My Forte - Random Pic

Cursed

Don't you get so irritated sometimes when you see these people holding up traffic because they got stuck either at the Touch 'n Go or Smart Tag lanes of the toll booths?

There are many of such incidences at LDP, the highway that I use regularly to and from work. I often cursed these people and thought that they must be morons for not understanding the huge "Touch n Go Only" or "Smart Tag" signs. 

Looking back, I actually posted something about this here, and that was in 2007. From then until now, I must have cursed thousands if not millions of people.

........Today, the table turned.

I was the one who got cursed....probably for 7 generations. 

I got myself stuck at the Smart Tag lane and it was not because I couldn't read the sign. I have a smart tag with me, just that it chose not to work on this fateful day. No, no... it wasn't the battery.

I think I am going to have phobia passing through the Smart Tag lane tomorrow morning. Please do not fail me once again!!... I do not want to be cursed and called a moron again.

Kia Cerato unveiling!

The new K3 or Kia Cerato as known in Malaysia is unveiling tomorrow! This is one fine looking car, and if I was not desperate to change my ailing Inokom Matrix 2 months ago, I would have waited longer for this.

Anyhow, I did not regret at all getting my Kia Forte as it is one handsome looking car too. What more with only 1.68% as car loan interest and priced at RM97.8K for a 2.0 which is within the budget I set. With the specs of a C-segment car, Kia Forte is definitely a steal!

Heard that Kia Cerato will be priced at RM99,888 for a 1.6 and RM118,888 for a 2.0. Thank goodness I didn't wait cos it is definitely out of my budget anyway!

 

First Service

After driving my new Kia Forte for 3 weeks, it has reached the 1000km mark & time to "de-virginised" i.e to go for its first service.

So I chose a work day thinking that I would probably be the only one there. To my surprise when I reached, there were already around 5 cars there for servicing. Couldn't imagine if it's on a weekend.

The girl at the reception gave me the impression that she didn't like her job much or it could be the time of the month. Too bad for her black face, or she could be considered as pretty.

She asked a few basic questions on my car's service history & car issues, and entered all these into her computer. Then told me that the cost will be around RM170+ for the lubricants (discounted price) and to wait for around 2 hours. Hmm....people have been telling me that 1st service would just take a breeze.

So here I am, at the service center, waiting & waiting.

Info that I got from forum is that Fuel Consumption (FC) for new cars are usually high & after a few services, it will get better.

My car's has been at the average of 10.8l/100km which is around 20cents/km on 90% city driving, as in getting caught in the jams. Hopefully FC will get better after this.

Handsome Fella

After the Sierra Glow treatment, my Forte looks so "handsome" according to a female colleague. Too bad she was not saying that about me. :(

Anyhow, here is that handsome fella.

The coating layer also causes water beading... pretty cool to look at.

My love is glowing (Sierra Glow'ing that is!)

I so love love love my new car, the Kia Forte 2.0SX. Such a big upgrade from my old car.

As with any new love, you will be obsessed (slightly or to the extreme, depending on people) and will be more than willing to "invest" on it.

I have to say that I am not extremely obsessed as compared to other Forte owners who are doing so many mods to their cars. I on another hand am more of "where can I get a nice case for my smart key", "what is a nice decoration to put on the dashboard" or "how to change the skin of the head unit" kind of owner. So I do not think I have been spending a lot of money on enhancing my new love.. until today.

Today, I sent my Forte for coating.

So what is coating and why does our car need it? Well...I am not a car person and from what I gathered, coating is to apply a layer of semi-permanent substance onto the car's paint to preserve it. Besides preserving its beauty, it also makes the car easier to wash & maintain... and that is the main reason that attracted me.

After surveying from forums and asking friends who coated their cars, I settled for Sierra Glow mainly for its reasonable price as well as good reviews. If you are a Forte owner and a member of MyForte Club, you get a discount too!

So after making the appointment, off I went to get my love coated today. I reached the shop in USJ around 9.35am (they open at 10am) due to my kiasu'ness. Well, Mr Choong (the director) did tell me that it's first come first serve. An Optima was already there when I arrived. So got more kiasu people than me, ok?

 

Waited a little while and Mr Choong arrived. Nice & friendly guy who checked my car and told me that I have to be careful with cement dust. Yeah...a lot of construction happening at my residential area as well as nearby my office. If not cleaned often, these cement dust will harden with moisture & will be difficult to get off.

After chatting with him for a while, his staff arrived, I passed them my key and they started to wash my car.

 

Mr Choong proceeded to explain the benefits of coating vs waxing & polishing, and his product. Well these are something which I have already read from his website, but it's good that he ensures his customers know what they are getting.

After that, he got me to sign a form and then I left the vicinity as I didn't want to wait 5-6 hours (as stated in the website) there. Around 4 hours later, I received his SMS informing me that my car is done. Not bad!... 4 hours instead of 5-6 hours. My car must have been easy to coat as it is new and without scratches yet. 

When I got back to Sierra Glow, there my love was... glowing like a diamond in the sky (sorry, I couldn't resist using Rihanna's hit).

 

Love love love it!

Sierra Glow's coating comes with a 5 years warranty and in cases where the coating diminishes, they will do touch ups for you. I shall wait and see on how long the coating will lasts, but I can't deny how I love love love the glow on my Forte now.

Sierra Glow (M) Sdn Bhd

No: 26 Jalan Industri USJ 1/3,
Taman Perindustrian USJ 1,
47600 Subang Jaya, Selangor,
Malaysia.

Contact person: Mr Choong: +6016 - 217 0312
Email: sierraglow@gmail.com

My new ride

I am never a car type of person. If you randomly point to a car and ask me what car it is, I would probably be looking at you blankly unless it is a Hyundai Matrix, as that is the car that I have been driving now.

Being a car idiot, it never crossed my mind to change to a new ride until recently when my Matrix started to show signs of old age. Well 9 years is a long time, and I do love my Matrix. However it has started to malfunction, and maintenance charges are now often over RM1K each time. Driving it nowadays gave me so much stress knowing that it could break down anytime.

So I had to take the next step i.e. to consider getting a new car but with a firm budget of no more than RM10K.

Then, there were so many comments from different people. Some said I should get a higher end car, some said don't get it now and wait for car prices to go down, some said wait for new models to come out first etc. Anyhow, I am the one who is clearest about my current situation and the stress that I go through when driving to and from work. Imagine I am worried now thinking about driving my Matrix to airport to pick up my sister this coming Friday night!

After doing some reading, I decided on Kia Forte 2.0 SX. Here is a review that helped me in making a decision.

Yes, I know this is an old model and that a new one (K3) is coming soon, but I insisted on this decision because
1) the car's design & functions are already impressive to me
2) I intend to drive this car for many years, so not so concerned about resale value
3) There is a promotion going on for the car with low interest rate (1.68%) and many freebies
4) K3 2.0 will be over my RM100K budget...and will need to wait a while to get the car. I DO NOT want to wait any longer.

 So I made my booking yesterday and get to trade in my 9 years old Matrix for RM11.5K. The sales person told me that the earliest would be 6-7 working days but I am praying hard that the car can be available on Friday.

Then I can go pick up my sis from the airport... in my new ride.