Subarus rallies and emergencies: Co-op bank could have saved the day

If you know anything about Subarus, then you know that they are an ïnvestment”their drivers and owners have dedicated themselves to. These machines are more than just a car to the people who own them as they often times become a labour of love -or a money sinkhole depending on whether we are being pragmatic or not.

I have a neighbour who has convinced me of this. His name is Kevin and he has really sunk a lot of money into “souping up” his car. I have watched him take his car from its baseline factory settings to what it now is; a noisy, faster monstrosity.

Seriously, this vehicle is like the car alarm for our neighbourhood because when he switches on his car and leaves it to warm up, not a single alarm system is not activated. And seeing as he leaves to go to the gym at 5 AM every Monday to Friday, you don’t have to set your own alarm.

We recently met at yet another neighbours’ BBQ and we started chatting about everything under the sun. The topics ranged from women to the currently ongoing Euros to his car. He had a very interesting story about two of these stories tied into one.

Kevin told me and a few other of our neighbours how sometimes, a mechanic can cost you more than you could ever imagine. He had been trying to fix his turbo after it had called it quits and died on him.

His usual mechanic was away on a work trip as he had to go and rescue another client of his who was stuck somewhere in Nakuru. So Kevin had to seek out another mechanic to do the work on his car. He settled on going to his mechanic’s apprentice thinking he would be just as good. He wasn’t.

The Subaru which is already an expensive vehicle to maintain was about to become a blackhole of finances because this one mechanic was not thorough. After replacing the turbo, this guy did not fix back all the pipes under the hood and he didn’t really check to see whether he had done a good job or not. So when our good friend came for the car, it still had issues that he was unaware of.

And Kevin had a date that day -and given this Kung Flu lockdown, that means they had an afternoon plan. So off he goes to meet his date and the car seemed to wait only until he had picked her up and they were on their way along the bypass for it to start having issues. The car lost power and the dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree.

So there they were, Kevin and his date, deep along the bypass and the car was limping. Kevin was pissed! he had spent a lot of money on the turbo replacement and his mechanic had returned that car and it looked like he was going to have to spend well above his budget. And his date was already getting jittery…

Kevin quickly called the mechanic to touch base and see what the issue might be but given the distance, they couldn’t accurately diagnose the issues. It could have been the clutch plate or it could have been the turbo that was faulty. The reason was a toss-up. So he decided to do what he could… He called up a cab for his date and trust that she left him in a huff and didn’t so much as offer to chill with him as he waited for a flatbed tow truck.

He then had to start calling his parents for a quick soft loan so he could deal with the car. And ofcourse he got an earful from his father. He was lectured about how irresponsible he is for not managing his money well and how the Subaru is the cause of everything wrong with the world and the reason for Kenya’s pathetic economy. And to make matters worse, it started raining.

So there he was, miserably sitting in the rain and getting chewed out by his father. And when the tow truck arrived, he had to get out in the rain to help them set up his car so he was drenched by the time that exercise was done.

I remembered how my brother had told me his bank, Co-op Bank had a service they offered that came in handy for him when he and his wife were working on their projects and I told Kevin that he should probably get a salary account with them seeing as he is working at his father’s business and he earns a salary.

Co-op Bank had my brother covered when trouble visited him with their in-laws

And according to what my brother had informed me, it is actually as simple as taking on a Co-op Bank Flexi Cash Salary Advance.

So what exactly are the features of the Flexi Cash Salary Advance?

1. Borrow from Ksh 3,000 to a maximum of Ksh 100,000
2. Recovery is done within 1 to 3 months
3. No security needed
4. Instant processing
5. No facilitation fee, if you apply via MCo-op Cash

How do you access Co-op bank’s salary account loans?

1. Open a salary account with Co-op Bank
2. Copy of KRA PIN

And incase youre wondering, the girl he was meant to go on a date with eventually called him back but he wisely decided not to entertain her after she left him hanging when it literally hit the metaphoric fan.