If your car breaks down!

My son Adlil was driving to an exhibition at the World Trade Center when he noticed smoke coming out from the bonnet of the lemon green Beettle. He did the right thing - stopping at a safe spot without blocking the traffic.

Then he did another right thing - he walked to the nearby hotel to buy three bottles of mineral water - to top up the radiator. The water boiled over in an instant due to the heat of the engine. Before he could count to ten, the water dissappeared! It was then that he realized the radiator leaked!

Driving through a traffic crawl of Dubai with an empty radiator is suicidal for any car engine. So, when he called me for advice of what to do - I told him to drive the car to the hotel and wait.

Having reliable friends around is a must have in every one's survival kit! I was lucky - KP was on hand to offer help. I called Nazrah who had recent experience of having her car towed for towing company contact number. KP called Hasnol for the contact number of a workshop which has been repairing cars for Malaysians over the last few years. Put all of these together, we had a solution to Adlil's predicament.

Within half an hour of making a call to the workshop, a tow truck arrived where Adlil was waiting. KP and I arrived at the same time. After some negotiation and reminder that we are one of his loyal Malaysian customers - we were charged Aed120 for the tow service from Exchange 2 of Sheikh Zayed Road to the workshop in Rashidiyah. Very reasonable indeed - and for his reliability and fast responce, I am publishing his call card in this blog! Hopefully, it will be useful to other Malaysians in need.

At this moment I am not yet able to comment on the quality of their worksmanship. When the car has been repaired, I will make a better assessment and will be able to recommend more confidently.

If your car breaksdown.......

1. Stop at the nearest safe spot, which does not obstruct traffic or cause hazard.

2. Call for help. Having a reliable friend or a reliable service provider is of great help.

3. Stay calm! Only calm head can think properly...

4. Always have a reliable tow truck service provider's number in your mobile. The one we called was recommended by the workshop and I found as reliable and arrived on time within half an hour. It can be reached at 050 - 8713435 ( speak to Sameer ).

5. For pricing, it is better to let the workshop negotiate with the tow truck on your behalf. We did that. The workshop did well to negotiate it down from Aed180 to Aed120.

6. The workshop can be reached through Mr. Nasier at 050-6587348. Many Malaysians have used their services.