Although Malaysia is fortunate enough to not have many natural disasters like volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tornados (oh, wait…) that regularly occur in neighbouring regions like Indonesia and the Philippines, over time our country will experience heavier-than-usual rainfall especially during the month of November and December.
Those who live in the vicinity of the East Coast will normally experience flash floods sparked by these heavy rains. Once the flood water reaches dangerous levels, it could damage buildings, houses and cars which result in huge amounts of expenditure needed to reconstruct and repair the damages.
In order to ease the burden of its customers who experience this, Proton is reaching out to flood victims nationwide via its We-Care Prihatin Banjir Programme by helping Proton owners who suffer damages to their cars due to flooding. Under the programme, affected Proton owners will be given a 20% discounts to the total repair cost.
For the duration of 5 months starting November this year, Proton customers will be entitled to a free vehicle inspection service, valuation of damages and towing assistance from the affected location to the selected Proton service centres nationwide. There are about 67 Proton service outlets nationwide which will be offering the promotion, which ends on March 15, 2015.
Proton owners can contact the Proton We-Care Centre at 1800-888-398 for enquiries, assistance and towing service.
Quick tips on how to manage flood-affected cars (courtesy of Proton):
- Do not turn on your car engine.
- Do not use a remote control to open the car door. Instead, do this manually.
- Make sure to remove the negative terminal of the car battery to stop the flow of electricity in the car.
- All three measures above are intended to minimize damage to equipment, in particular to electrical and mechanical components of the vehicle.
- If these steps are taken, some equipment can still be saved.
- After turning off the car electricity, remove valuables from the car, lock the door manually and get the car towed to an authorized Proton Service Center.
As a general rule of thumb, if you live in an area where flooding may occur, move your vehicle to higher ground if you expect flooding near your area. Despite what type of vehicle you drive, it can be easily exposed to damage if it is parked in a flooded area and it may also be a hazard or cause obstruction to emergency services.
Read AF’s guide when you are driving in flood here.
