Malaysia memang boleh! Anything and everything that can be faked, has been faked! DVD’s, Croc shoes, LV bags, Nokia batteries, Ringgit notes, including the topic of my blog entry, engine coolant!

There are probably counterfeit Honda and Proton coolants as well in the market, probably from the same factory too! Just the label and packaging change only mah, and probably the colouring agent too! The profit is just too high; RM21.90 for a bottle of original Toyota coolant!

Enough talk, have a look at these pictures:

See the difference? Top is genuine

Genuine, the red is more red, and the fonts sharper

See the difference? Red colour is very obvious. Also the missing "Toyota Genuine Parts"

View from the bottom. Left is genuine

Side by side, top is genuine

Genuine, the Toyota emblem and word more refined

Fake ..... urgh, take a look at it yourself!

Genuine, proper address and a barcode

I think even the address is fake!

Genuine carries no words on the aluminium foil

These pictures were taken back in 2009. Since then, the pirates might have already improved on their methods. So probably many of the things here might not be relevant anymore. For example just today I went to buy two bottles of coolants from Toyota Balakong, and the cap contains an embossed emblem of Toyota! So the point is, just be careful of the parts you buy from spare part shops and mechanics. I would say 95% of them sells fake parts.

This is my first experience here as a Toyota owner, servicing my Altis. I was prepared for a huge bill. For one thing, I do not have a complete service record for this car, so all other details of the record remain vague. I have called 2 weeks earlier to book an appointment and the receptionist did mention that 80,000 km is a major service for Altis. She did mention a range of RM700 ++.

I bought some very good lubricants before I went there, the Caltex GTX. Cost me RM50 plus. And the original Toyota oil filter. Could save me some buck, I thought.

Went there today, 9 am. It’s just by the road side of the Balakong highway, so you can’t miss it. But I did, simply because there was a bend and there was a side road before you can enter here. Made a couple of u-turns before I finally reached there.

My first impression I was there was how professional everything looks. I wish I had my camera with me. The “garage” does not look like a garage at all. The reception area was air-conditioned, and it looks more like a bank than a sleazy car mechanic place that I used to know. The work area where all the Toyota’s a being serviced is partitioned with a glass wall so you can sit down and look at the buzz of activities on the service floor. There was plenty of space to sit around, two floors of them, to watch TV, even write a blog, as what I am doing now! Free wifi seem to be the “in” thing nowadays everywhere.

The person in charge of my Altis was Edward. Edward is nice guy, smartly dressed in the Toyota shirt of red and white. We conversed in English, and I almost forgot that I am taking my car for a service. He showed me the packages available, the things that needs to be serviced and stuffs. He also showed me the previous service record, which was more than 4 years ago! I have to give in to his argument, you never know how and when the previous owner services the car. It’s better to start from a clean state, and change everything. And that means EVERY DAMN THING! The aircond system will have to be serviced as well, along with other checks. That amounts to a whopping 4 digit bill! All my entire life, the only time when I need to cough out over RM1000 in car service was when I changed my car suspension of my Iswara, and when my Iswara kena accident. BTW, the lubricants that I bought earlier? I can’t use it here. The Maxcheck comes as a package, so even if you were to bring your own parts, they will not use it.

This is just a really major service, and they really mean MAJOR! I have looked at their schedule, where they have the list of services necessary, and the recommended mileage to do it. 80K is always at the end of the table! That really tells you something huh?

Oh well, at least that gives me peace of mind. This service will last me at least another 40K of worry free driving.

Well, got to go. I have got tonnes of work waiting for me to do before the start of UAT testing this Monday. Ciao.

The Altis was launched in Malaysia in 2001 as a new rebranding of the ever famous Corolla model. It brings over the proven record of comfort and reliability that has associated itself with the name Toyota. This is a 1.8G spec, meaning the full spec, with all the bells and whistles. Compared to the E spec, this particular spec has got gated automatic shift stick, Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), optitron meter among others.

The particular model that I have driven is the 2002 model, 1.8G spec. Brilliant car it is! Let’s go over the details one by one. We’ll start from the outside.

The owner has fitted wing mirrors with signal indicators, something that is not found in other Altises for this particular year:

Despite aging at 6 years, this car is still quite modern in its design. A view from the rear still has the menacing stance associated with newer cars.

In its flesh, the car is solid and well-built. A well-known criteria for measuring well-built-ness is the sound of the door when it is closed. An assuring thud instead of the Milo-tin-can sound of the Proton is heard.

Let’s go to the highlight of the car, the interior.

This is the sight that greets you as you open the door to the cabin.

The plush interior contains things that are designed with all the critter comfort in mind. Seats with lumbar support, soft cushions, inviting controls, user-friendly dials, one-touch door lock, power wing mirrors. Best of all, the power window works! (Sorry, I got carried away after driving the Iswara for so long!) The driver sits very high up, I can swear I can almost look inside other vehicle’s occupant and see what colour of their pants is! Perhaps too, this contributes a lot to the superiority complex when I drive this car. When I drive the Proton, I always feel inferior compared to a Beemer or a Merc! No such thing with this baby!

Gated gear stick! In operation, the gear is smooth and very intuitive. You will not accidentally shift into R or other lower gears while driving. It requires a conscious effort to do that. However, this being such a quiet car, there is virtually no difference between N and D in terms or NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness). I find myself having to look at the meter to know which gear I am now, something that does not happen in the old Wira Automatic. It’s a good thing, trust me.

How is the engine like? With 132 horses inside this baby, there is plenty of pented-up power waiting to be unleashed. In operation, the car response immediately at the lightest touch to the throttle. Needs some getting used to! The sound of the engine can get very loud at high rev due to the inherent use of steel chain instead of the traditional rubber timing belt in most other cars. However the noise is seldom felt as I rarely have the need to go over 4000 rpm.

The tyre is a 195 / 60 / 15 inch measurement, and it is a very rare combination. Not good, very limited tyre choice.

One thing that has been discussed over and over again with this car is its cornering ability, or the lack of it. The car handles very poorly when pushed hard. I took this car for a spin along the Cyberjaya routes. Though the power is there, the car hesitates a little when rounding a corner. I artificial induced kick-down by shifting to 3rd gear, and the car jerked as if the power to the wheels were cut off. The VSC in action perhaps? To be honest, the Wira handles brilliantly round corners, and in this aspect, the Wira 1.5 automatic wins hands down! However there is one rare occasion when I just threw caution to the wind and pushed this baby to the limit. At the big round SKVE interchange towards my home, I entered the corner at 90km/h, grabbed the steering tightly, and tapped slightly on the throttle. I managed to screech the tyre slightly, but nothing more than that. No doubt the body roll is felt, but the car went into a controllable understeer. The tyres did not lose that much of grip, probably the works of the VSC or the TRC. I dare not try with either of them turned off. Let’s just leave the experiment to the professional shall we?

Fuel consumption is great too. For a 1.8 litre engine, it clocks 500 km for a RM73 worth of petrol. (assuming petrol price is still RM1.92 per litre) Not bad, when the Wira 1.5 A only gets 350 km for a similar tankful value! Highway trips are great, since the NVH is way better than the Wira, minimizing fatigue to the driver and passengers. Going at 150 km/h and above is easily achievable. (Whoops, don’t report me to the police okay?) The car handles with full confidence at high speed.

All in all, the Altis is a great car. For such an old car, it still commands a very high price in the 2nd hand car market, when other cars of other marques (Nissan, Ford, Honda) depreciated much more. Being a Toyota, reliability is never a question. This car will always deserve a special place in my heart.

More pictures here.