The MPV conundrum

Late last year I had thought of trading in my Perdana V6 for another car. I was scouring the internet to see what could be of possible interest to me. And I did find a few “potentials”. But that was before I found out that my wife was conceiving my third child. Now the mere thought of buying a car would be a wee bit irresponsible. Now, if I wanted to upgrade it would most certainly not be in a form of a car, it had to be an MPV!

Fully aware that a child cannot be raised with breast milk alone and would inevitably cost the bigger half of my salary, I had set RM80k as my “budget” and than came out with a list of MPVs which I found to be within the price range. Than I gave them a thought; a serious thought.

Nissan Grand Livina: Reasonable size and of notable Japanese brand – this is the reason  I suspect why people buy them. Yes, the brand! The only problem with this is that, the Nissan Grand Livina has never set foot in Japan. It is a car targeted for the under developed countries hence the reason for the far from efficient engine – a 1.6 engine churning only about 110 bhp intended to haul 7 passengers. Even a row boat would show a greater sense of urgency. So giving patronage to a brand that conjured up the Grand Livina while all the while thinking, “hmm… what do we make for the poor people?” just doesn’t make sense to me.

The two Toyotas, Innova and Avanza: Interior space is definitely not an issue with either one of them, the Innova of course being the bigger of the two. My problem with them is essentially the same as the one I have with the Grand Livina PLUS the fact the designers probably thought that the people who would buy them probably lived in an area infested with land mines, pot holes the size of craters and amidst the bushes of the rubber estate or palm oil plantation and never heard of tarmac or in the middle of the paddy field which would be flooded half the year, hence the reason why both the MPVs are jacked so high up, with a gap between the wheel arches and the wheels so huge that you could build a tent between them. The fact is we don’t. So buying either one of them would be like putting insult to injury.

Chery Eastar: This is an MPV that I gave a lot of thought into. The styling is fair, it’s roomy, the packaging is attractive and… it’s manufactured in China. The thought of the latter brought me to imagine the Eastar’s steering wheel coming off while driving at 140 and the Eastar refusing to brake because the brake pad had fallen off when I made a pit stop at Bukit Gantang RnR on my way back to Alor Setar. But I suspect these are blind prejudices, unsubstantiated and baseless. The Chinese after all built the Great Wall of China which has lasted the test of time, surely than they can be trusted to build a decent MPV, right? Having brushed aside such prejudices I surf the web scouring for informative forums to find out more about the Eastar and eventually stumbled upon one. Owners of the Eastar in the forum seemed pleased with their rides and continuously spoke proudly of them. They proudly talked of how the Eastar’s is fuel efficient and how the family was overwhelmed with joy throughout their holidays. I was quite impressed, really I was; until I noticed that almost all of them were middle aged men and for the most part couldn’t write decent English. Full stop!

Proton Exora: The CPS engine is simply superb. After all where else can you get a 1.6 litre naturally aspirated engine churning out 125 bhp? Plus the fact that it’s size is pretty decent makes it a no brainer. That said, you would now probably think that the Exora would be my clear choice… Well, no actually. It’s not all that simple. You see the Exora is priced between RM55k and RM76k, the former being the base model and the latter obviously is the top of the range – at least for the moment. With the price difference of more than 20k, one would aspect a wealth of difference say in the form of a different engine or perhaps drivetrain. But no, the difference surprisingly is mostly if not entirely restricted to trim levels and cosmetics. I could easily comprehend paying additional 20k for extra trimmings on a 250k Mercedes C-class, but paying 76k on an MPV which would otherwise cost 55k if not for the trimmings is simply mind boggling. So why don’t I just get myself the base model Exora and get it over with? Well quite simply because the thought of me buying the cheapest of an already cheap MPV is a good enough reason for me to kill myself. But than again, buying the 76k version with exterior distinctions (from the base model) notable only by the presence of alloy wheels and body coloured boot ornament, is just plain stupid!

So, I have decided that I am not going to buy any of them. I am instead going to buy a used Chevrolet Nabira Sport which is currently priced at less than RM40k. My supposed better half loathes at the very idea – note: the word “supposed” does not in anyway denote that my wife is in fact not my better half but rather to impress on how wrong she is in the matter beforehand. But I have my reasons and it’s actually sounder than you might think.

The Nabira is based on the Opel Zafira which is sold in the UK as Vauxhalls. If you know anything about motoring, you would know that the UK market is one of the toughest market for motoring, hence the reason why the Grand Livina, Innova and Avanza are not sold there. So the mere fact that the Nabira is sold in the UK in one form or another simply connotes a certain degree of quality and likeability to them. In a nutshell it is at the very worse a relativity good MPV. Also, the Malaysian importers will not be bringing in the latest rendition of the Nabira/Zafira, they will instead be bringing in an entirely different MPV called Orlando. So as far as Malaysians are concern, the Nabira remains the latest.

Well, some would argue that used vehicles are prone or likely to breakdown and would cause a fortune to repair. That maybe partly right but this is how I see it. Since I have only paid one half if not one third of the vehicle’s original value, it is only fair that I spend a little IF it ever breaks down – emphasize is given to the word “IF”. If it doesn’t, than that would be “extra” money in my coffer which I would otherwise certainly spend if I were to buy a brand new MPV at 80k. And here’s the icing on the cake, if I manage to save enough, I would be able to pay up the bank in three years time and the Nabira would be debt free. And… and if I make enough by then, I could afford the MPV that I would truly want, a Honda Odyssey Absolute RB3! And… and… and keep my Nabira for my weekend marketing and ferrying pots and plants. If that isn’t prudent spending, than I wouldn’t know what is.                          

                 

Of cars and spending power!

Things are getting expensive and consumers’ spending power is falling off the charts; this seems to be the talk of the day post Sarawak state election. Seriously they are, it’s literally all over the net. Of course the mainstream media would tell you otherwise, the only thing they report of late are news of the Federal Government so called achievements and development programs with fancy acronyms… and we all live happily ever after.

If you don’t feel the pinch of the increase in prices than you must be pretty damn rich - in which case this entry would not be of interest to you. But if you are anything like me an average income earner gasping for air in good old Bolehland than “pinch” is an understatement… by miles. 

It would seem that the whole economy is on the verge of annihilation, and why not? As prices of goods are sky rocketing the consumers’ spending power will consequently plummet slowly but surely to oblivion. And this would only mean one thing retail business would suffer and that in turn would mean the businesses would suffer which would of course lead to people being out of their jobs! Hey, let’s not even talk about retail goods like your pants, shirt and underwear when even food stuff is at an all time high.

But I have a solution to this calamity; at least I think I have, and here it goes, increase the spending power of the people… Yes, I know I am merely stating the obvious but wait I would now also go a step further by suggesting how – and here it is, review the National Automotive Policy and decrease if not abolish import taxes, levies etc on vehicles. Yes, ladies and gentleman this is my propose solution. I believe by doing this the government could help the average consumer boost its spending power. And why wouldn’t it? After all, the average income earner would probably spend up to a quarter of his monthly salary on his car’s monthly installment and he wouldn’t have to if it wasn’t for the National Automotive Policy and its protectionism over the local car manufacturers. The fact of the matter is that cars are so much more expensive in Malaysia than they are actually worth.

Let’s take an example of a pre and post tax waiver or discount if you like; the government’s waiver on taxes and levies for hybrid vehicles. The moment that was announced a Civic hybrid went from RM160k plus to a smite over RM100k, the Prius from RM180k to about 120k. Now, Imagine extending this waiver to other cars say those costing RM70k at the moment, the prices could just as easily drop to about RM40k. Now imagine yourselves paying RM500 a month for a Ford Fiesta or Mazda 2 instead of RM800 and go a step further and picture yourself shopping with the “extra” RM300. Also if you are fresh graduate earning RM2000 like I did, imagine paying less than RM300 a month for a Chery. Imagine what you could do with all that “extra” which would otherwise be spent on your car.

Well, you might argue that if this were to happen it would probably spell the end of local automotive companies like Proton and its employees. My response to this is quite simply, so what? Think about it, if the government could easily consider spending RM50 million on emails and a few billion on a Menara which nobody needs, why not spend a similar amount on bailouts or schemes to assist the than Proton unemployed. I think this is money better spent by any standard. Call me self centered and shallow but having a few thousand unemployed ex-Proton employees certainly sounds better than having half the country’s population cannibalizing their limbs for lunch and having fried road kill for dinner.           

Than you might also argue that the government will lose income, well to be frank I think you are right, they might. But hey, now that the GST (Goods and Services Tax) has been gazetted and will probably be coming to force a day after GE13, the government will not only be making money from our earnings through the income tax, they will also be taxing us for every single cent we spend. Since there is no news on the abolishment or “discounts” to the existing income tax, logic dictates that we the people of Bolehland will be paying double taxes, hoorah! Remember the guy with the “extra” RM300 just now? He will paying taxes with that money as well.  

Well as the saying goes, nothing is certain in life except for death and taxes! Thus on that bombshell I bid you all the best and good luck citizens of Bolehland!