I've always had an interest in cars, so I'll probably start blogging more about them in the future. Now that we've had our 2001 Toyota Kijang almost a year, I'll take a moment to reflect back on car ownership in Indonesia.
We bought the SUV from a friend at church that was moving to India. We got a fair price for the Kijang and the opportunity to hire our friend's driver, Hartoyo. Hiring Hartoyo has been great as he has lots of experience driving expats in Jakarta, and he is honest and reliable. There are many fantastic things about having a driver, but one of my favorite is that I have yet to see the Kijang dirty for more than a few hours. Even in the rainy season, Hartoyo keeps the inside and outside of the car immaculate. He reminds me of routine maintance, and is always willing to work late (for over-time, of course) when we need it. It is a pleasure to pay him each month as he has become an integral part of our life here.
As far the car goes, we pretty much bought it after a quick test drive, and I must say that so far the old Kijang has run like a champ. The car only has about 100,000 miles on it, but no telling how many hours on the engine as I am sure 90% of the gas we buy is burned up in idling in traffic. Whenever we are lucky enought to get out of Jakarta and up to 50+ mph, the car gets about 30 mpg (although I've never done a proper calculation).
As far as I know, the car has the original engine and transmission, and both work very smoothly even after 10+ years of bouncing down Indonesian roads. We have done some work on the car (with cost including labor): 2 oil changes (50 USD each), fuel filter replacement (20 USD), new shock absorbers (100 USD), repad the seats (100 USD), rework the A/C (200 USD), new seat belts (200 USD), replace a door lock motor (20 USD), new battery (80 USD), replace a headlight fuse (2 USD), and replace the radio power cord (20 USD). I may have forgotten a thing or two, but really the Kijang has treated us well and has yet to leave us stranded on the side of the road (knock on wood). :)
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