#50 - Car

01.06.2010

Once graduated, already got a PTPTN loan to service. Then come to the working world, you need a transport. For me, my main transport is motorcycle and I loved riding it amidst the traffic jam, with the exception when it rains of course! But most people would have opted to buy car already, safer ma!

Friends and relatives keep on bugging me to buy car, safety was cited as the main reason! So I finally decided to buy car on June 2010, by hook or by crook, after a friend told me to buy it when I have the capability. If not wanna wait till when? So even when my budget will be very tight if I  buy car in June 2010, I have decided on it. That’s the thing with me, I like to set a dateline for myself. If not, I will procrastinate…. till God knows when.

I want a car with spacious boot space. So Myvi and Viva is out of the question. Was looking into Saga (due to the cheapest price and the boot space of course) when another friend lured me into looking at Persona. Damn! Persona looks good too. Then finally after cracking my head, I had decided to go for Saga. Surveyed already, Saga 1.3 (A) costs RM 40k for B-line, RM42k for M-line and RM45k for SE. Sure la I opt for B-line. As long as my car can move and doesn’t give me too much trouble, I don’t really care about the accessories.

Then come 2nd doubt. Suddenly felt that the monthly instalment + petrol will be very tough for me to bear and I really need to scrutinize my spending, not that I ever spend a lot anyway (so how am I supposed to cut my expenses now?). Was pondering whether or not to go for second hand car. But can’t take too old a car, cos I need to travel 60km daily for work. So if car too old, I am afraid the maintenance fee will be quite high. So I set a target, maybe find for 3-5 years old national car. Another friend told me, not worth it to buy second hand national car. If want to buy, buy imported car. If wanna buy national car, better take new car. OK, so based on that, I decided to go for new Saga.

So indecisive right? I will be like that when it comes to making choices in something which I am very not familiar with. Had actually decided to scout from one car dealer to another starting June 2010. Then my mom’s shop neighbor asked her whether we are interested to buy his 2008 Saga 1.3 (A) or not. Reason: no longer capable of servicing the loan. Asked me to continue pay the instalment and transfer the name after finished paying the loan. I am against it as it felt very insecure to do that. Then, mom told him to sell us at a price.

He wanna sell at RM30k. I checked on-line, current market price is ~RM31k. Should be OK. But I want to ask for RM29k though not yet negotiate with the neighbor yet. Requested hire purchase loan agreement from him to see the amount of loan serviced and details of the car. And you know what? The next day, the car plate number hit the first prize of lottery. But we didn’t buy, the seller did though. His luck! Wow, if we buy, we might not need to pay so much for the car! However, I never buy lottery before so shouldn’t felt heartache. But somehow, still felt like missing something big! But I always know that I am never lucky in this kind of thing.

Called several banks to ask about hire purchase loan for second hand car. Interest rate increased by 0.25% again and is expected to increase again in July 2010. And it happens that Public Bank can still with-hold its previous interest rate up till 7th June 2010. Asked my brother to check the car condition first but there is always something coming up in between. Till now still not yet check. Got call from Public Bank to urge me to fax over related documents so that they can process my loan application ASAP. But I don’t want to hurry over this kind of thing. Rash decision-making always leave me regretting in the end.

So I called my cousin to help me to have a look at my car tmrw. He called his friend to get some opinion on Saga as he wasn’t too keen on Saga himself. The news he relayed to me was devastating enough cos it really hampers my spirit. Some of the disadvantages I heard about Saga from him and other friends:

(a) underpowered, thus fuel consumption is high

(b) some cars got problem with engine cos engine capacity exceeded or something when speeding

(c) window power switch problem (typical pblem with Proton, and it never seemed to be solved up till now)

He strongly recommended Myvi and go against Saga. I agreed with him actually. But Myvi is more expensive and doesn’t have spacious car boot. he also mentioned that it’s not worth it to buy second hand national car, esp with Saga having so many problems. If wanna buy, better invest in second hand imported car or new national car. Same advice as my earlier friend. But despite his advice, I think I am still going for the second hand Saga. Don’t know whether my decision is right or not as I also heard that first batch of Saga got many problems and it happened that this 2008 car I am buying is from the first batch.

Checked with my other friend pula. Her bf’s Saga is from the first batch. So far, window power switch problem only. Pray hard the car is OK and in good condition. The owner was a mechanic, but that doesn’t mean that the car is in good condition. Hopefully he is really selling it because he can’t afford the instalment anymore and not because he can’t stand the repair cost. Cross fingers I am not that unlucky. Cross fingers tmrw my cousin will give me positive feedback on the car condition.

So you see, I am in a dilemma now. But I have decided already. Sometimes I prefer to just stick to my original plan, to save the trouble of thinking everything twice. I hate making choices. If tmrw my cousin’s verdict on the car is OK, I will fax all my details to the bank officer and pray hard my car won’t give me too much trouble. i will sure miss my motorcycle, it was with us through thick and thin. When my brother’s motorcycle was totally beyond repair after an accident, he had to use this motorbike again. When I lost my new motorbike, I also had to use this motorbike again. And i used it to practical training, to university and to work until now. I love this motorbike!

But no matter what, sooner or later I still need to buy a car. If not now, then when? That was one question from my friend which spurred me to decide to buy car soon. So I fixed June for it. Saga, you better treat my wallet nicely! And I can’t help but to remember an article I read in newspaper some time ago:

“People buy Proton car because they have to (due to cheap price), not because they want to”

Very true isn’t it? At least it is true for my case. If Myvi is the same price as Saga, I would have gone for Myvi even though the car boot isn’t as spacious as Saga!

Comment:

> 01.06.2010 (Kelvin)

Tan, you’re outta ur mind. That’s not the way to budget la… by giving deadlines and all. And the proton car is gonna end up being more of a liability than an asset. The MyVi is a better choice. And as for the trunk space, the MyVi can actually hold quite a lot, considering I took nearly half of my posessions in sg back to my, during the cny trip back. It could take in all those stuff plus three occupants.

> 02.06.2010 (turtlerocks)

thanks for ur comment. many ppl recommend myvi too and in fact i nv anyone complain about myvi before. will see how la.. appreciate that.