about customer satisfaction like they used to, some years ago.
So on an average, to get one thing repaired at lease 2 and sometimes 3 trips are required.
Most of my expenses has been on AC - Fitting a condensor below, 3 oil seal leaks, gas leaks, and a King's Cooling Coil that greatly helped the cooling inside.
But switching the a/c on and running it on gas, I admit is like asking too much from this beauty. A/c is definitely injuries to its health. Yet, I dont mind spending the 1100 odd every month because of the stress A/c puts on my old car.
But by and large there is a shrill note at home to change the car. And everyone says I have carried my love story with the car too much. That it is about to die.
So I joined this forum to gain the immense knowledge you people have. Some of you have technical love. Mine is emotional. But I will learn the technical aspect too. So that I can preserve my next car that much longer. | 
27th May 2010, 18:26
