I was driving into Cape Town city centre along the N2 when my oil light suddenly came on. Okay, that’s quite concerning, better stop at the next service station. Five minutes later and I did stop, unfortunately not because I found a service station but due to the engine losing all power. Not the best part of the road to be stranded on, but fortunately there is the N2 Safe Freeway project. Just a call and Whatsapp away and they dispatched someone to come and wait with me until the tow truck arrived. 

Watching traffic while waiting for the tow truck, with a metro police car parked behind me 

After a long wait the tow truck arrived and Elton gave us a lift to a Toyota service centre. 

And that’s when the bad news came. It turns out the engine had seized, which goes along with a bunch of other unpleasant damage that will take some time and money to repair. According to the mechanic these cars are particularly sensitive to service intervals, so the 1000km or so that I was overdue was the underlying cause of the oil being gunked up and ineffective. We’ll have to wait and see what the exact cause is though. 

Things I learnt (and hope I’ll be able to impart to my children one day) 

• If the oil light comes on, stop, immediately, as in straight away and now. 
• Make sure you service your car on schedule and don’t let the busyness and craziness of life get on top of you. 
• Remember to check your oil regularly (don’t be dof like your dad) 

Of  course, they’ll be driving electric cars, so this won’t matter to them anyway.