Too young to drive but not to learn about what makes cars run
Kids from four to 13 years old may be too young to drive a motor vehicle but Toyota Alabang Inc. (TAI) is letting them go over, under, outside and inside automobiles to find out what makes them go.
The kids are not just tinkering with remote-controlled or battery-operated toy cars. Under the supervision of expert TAI mechanics, they are actually handling the various parts of standard-sized cars and are getting lessons on the engineering and technologies that put those machines on the road.
As part of TAI’s 35th anniversary celebration, the car dealership has launched Toyota Alabang Kids where young car enthusiasts can learn the science behind a fully operational vehicle even before they are old enough to get a license to drive one.
Touted as the place “where kids do big things,” Toyota Alabang Kids is the Philippines’ first ever car technician workshop for children. It is designed as “an interactive realistic role-play as a Toyota technician.”
Participants are divided into two phases.
The Master Tech program for Phase 1, which is offered at the regular price per participant, covers as well. the opportunity to tinker with a real car engine and assemble body panels. The Rev Up making up Phase 2 charging an introductory price of P4,000 allows participants to do actual change oil, actual vehicle tune up, engine overhaul, basic trouble shooting and emergency response.
But it is not all work for Toyota Alabang Kids. Realizing that the lessons may be too heavy for young kinds, play is included in the package. Participants can race DIY-assembled (do-it-yourself) radio-controlled (RC) cars on an indoor race track.
And, for those who prefer to be driven rather than drive, they can also learn passenger hacks which, in today’s lingo, means useful techniques or strategies to solve problems or to speed up and ease the way things are done.
And the program is gender-neutral. Girls, who also like cars, have as much a chance to join the program as boys.
Participants are divided into groups of 25 each.
Garbed in the same blue overalls TAI technicians wear and their heads protected by blue hard hats, the young car enthusiasts stand beside experts to inspect what is underneath a car hood, disassemble parts like bumpers and peer behind doors. They even learn how seat belts work to prevent and reduce serious injuries during car crashes.
Jhoanna L. See, TAI president and general manager, says while the program aims to kindle and nurture enthusiasm for cars at a young age, they also want to make future drivers understand the value of safety when operating a car and to appreciate quality and reliability in a motor vehicle.
While the children may not be able to apply the rudiments of trouble-shooting for years to come, it is hoped that the experience will be remembered and the lessons learned on safe driving and proper car maintenance will not be forgotten.
Hopefully, too, after the hands-on experience provided by the Toyota Alabang Kids program, the reputable Japanese brand will be first in their minds when it is time to get their first motor vehicle.
