CAR CLINIC: When choosing tyres, it all boils down to quality versus frugality

Hi JM,

You have me hooked to the Wednesday paper and truth be told, I trust your wisdom about four wheels more than I can say about some fellows.

Now, in the terrain we drive in, what tyres would you advise one to use? This is a debate that has been raging in my house, with me trying to convince my hubby that we buy tyres made for Africa (I told him we can buy made for Africa for my car and he can choose whatever he fancies for his).

Please help a sister as my hubby doesn’t see why I am being fussy; he conveniently forgets he bought one of the other brands for Sh5,000 and it shredded in a day. Of course he says in every bunch produced there must be one and this was the one.

You ask why can’t I just buy and I maliza the vibe? Well, he is the one who takes the cars to the garage and all servicing.

Keep up writing, you know we’ll read.

Alice

Hi Alice.

I can easily guess the unnamed-but-heavily-hinted-at tyre brand you and the hubby were grappling over. It may have a colourful past and this may be a contributory factor to the events that transpired later.

Both of you have valid points. The terrain you drive in will determine the type of tyres to buy, quite obviously; but then again, when it comes to brands, does it really matter outside of a racetrack? It doesn’t — or rather, it shouldn’t.

You are strongly advised against driving on public roads in a manner that creates a noticeable difference between Pirellis and Michelins. Leave that for Formula One.

Like your husband, I have once had a brand new tyre let go on me, in what I will call The Misadventures Of Car Clinic Chapter XXXVIII. Unlike your husband, I have a fearsomely reliable memory and my subconscious mind will not allow me to shut out the experience.

Also, yes you guessed it, it involved a Sh5,000 brand with a bi-syllabic sing-song name that incidentally rhymes with “sing-song”.

I was enjoying a casual drive in my previous car — the Mazdalago LP111-2 — one bright Sunday morning. I was feeling quite proud of myself having bought a set of four brand spanking new tyres that really brought out the electric blue paintwork on my little hot hatch, and I will admit it looked quite fetching.

As I drew near Kikuyu Town and prepared to exit the bypass, there was a loud bang from the back left corner of the car, followed by some violent listing that immediately sent me into a thankfully manageable tank slapper which I quickly brought to heel through some quick thinking and deft helmsmanship.

I didn’t need two guesses to know that I had suffered a blowout. Thank my lucky stars it did not happen at the front axle; things could have gone differently.

What I didn’t understand was why I suffered the blowout. The tyres had covered less than 200km since purchase. The reason the Mazdalago was so pretty was because I only drove it on tarmac, and only the smoothest samples.

So hubby is right as well, sometimes a premature tyre failure could be from a sample that escaped the quality checks at the factory, but you too have a point in that it says a lot about a brand that has this kind of thing happen to it.

This comes down to a balance of what you really want. You may go hubby’s penny-pinching Sh5,000 way and save money. Or you could go the way of reliable name brands that guarantee peace of mind in both road safety and service life. Your choice.

Is there an exhaust pipe theft syndicate?I may be a victim …

Thanks for the good work you are doing and making it fun to read. Now, I don’t know if you have come across this issue before.

We recently imported a 2011 RAV 4 and used some contact to bring it from Mombasa to Nairobi. When the vehicle was being handed over to me, the driver informed me that the engine check warning light had come on the way (also a 4WD warning light).

He advised we check the error using computer diagnostics. This was done and the error showed a problem with catalytic converter. The mechanic said sometimes it gets clogged and it is good to have it checked.

I happened to remove the battery terminal the next day and the error disappeared but then after driving for about 20km, the error was back. So I decided to pull into the next petrol station pit stop to get a look at the underside.

To my amazement, the exhaust pipe had been cut and welded back after the first muffler, which may be where the catalytic converter is located. On asking around, I am being told this is a new theft syndicate where a vehicle's muffler is cut and the precious ‘powder’ is removed and sold in the ‘black’ market.

Sorry for using the term ‘black market’ but this is the only term I know people use when describing the underworld. I hear the Chinese are paying good money for the substance. Can you shed some light on this and maybe enlighten the public on this scam?

Samuel Kiboi

Hello,

You don’t need to apologise for using the term “black market”. It is what it is.

I cannot confirm or deny whether or not the Chinese are fuelling this subterfuge, though it smacks a bit of someone using the circumstances to flex their xenophobic muscles.

Why the Chinese specifically? I strongly suspect it may be fellow Kenyans behind this whole mess, not necessarily the Chinese.

What I know is it is fairly obvious why they are going for the cats: they cost a lot of money — hence profitable — and the theft is not immediately noticeable since you have to go under the car to notice it and how often do we find ourselves there, if at all?

It’s not the first time we are hearing of imported vehicles being plundered and pillaged en route to their soon-to-be-shocked owners. Safeguards against this are entirely in your hands, there is only so much we can realistically expect of others.

Either do the delivery yourself, or use trustworthy personnel known to you for some time (this is not a guarantee either, people have been known to kill family over insurance claims, so stealing an exhaust system component will not even tickle their guilt nerves at all).

This will still not get you completely out of the woods; another potential kill point is the garage. I always supervise all garage work done on my car and will rarely allow the vehicle to either “sleep over” or be worked on out of my sight unless absolutely necessary; and this will only happen in the care of someone I truly believe in.

It is unfortunate, but security starts with you. You could assist the police break up this theft ring (if it is indeed a theft ring) by having the driver arrested to explain how he drove from the coast to the city that led to vanishing cats from under the car. I believe this is what is called “assisting with investigations”.

Why you need to check your car’s muffler often

Dear Baraza,

I had forgotten about my article or rather email until I saw it today. Refreshing to see myself on your page again. Then I saw another one just below it from a lady driver having an overheating problem.

She talked of the computer diagnosis showing manifold is the culprit. It then occurred to me I had forgotten to tell you something.

After I wrote you the email telling you that the electricals were the fault and had been corrected, a few days later, may be a week, the problems recurred. I called my mechanic who told me not to get the car out of the house; he will come pick it himself. He carried out a few corrections such as changing spark plugs (we had already put new ones) so that he could do the rest at the garage.

However, on the way, the car caught fire at the exhaust. We used everything on site to put it off. The rest of the journey it had to be towed to the garage. That is when we decided to check on the muffler. To our shock it was completely clogged. Someone later said it has to be changed as soon as the car is imported. Why he did not say that at the beginning beats me.

Anyway, we changed the muffler and apart from having to change the spark plugs and coils once again (they don’t come cheap for a Nissan, or rather this Dualis), everything else was perfect and my problems with my beloved Dualis are gone now.

May be you can ask my fellow fans of Car Clinic who have heating problems to always check the condition of the muffler; it can wreck your car.

Tony Nderitu

Thank you for the insightful input. That was a close shave, a lot of people have lost their vehicles to on-board conflagration. I hope my readership is paying attention and taking notes.

Volvo S60 and VW Jetta: Which should I go for?

Hello Baraza,

I am thinking of buying my first car and I am considering the 1.6L engine Volvo S60 or the 1.4L VW Jetta. Would you please review the cars and which would you prefer?

Thanks,

Sam

Hi Sam,

I may not review the Volvo S60 because I have not engaged with it that deeply beyond cursory research or anecdotal news pieces in which it stars.

What I know is this: Pros — very safe. Cons — very unfamiliar. It is the anti-Toyota; you may have to search around for a mechanic who understands Volvos.

Now, the Jetta 1.4 … the atmospherically aspirated version is so-so, but the turbocharged one goes like a bat out of hell, relatively.

Nobody expects much out of a 1.4 and the turbocharger is laughably puny (about the size of my fist, and I am not of a large frame) but these two combine forces to become tag team champions of the sub-1500 category.

It really is impressive, until the turbo starts slurping up its own lubrication and burping it out the exhaust as plumes of thick white smoke. Why are Volkswagens like this?

It’s fast, it’s comfortable, it’s pretty, it’s economical, it’s classy, it’s smooth and quiet and as Germanic as you would want a small saloon car to be.

But it may eat its own turbo, so there is that. I asked DT Dobie why they don’t assemble the Jetta alongside the Polo Vivo and they said “Hold that thought”.

It should be obvious in conclusion which of the two cars I’d prefer. No, you are wrong, I’d pick the Volvo.

Why, you ask? Because of Baltimore. Road safety and prevention of road traffic injuries are my new priority and I admire the pioneering and innovative work Volvo has done in this sector.

It is only fitting that I’d gravitate towards them, specifically for this reason.

Buying Foresters from Singapore: The sequel

I present the latest episode of Foresters From Singapore. This week's contribution came via Facebook messaging and in a nutshell, it builds on what my car-selling colleague chipped in with last week.

[Disclaimer: The individual shall remain unnamed since he too sells vehicles, and he says his current crop consists of both Japanese and Singaporean sourced inventory. His clients are active members in my forum hence the private messaging — he doesn't want to implicate himself]

Cars imported from Singapore lack QISJ (Quality Inspection Services Japan) certification because QISJ doesn't have an office in that country. This means that QISJ inspection is done in Mombasa, which makes it notoriously easy for the odometers to be wound back while in Singapore or for heavily defective rust-infested vehicles to find sailing room on a freighter. There isn't an auction inspection certificate to verify the car's condition.

Most Singaporean cars are originally sourced from Europe, he adds. This includes Japanese brands such as the Subaru Forester which generated this entire thread.

This in turn means there are high chances of incompatibility with Japan-sourced spare parts (I didn't know this) and he concludes by saying that buying Singaporean is akin to betting: you never know what the outcome will be.

This is the exact opposite of Japan whereby cars are sold at auction and are thus graded and all faults listed in the auction sheets. In Singapore, anything goes.

Tune in same time next week for a possible continuation of this saga, though I think my latest intel kind of sums it all up.

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