[REVIEW] SAYS Brings New Car Maintenance Website On A 'Test Drive'

Castrol's latest venture, Carama, is Malaysia's first online portal that simplifies car care and maintenance. It is a one-stop web and mobile platform for consumers to monitor their car service history, find trusted workshops and make appointments. With over 200 certified and listed car workshops in the Klang Valley, the website aims to connect Malaysian car owners to trustworthy workshops.

One of the biggest features is the workshop locator to help you find the best and most trusted workshop for your car.

The sign up process in Carama is easy, but requires a teeny bit of effort. First, you'll have to provide your name, email address, phone number and the date of your next car service. Upon sign up, you will immediately receive an email with a RM40 promo code for your next car service and your temporary password. After that, return to the Carama website and log in using your registered email address and assigned temporary password. Once you've logged in, go to 'Account Settings' and change the temporary password.

While registering with Carama is free and comes with an array of benefits, it also comes with (very) consistent emails and phone calls about the latest promos and reminders for your next car service. Don't worry, there is an option at 'Account Settings' to opt out of receiving emails and SMS from Carama.

Carama promises that they only feature workshops whose service and quality have been vetted and passed by Castrol. They feature Carama Certified Shops for workshops that have been through the "40 point" rigorous screening to meet the highest standard of workshop quality. All bookings made through Carama are assured with a 3 months warranty, fair price assurance and free drop off service within 5km of the selected workshop.

As Carama is still in Beta phase, its network of workshops is still limited to only a few areas in the Klang Valley. According to the website, they are constantly expanding on their affiliated workshops.

One of the best features on the Carama website is the car workshop locator. By entering your preferred location and your car make, the website will generate a list of workshops that matches your needs and convenience. Carama also provides all the details you need to make an educated decision on which workshop will best service your vehicle. You can check ratings, customer reviews, services offered, and Carama quality scores of a workshop's customer service, transparency, technical ability and more. If you still can't decide which workshop to pick, just go with the one that has the Carama Certified logo.

Once you've decided on a workshop, you can immediately make an appointment by clicking on the big red 'Book an Appointment' button. Pick any time and date, and enter a few details including your car information and contact number. Upon submitting your booking request, you will receive a booking confirmation from Carama. There would not be a phone call from the specific car service centre confirming your appointment, which can be a little disconcerting, but a quick call to the workshop should solve your uncertainty.

You don't have to sign up for a Carama account to book an appointment, which is a nice option. But if you do decide to register as a Carama member, make sure you are logged in when you book an appointment. Otherwise, you would face a very confusing and aggravating time with your account and managing your car service history as in the case of this writer.

Carama found an easy way for us to keep track of our car service history. No more forgetting service dates, fiddling with receipts, and trying to remember whether you used synthetic oil or fully synthetic oil. Under the 'My Car' tab, you can register your car information and keep a record of your service history in one easy-to-view page. The Service History tool helps you to consolidate all your receipts and notes by uploading a copy of it in an online logbook. The logbook makes monitoring and logging of all your car care details simple and organised. And of course, Carama will send you scheduled service reminders. A well kept and detailed service history would also help you get better value for your car if you plan to sell it.

The only annoying thing with the My Car tool is that once you've registered a specific car plate on one account, it cannot be added again on a different account. As each car plate number is unique, you can only register it once, like a username. If you have multiple accounts, say one for yourself and one for your wife, you can only register one car number plate in one account. That means you cannot help your family members to monitor their car history via your own account if they registered for a Carama account themselves.

The Service Price Calculator seems like a really useful tool, especially for someone who is unfamiliar with car maintenance. This calculator provides price estimates for the different services and repair work needed for your specific car make, so you'll have a clue of how much to pay and thus protect yourself from the cunning mechanics of the world. Yes, the Service Price Calculator would be very useful IF we actually had the option of choosing our car make. The options are very limited, so if you drive a Proton Waja or Wira, you're on your own for now.

Carama helpline is useful and prompt, but they take a while to solve your problems with the website.

Find certified workshops, get spare parts estimates and receive major savings today! Get RM37 off and automatically receive a RM20 signup bonus if you're a first-time user, for a total discount of RM57. SAYS promo code: MSIAIS57. Validity: Book anytime now until 30 September 2014. Call the Carama helpline +6012 227 7884 for further enquiries.