JOHOR BARU: Car workshops are starting to see signs of business recovery with an increase in customers following the lifting of the interstate travel ban.

       Workshop operators said many people were coming to service their cars before hitting the highways.

       Mechanic Jumadi Ismail said business recorded an improvement of about 40% this month compared to September.

       “I saw more people coming since the beginning of October and after the travel restriction was lifted, a more significant and welcome change could be seen.

       “I could hardly get customers in the past months, but lately I’ve been seeing better days,” he said.

       Jumadi, 60, added that some of his customers were also sending cars that had broken down months ago but were left idle at home.

       “They decided not to repair the cars as they were working from home most of the time and could not travel far anyway.

       “However, now that more people are going back to the office to work and with the travel restriction lifted, they are sending their cars here so that they can travel long distance safely,” he said.

       Meanwhile, the director of another workshop, Chu Fong Wee, 55, said previously the majority of her customers were lorry and van owners.

       “In the past months, we were attending to lorries and vans from the business sector mostly, but we are now getting more cars.

       “Some of the repair work on the cars were left unattended for months, causing severe damage.

       “We also saw cars with flat tyres that were not replaced for a long time,” she said, adding that business had improved by about 50% this month compared to last month.

       Chu added that with the increased traffic on the road, the number of accidents, especially those involving cars, also went up.

       “There seems to be more road accidents these days as more people use the highways, and during the rainy season.

       “Our tow trucks are now attending to more of such cases here,” she said.

       Another mechanic, Mohd Arshad Rahmat, 32, said he expects more people needing to service their cars as the festive season draws closer.

       “Festive seasons, be it Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Chinese New Year, Deepavali or Christmas, are normally a busy time for us.

       “I have started getting customers for such servicing in preparation for driving back to their hometown for Deepavali,” he said.