The Day My Car Refused to Budge

Yesterday as I prepared to head out to hubby’s shop to collect food, I was greeted with an unexpected ordeal - my car's engine refused to start. Little did I know that this day would turn into a series of unfortunate events.

As I turned the key in the ignition, all I heard was a feeble choke. Panic set in, and I immediately assumed the car's battery had gone flat. Since I had faced similar issues in the past, I felt relatively confident that it was nothing more than a routine inconvenience.  I informed Hubs who was busy at work and he told me to call our regular mechanic, Ah Heng.

Ah Heng sent his son who’s almost the same age as Alycia (aged 20-21) over to our condo. He’s currently pursuing a degree in electrical engineering. Very quickly, he managed to replace my car’s battery with a new one.  But still, my car wouldn’t budge and only let out a feeble click.  I called Ah Heng and he told me to get my car towed to his workshop for him to check.   

Ah Heng informed me that many car insurance policies provide free towing services as part of their coverage. I have been driving for years but had never utilized this benefit or was even aware that such a benefit existed. He suggested I contact my insurance provider to arrange for the towing, and that's exactly what I did.  It turned out my policy did indeed cover free towing, saving me the extra expense during this stressful situation.  The waiting time for the tow truck to arrive at my condo was pretty fast,  i.e. in less than an hour from the time the call was made this morning. 

My heart sank. If the problem wasn’t the battery, what could it be?  Just last month, my car needed a replacement for a major component of the electronic unit which cost Hubs quite an amount. This new problem would undoubtedly put a dent in his finances as his own car got discharged from the workshop just last week. Again!  The last thing I want is another hefty repair bill, especially after he had spent a significant amount on car maintenance on both our cars over the past three years.

So I guess it’s time to get ourselves new cars to prevent all these problems from regularly (monthly issue, to be precise 😥) creeping up on our cars!  🤑💸💸💸

My car is being towed out of the condo basement.  I also found out from the tow truck operator that charges for basement towing are more expensive than roadside towing as it's trickier to tow a vehicle out from the basement via the narrow, winding ramps.