Aibo goes to the doctors...

At last, Aibo's maintenance-related expenses are done...for now.

The 40,000-km maintenance service, the rust removal and panel repaint, and general air-conditioning maintenance took a huge bite out of my so-called "Bride Digo fund." All those expenses basically cut the fund in half, which means I have to start saving up again if I'm to get any closer to the big-ticket items I had originally intended to get for Aibo a long time ago.

Still, the cruel reality of car ownership is that things can go wrong literally behind your back. This morning I was up at 6 a.m., washing and drying Aibo with the loud homily of our parish priest as background noise. After lunch I decided to remove all the car mats for cleaning. The instant I removed all the mats at the back, I was aghast to see a long lick of bird guano on Aibo's left rear door when it was clean seconds ago.

The air-con was a particularly huge source of frustration for a while now. The system would start fine, but when I saw the tachometer needle tick over at a 2000 RPM idle, I immediately knew my A/C's cooling had gone. It started as an intermittent problem that unfortunately became a regular phenomenon...and driving around with no A/C in the middle of traffic-riddled Manila in December is emphatically not a pleasant experience.

Now, back to the good stuff...I wonder when I'll get those new tires, Tein High-Tech lowering springs and that coveted Bride Digo?

When you realize you're too old to study...

I think I've come to the point where I've become tired of putting in the effort to study. I had Tuesday off; I spent it doing everything else except study.

Wait, that's not entirely true. I did spend some time studying. Anyway...

Aibo's 40,000-km service job went pretty well. Most importantly, it came out a couple grand cheaper than I was expecting. Any money I save is important, yes.

The big news concerned the A/C system check I requested along with it. According to the service advisor at Honda Makati, they found no problems within Aibo's A/C compressor, although they couldn't recreate the no-cooling problems I got. They said the problem may go away if I sent Aibo in for full A/C system cleaning. That slashed my potential expense to just 25% of my initial estimate. PhP8,000 is still kind of pricey for an A/C cleaning job, though, but hey, any money saved...

Regarding the rust spots and the droplets of white paint marring Aibo's deep silver skin, I paid a visit to Supreme Motors and got a sweet deal on rust removal, detailing, painting---the works. I scored a jackpot right there considering it would have cost me twice more to have Honda Makati do it. Again, any money saved...

So far, the expenses don't seem to be reaching above and beyond the amount I've saved up. Unfortunately I might have to let go of some of my plans. I should save harder...much harder.

So near, yet still so far: after four months...

The weather's getting colder, the days are getting uncharacteristically busier, and the bonuses are coming in.

Frustratingly though, I'm still nowhere close to getting that Bride Digo seat even if I do have the money already. Other big-ticket expenses---most of which are maintenance-related---have popped up and demand greater priority. My A/C compressor has gone finicky, my L13A3 engine needs the dreaded x40,000-km tune-up, and my aging tires need replacement. Replacing the compressor alone is enough to put a substantial dent on the money I've religiously saved up the past few months.

Chalk it up to impatience perhaps, but it just highlights one thing: Given the amount of work I do, my paycheck is pitiful.

Wanted: music while driving.

Wanted: music while driving.

I made the jaunt this morning to the official Kenwood service center in San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City. I went there to have the Jazz's car stereo checked, especially due to its inability to read any CDs.

I left home at 9 a.m. and got there at 10:30. The Saturday morning traffic was unbelievable in some parts, particularly the Sta. Mesa leg I drove through. All through the 34-kilometer trip to the shop, I drove with the audio head unit off, as a preparation for the amount of time I won't have it.

As it turns out I have to leave the stereo with them for a week. That means for that amount of time, there's a gaping hole in my dashboard where my stereo used to be. Peering into it yields a glimpse of what's on the passenger side of the engine firewall: part of the wiring loom, the ducts for external air for the aircon, and the chassis crossmembers that keep the dashboard where it is.

For one week I don't have anything to distract me from the idiocy of other drivers either. Sure, I've had nothing but smooth jazz to listen to for almost two months, but it's better than twiddling thumbs in traffic.

Figuring out how to dismantle the Jazz's dashboard to gain access to the head unit itself was a learning experience for me and the technicians, though. It was more so for them than myself, because due to the awkward location of the screws, they ended up losing one of them in the innards of the dashboard. It took another dismantling to locate it.

Driving again with nothing but the thrum of the engine and the whine of the aircon blower as background music, my next stop was Glorietta in Makati. Sony happened to have a summer promo going on for all its stuff and I once again laid eyes on that CDX-GT460US Xplod head unit I wanted, the cheapest model with aux-in (Ipod) and USB connections up front.

"Cheapest" unfortunately translates to PhP10,000. Oh well. If repairing the Kenwood unit isn't worth it I might as well save up for that one.

Dynamics vs. cost

Dynamics vs. cost

The more I make use of the Jazz's dynamic abilities, the thirstier it seems to get.

After my third fillup I made 11.762 km/L. While that figure still eclipses anything I managed with the City and my hard-charging driving style, it's still rather disappointing because I know how much more parsimonious the Jazz can be---I did make 14 km/L before. That's undisputable evidence that driving style does contribute a lot to the ultimate fuel efficiency of a car.

While the Jazz has no problem with being hustled, perhaps I'm pushing the little car a bit too hard. This might be an indication that I should be savoring the car's low-end torque more, not its top-end urge.

By the way, true to form, that tuneup cost me a pretty penny. The final bill at Honda Makati amounted to PhP6,600, done with fully-synthetic oil, eight spark plugs (the price of i-DSI) and an engine detailing job. This didn't include the cost of a new rear center seatbelt buckle, though (it's PhP850 or so), as the advisor told me there was two weeks of lead time for them to get the parts. Fair enough, I guess, as it's an unusual item to replace.

The upside of this is I think I'll get to keep my car's warranty for its final year within the period without having to go back to Honda for servicing.