by Lim See Meng, Kuala Lumpur.
In January this year, I happened to travel up north for a leisure family trip. Although my car was due for a Chemlube oil change, I was confident to continue for another few hundred kilometers till I get back to Kuala Lumpur. As Chemlube ester-based synthetic motor oil can run for 40,000 km, I normally change at 15,000 km with consideration on the severe KL City traffic-jams condition which results in a lot of unrecorded kilometers.
Along the way, the drive on the North-South highway was typically a breeze, with reasonable uphill power despite a fully loaded car, though I do not expect excellent power like when I just change new Chemlube fully synthetic motor oil.
During my several days in Penang Island, I had some free time and decided to look for a workshop that carries Chemlube. Of course, it is not easy to find a reliable workshop which also sells Chemlube. I then made a number of calls to friends, few have heard about Chemlube except one friend who travels often, gave me details of an outlet in Sungai Petani, which is about an hour's drive further north. Why, despite the good quality and popularity of the motor oil in Klang Valley and having been in the market since 1983 that we can hardly find Chemlube here in Penang? I decided to do some research online, so I "googled" and found a short article on Chemlube sold at a Hyundai service centre.
And so, I made my way to Jalan Sungai Pinang where the workshop is located, for my Chemlube oil and filter change. This Cartech Auto Centre is a pretty large and reputable service centre, judging from the cars they service. I was surprised to learn from the friendly manager that they have been selling Chemlube since 1985. Not many workshops that I know of in the Klang Valley that sells Chemlube can boast of such long association with the motor oil. The one that I am aware of, started selling Chemlube when they were modestly sized in the eighties but grew to be quite a large workshop today. I was also told of a strong following for Chemlube among Cartech customers. These motorists will not accept any other motor oils except Chemlube. Naturally, this is not news to me as I do know of many fellow Chemlube users in Klang Valley who would use no other motor oils in their engines.
Cartech mechanic replacing Chemlube.
After having the oil and filter changed at Cartech, I started thinking on my way out, if I should pay a visit to the service centre in Sungai Petani since my family's next destination is Alor Setar. By now, readers would be wondering why I am quite engrossed into searching out Chemlube outlets in Penang. The reason is one of habit because in Klang Valley, I patronize a few Chemlube outlets for my car servicing so that I am not over reliant on one particular workshop or mechanic. Each service centre has its own strength and expertise, and over the years of servicing my car, I have identified the right workshop for fixing the right problem. So this scarce availability of Chemlube in Penang has prompted me to continue looking for other outlets here in the northern state. If I do visit the Sungai Petani workshop, maybe I'll write another piece about them.
Contributed by:
Lim See Meng, IT Consultant
Chemlube user for 20 years
Kuala Lumpur
