Looks like I would be needing a new car. Since car sharing is no longer a viable option anylonger decided it was time to get one. Oh all the headaches.
Cars are very personal things,some people like a certain brand, to some people a car is just that. Myself cars aren’t just transport it is in a way an expression of yourself. Obviously the car we drive must also be something we enjoy using.
I was looking at a brand new car initially and the craze right now seems to be the newly launched Proton Saga 1.3 Sedan. Personally speaking I do not really like small sedans, they just feel oh so 3rd world. The other thing I do not like is the Proton brand itself. My impression of poor quality craps which rival things like Yugos have stuck. Call me old fashion if you must but you know they say once you get a perception of something due to experience it just tends to stick. Well years of seeing Protons in the house has definitely made me think twice.
The other car is also one of the national makes, it is the Perodua which have improved leaps and bounds. But their pricing have gone rather steep lately. They have the MyVi which is basically a Daihatsu Sirion rebadged. It is not a bad car, but I just find it to be too damn common. Also I don’t really like it and it is somewhat over budget for what I want to spend on a car. The other choice is the smaller Viva, which again isn’t what I want. But hey it is a brand new car. I test drove it a couple of times and finally it too got the axe as I just didn’t think it was worth the money.
Finally I decided to look for a used car. Somehow or rather straight away my choice of a car was an Alfa Romeo. Really into having a 145 2.0 Twin Spark. However those cars are starting to age and as I would not be the only one driving the car sadly I had to let this one pass……….sadly. These are such fun cars to drive and not to mention powerful. They aren’t expensive to buy either… just around RM18k you can get a fairly good condition one that is around 8 years old. But they are full of electronics and also their weather strips tend to age. Therefore cheap to buy but expensive to maintain.
Then I got the idea to look for a Citroen C3, these cars were rather expensive when new. But you get a lot for such a small car (including some headaches) The only version imported into this country happens to be the 1.6l Sensodrive version, meaning it has an electro-hydraulic clutch system similar to the Alfa Romeo’s Selespeed gearbox. I test drove 2 of them. The first one was at a dealer which was mechanically very sound but errrr electronics were giving troubles and it was in need of a very good clean. I did not like the feel of the gearbox which was just a pain to get used to and rather jerky. The second one I took a peek at was in better condition as in cleaner, but the gearbox was in need of work. Owned by a French woman as well who obviously did take good care of the car, but it was approaching the mileage where things start to go wrong and in this case the actuators in the gearbox needed replacement. Decided it was best to let these 2 cars pass.
Then decided perhaps should look for a used MyVi instead, surprisingly being such a popular car there aren’t that many on the market. One that had a manual gearbox was even rarer. Saw a few, finally decided against them due to the price factor and also the fact that the seats just aren’t comfortable.
Finally on one of my usual trips around town happened to pass by Taman Desa where there was a Fiat dealership. I’ve always liked Italian cars, especially an Alfa Romeo. Somehow or rather something about them tend to stir me and I suppose it is somewhat representative of me… I like extremes of it being really good or really crappy. Weird huh?
Anyway I saw this Apple Green Fiat Panda and gosh I think I would love to have it very much. But you know some things are nice to see but not really nice to own. They say there is the usual about high cost of maintaining and there is a certain high cost of ownership when it is time to sell it on later. But in my opinion cars are bought to be driven and enjoyed. They are an investment, just not the kind that brings direct monetary returns.
So 3 days later after seeking for succession of MyVis which brought about nothing due to the price I decided to take a look again at that Panda. Test drive wasn’t too bad….. car seemed like it was in good condition and well taken care off with a full dealer service history.
Well I will write more on this later when and if I finally get myself to buy this.
