Reunited

My 1993 Nissan Sentra Super Saloon is finally back on the road. After six months of slow repairs at Nissan North EDSA, I drove it out last Thursday February 15.

It wasn’t the Nissan dealer’s fault that took them six months to work on the car. Regular readers may recall that my Sentra was involved in a collision with a taxi cab in August 8, 2006 at Mindanao Avenue near the intersection with Congressional Avenue while it was being driven home by my wife, Shawie, who was with our kids, Vette and Chevy.

Shawie was slowly driving ahead of other cars from the intersection after the traffic light turned green when a ROKI taxi cab driven by a Reynante Rabi came from the opposite lane of the avenue and jumped the center island then veered towards our car, hitting the right front end really hard before narrowly missing a truck on the second lane and coming to rest at the gutter of a Caltex station. Rabi told the traffic investigators a lot of fantastic stories why he had to veer to the opposite lane but he couldn’t recall the contact numbers of the taxi operator when we pressed him for a person to talk to so we could get compensated for the damage. Since he was incoherent, we had him jailed overnight and the taxi impounded while our damaged Sentra was towed to Nissan North EDSA.

The next day, we got Rabi out of jail so we could drive him to the taxi barn and meet with its operator. A certain M. Prado of Block 45 Lot 16 of Oakridge Subdivision, Salawag, Dasmariñas, Cavite was painted on the taxi’s doors as its operator, yet Rabi referred us to a Richard Sta. Maria of Bulacan as the real operator. When we got to the taxi barn in Karuhatan, we saw about 20 to 25 taxis parked at the lot and Rabi boasted that Sta. Maria runs about 200 taxis.

Richard Sta. Maria turned out to be a slick operator, who became miffed when we (my wife and I) told him that we were not amenable to have our car repaired at his shop. We explained to him that our car was carefully and regularly maintained at Nissan North EDSA and we don’t entrust it to just any shop or mechanic. "Hindi ko kasi kaya na magpagawa sa kasa (I couldn’t afford to have it fixed at the dealership)," he retorted and then asked me if I have comprehensive insurance. When I said that I didn’t, he said that his cabs didn’t have either and then insinuated that I should’ve insured my car. He tried to turn the table on me but I stood firm.

To cut a long story short, Sta. Maria eventually ended up paying for the damages, which was initially estimated at P107,000 but was later pared down to a lower amount when Sta. Maria supplied a front cut (fenders, hood, front end) of the Sentra to discount the costs of tin work to repair the damaged panels. We also allowed him to supply surplus and replacement parts for non-critical mechanical parts (like the front A-arm) but insisted that brand-new and genuine parts should be used for critical ones. He grudgingly agreed but he also took his sweet time supplying the parts and paying the bills, which greatly slowed the repair work.

It was already late November when the tin work was finished and the mechanical work was being completed. When the Nissan technicians test drove the car, they found that the power steering box, which was damaged during the accident, was leaking and promptly informed Sta. Maria. He refused to pay another centavo to have my car fixed saying that he already paid for a lot of things. I also suspected that he already got his taxi out of the police impound and had it patched up and sent back on the road. Maybe that’s why he had his old cocky attitude back.

I told the Nissan service manager, Boyet Bautista that I will shoulder the costs of the remaining repairs just to expedite the release of my car. I had been borrowing cars from my friends, Dong Aberin and Marc de Joya of Kia Motors Quezon Avenue and from Tintin Reyes of Honda Cars Philippines so my family can have a car to use and I didn’t want to abuse their generosity. The mechanical work on the Sentra was soon completed and I was able to secure some Jaguar Garnet Red paint from Dupont’s Alving Ong Dee to have the damaged portions repainted. Some other niggling problems came out later but these were promptly repaired by the Nissan service people.

So finally, I was able to drive my Nissan Sentra 1600 Super Saloon out of Nissan North EDSA last Thursday after paying P11,345, which already came with a friendly discount. While it pays to be a regular customer and to be friends with NNE general manager Vincent "Vince" Licup, eleven grand is still a lot of money for repairs that I shouldn’t be paying for in the first place.

While scanning through the service billing, I found that the taxi operator Richard Sta. Maria paid Nissan North EDSA somewhere around P23,000 in addition to the various surplus and replacement parts that he supplied to the dealership. All in all, he may have spent around 35 to 40 thousand pesos, which is still a hefty bargain compared to the initial estimate of 107 grand. What he didn’t pay for was the inconvenience that the accident gave me and my family.

I would like to chalk it up to experience but I can’t help think of the other careful motorist out there who will have the misfortune of being inconvenienced by the likes of Richard Sta. Maria and taxi operators of his ilk. It compels me to ask some questions regarding the government regulation of public utility vehicles (PUV).

Isn’t it that the law requires PUVs to be insured? Shouldn’t the LTFRB require PUVs to be covered not only for Compulsary Third Party Liability (CTPL) but for Comprehensive Coverage as well? After all, PUVs are always on the road and they should have enough financial coverage in case of an accident.

Isn’t it a requirement by the LTFRB for taxi cab operators to fully disclose their franchises? Richard Sta. Maria kept insisting that he only has four taxis and he initially said that the other cabs we saw on his lot were "nakikikabit" or extensions of his franchise and even dared me to check with the LTFRB or the LTO. He later retracted his statement and said that the other cabs were just parking on his lot because of their subdivision’s strict parking ordinances. Curiously, why didn’t the ROKI taxi that hit our car show Richard Sta. Maria as its operator?

Isn’t it true that operators collect P1,000 as "boundaries" from their taxi drivers everyday? With four cabs alone, Richard earns P4,000 a day or P24,000 a week if his cabs only run six days instead of seven. Thus, he has the potential to earn P96,000 a month yet he cannot pool up the money to insure his cabs or fully pay for the damages his cab did to my car. What more if it were 200 cabs? Does the BIR know about this?

In this same column in August, I wrote about "my family’s close call" and correctly predicted that "from the looks of things, it will be a long time before we can have the car back to its original running condition." I also ended my article by saying that "human lives cannot be replaced and critical wounds take a long time to heal. Cars, on the other hand, can be repaired or their parts replaced. It will only take some time and money."

I should have added that it also takes a lot of patience. Fortunately, patience is my middle name. I’m just happy that my car is finally fixed and reunited with me and my family. Now, the real work begins. I will have to do shakedown runs with the Sentra to see it there are other "little" problems that will soon come out. I wouldn’t like Shawie and the kids stranded when the car quits on them while they’re out somewhere.

While I was writing this column, for example, Shawie called up to say that the Sentra wouldn’t start. Luckily, they were just about to leave the house for Vette’s school so I told her to leave the car and take a cab. I’ll look into the car’s problem myself.

So, please excuse me while I go fix the Sentra and become inconvenienced again. After all, not all reunions are always pleasant.

Here are a few of the Backseat Driver reactions from last week. Keep ’em coming!

James Deakin’s Backseat Driver dated February 14 is a hell of an article – funny and entertaining! – 09279228682

To James Deakin: your article, "The Date from Hell", was hilariously written that I almost overlooked your torturous experience. You have a way with your pen. – 09195067483

Some of the buses travelling along EDSA are smoke belchers. Why doesn’t the MMDA do anything about this? – 09208914150 (Sirit…)

To the authorities: please light the underpass in front of Sta. Clara along Katipunan. It’s dangerous at night, with lots of squatters. – 09178464315

Why do the authorities allow the use of car plates with tinted covers? The plate numbers are no longer visible in case of accidents. – 09165885780 (Uh, yeah. Sirit…)

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