Hyundai i10 in Bahariya Oasis

Last week I've taken my i10 to the longest drive yet. The drive to Bahariya Oasis from Cairo is some 360 km (220 miles) and a bit longer when coming from east of Cairo like Nasr City as in my case.

The gas tank was not exactly full yet my i10 was able to make it all the way there till Bahariya. The tank was almost empty as I arrived for the gas station in the middle of the way to Bahariya had no gas!

I stayed two days at Bahariya Oasis then had to come back to Cairo for work but guess what, the gas stations at Bahariya had no gas! I also came to know that gas at Bahariya has an octane rating of 90 only while my i10 was only fed 92. At the end of a deep search, we managed to find someone (not a gas station, but a guy selling gas having brought it all the way from Cairo) who sold us gas. Of course he asked for a much higher price than its otherwise fixed price in Egypt.

I drove some 400 km (250 miles) back to Cairo alone and gave my i10 a 15 min break in the middle of the way (although the rest house/gas station still did not have any gas) and I too breakfasted on some dates during those 15 minutes as I had started moving from Bahariya Oasis at the crack of down.

I was driving back at a speed of 100 to 120 km/hour (62 to 75 miles/hour) with an occasional 140 km/hour (87 miles/hour). I did enjoy (most) of the ride back, specially the middle part which was after my dates breakfast and before entering Cairo at 6th of October City where I started to get lost a bit and hence the extra miles. I guess it's time to get a GPS gadget since it seems it will start to gain popularity after the Egyptian government ended its ban I guess last year or so.

I guess now I'm approaching my second maintenance mark which is the first 5000 km (3000 miles) after I've already done my first 1000 km (600 miles) maintenance.

After getting back safely, I filled my tank with some 25 liters of 92 (octane rating) gas to quench my i10's thirst for its preferred energy drink. I'm glad it made it all that way with the 90 (octane rating) gas I had bought from that guy back at Bahariya Oasis. I'm looking forward for its 5000 km maintenance now.

Ghabbour Called Me

I just received a phone call from Ghabbour, Hyundai agent in Egypt, moments ago. I had bought my Hyundai i10 from one of the Ghabbour distributors. During the phone call, she asked me if I had any issues with my new i10. I informed her about the steering locking that had taken place the other day. She listened attentively then asked me if I had informed the service engineer about that issue when I did the car maintenance. I informed her that I had not done my first month/1000 km service check yet (included in the warranty). She told me that when I go do my first service check I will sit down with the service engineer and that I should tell him all the issues I have faced with my car.

She then proceeded to ask me about my buying experience. She was evaluating the particular distributor I had bought the car from. She asked me whether I had received the car on time or not and if I had faced any problems other than the issues in the car (which the service maintenance should be dealing with). She also asked me to rate the distributor as well as the car and giving each a score from 1 to 10. I thought for a moment, then told her I give the distributor 8 out of 10 and the car ... 9 out of 10.

Such checking up on customers, regardless of it enhancing your product usage experience or not, makes one feel cared for. It makes you feel they are doing their homework and that you are not left alone. I felt an increased sense of relief and comfort having had this call from Ghabbour Auto.