Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Affordable New Cars for Fresh Graduates

Joe asked me to write about "Affordable New Cars for Fresh Graduates". So here it is. Before anything, I wanna stress here that I'm no expert. Just some thoughts and opinions (I know serih & syah want me to say "2 cents"), based on my limited experience and observation.

Tips/Advices:

i) Choose Practicality over Looks/Exterior.
* With the ever rising fuel prices nowadays, give more priority to fuel efficient cars. The lower the CCs, the better.
* If you're gonna be stuck in traffic for 3 hours every day, perhaps you should choose Automatic Transmission (AT) than Manual Transmission (MT). But again, it's entirely up to your preference. Anyways, Manual Transmission (MT) cars will save significantly on fuel.
* If you're gonna have more than 2 passengers most of the time, choose 5-door cars than 3-door cars like Proton Satria. Don't go for Proton Satria just because it looked more sporty than Proton Iswara.
* If you're driving back to kampung every month, choose a higher CC for a smoother and more comfortable ride.
* If you wanna make out in a car, choose a spacious 5-door car. Space would provide you more opportunities to try many positions you can ever imagine of. Perodua Kenari anyone?

ii) Buy Your First Car and Stick To It.
A few years back I tagged along my cousin and his friend to purchase a brand new car somewhere in Wangsa Maju. It appears that my cousin’s friend had just a salary increase a few days back and would like to upgrade his Perodua Kancil to a bigger car. Something that suits his age and new salary range. After considering a few options, he decided to get a brand new Proton Waja, a quite significant change from his first car after graduation, Perodua Kancil.

As a result, he lost so much after the trade in. The value of his Perodua Kancil depreciate so quickly after a few years, that he ended up paying so much more.

When you're financially stable and you can afford a second car, just go nuts. Buy your dream car. Peugeot. Toyota Harrier. Whatever. Keep your first car after graduation and make it your second. Don't just change cars when you get a raise. You'll lose so so much dawg.

iii) Avoid New and Second Hand Continental Cars.
As far as spare parts and maintenance are concerned, we should avoid Continental Cars (European cars) for the obvious reasons. Yeah of course Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Renault, Peugeot (especially Peugeot, nyum nyum) and others looked really good on the road, but trust me you wouldn't like the price tag of those damn spare parts. Fresh graduates are tempted to buy second hand Continental cars, but I suggest to hold your thought first before you're financially stable.

iv) Learn A Thing or Two about Cars.
It would help a lot if you personally know some mechanics (close relatives especially), when your car is in trouble, or in need of maintenance. If you don't know much about engines, you're putting yourself in a vulnerable position to be lied by sneaky mechanics. They're just make up some stuff about how you need to change your oil filter or else your engine will over heat and one day it will explode...Uuuuuuuuu.

So date a mechanic, or sleep with one. Just kidding.

But if you don't, well. Things to check: Engine oil, spark plug, steering oil, brake oil/fluid, air filter, oil filter, automatic transmission fluid, battery, wiper, brake lamp, head light.

v) For better mileage, choose Shell.
Honestly, I don't believe it at first. I had my skeptics alright. So why don't you try it yourself? When you're going back to kampung, fill up your tank full with Esso or Mobil or Projet or Caltex or BP or whatever. On the way back, fill up your tank with Shell. You'll notice the difference. This is not a free advertisement for Shell.

If you ask me, my personal favorite for a national car is Perodua Myvi. In my opinion, this is the VALUE FOR MONEY. And it doesn't looked too shabby after all. Looked nice really.


Affordable New Cars:
(I've divided into 4 price range; RM20,000 to RM30,000, RM30,000 to RM40,000, RM40,000 to RM50,000 and RM50,000 to RM60.000)

i) RM20,000 to RM30,000

PERODUA
KANCIL 660 EX (M) RM25,905.66
KANCIL 660 EX (M) (METALLIC) RM26,280.96
KANCIL 850 EX (M) RM29,904.66

ii) RM30,000 to RM40,000

PERODUA
KANCIL 850 EX (M) (METALLIC) RM30,278.66
KANCIL 850 EZ (A) RM35,586.46
KANCIL 850 EZ (A) (METALLIC) RM36,086.46
KELISA 1000 GX (M) RM36,374.40
KELISA 1000 GX (METALLIC) RM36,946.40
KELISA 1000 GXS (M) (METALLIC) RM39,208.40
KELISA 1000 EZ (A) RM39,891.40
KELISA 850 EX (M) RM32,303.80
KELISA 850 EX (M) (METALLIC) RM32,879.80

PROTON
ISWARA 1.3 A/B (M) NPS (METALLIC) RM35,800.79
ISWARA 1.3 A/B (M) PS (METALLIC) RM38,500.81
ISWARA 1.3 A/B (M) PS ENHANCED (METALLIC) RM39,889.81
ISWARA 1.5 (M) RM37,333.32

iii) RM40,000 to RM50,000

CHEVROLET
SPARK 0.8 SOHC RM47,993.20

HYUNDAI
INOKOM ATOS PRIMA 1.1GL (M) RM44,261.61
INOKOM ATOS PRIMA 1.1GL (M) (METALLIC) RM44,651.01
INOKOM ATOS PRIMA 1.1GL (A) RM47,526.85
INOKOM ATOS PRIMA 1.1GL (A) (METALLIC) RM47,916.25

KIA
PICANTO 1.1 (A) RM48,684.89

PERODUA
KELISA 1000 EZ (A) (METALLIC) RM40,643.40
KELISA 1000 EZS SE (A) (METALLIC) RM41,549.40
KENARI GX (M) RM40,752.40
KENARI GX (M) (METALLIC) RM41,350.40
KENARI EZ (A) (METALLIC) RM44,300.40
KENARI GX AERO (M) RM42,982.40
KENARI GX AERO (M) (METALLIC) RM43,580.40
KENARI EZ AERO (A) RM46,094.40
KENARI EZ AERO (A) (METALLIC) RM46,493.40
MYVI 1.0SR (M) (METALLIC) RM41,101.40
MYVI 1.3 SXI (STD) (M) RM44,820.20
MYVI 1.3 SXI (STD) (M) (METALLIC) RM45,365.20
MYVI 1.3 SXI (PREMIUM) (M) RM47,846.20
MYVI 1.3SXI (PREMIUM) (M) (METALLIC) RM48,391.20
MYVI 1.3 EZ (STD) (A) RM47,846.20
MYVI 1.3 EZ (STD) (A) (METALLIC) RM48,391.20

PROTON
SATRIA 1.3 (M) SE (METALLIC) RM42,888.22
SAVVY 1.2 (M) (STD) RM42,520.18
SAVVY 1.2 (M) (STD) (METALLIC) RM42,970.18
WIRA 1.5 (M) (METALLIC) RM46,794.00
WIRA 1.5 (A) ENHANCED (METALLIC) RM48,863.08
GEN. 2 1.3 (A) RM49,244.50
GEN. 2 1.3 (A) (METALLIC) RM49,888.00

RENAULT
KANGOO COMBI 1.4L RM49,250.91
KANGOO EXPRESS 1.4L RM46,993.56

iv) RM50,000 to RM60.000

CHERY
A160 1.6L (M) (BASIC) (CBU) RM56,493.10

KIA
PICANTO 1.1 (A) NOVUS RM53,788.89

MITSUBISHI
L200 4X2 2.5L DIESEL SINGLE CAB (M) RM58,463.80

NISSAN
C22 VANETTE WINDOW VAN 1.5L RM54,746.26

PERODUA
KEMBARA GX AERO (M) (METALLIC) RM55,295.50
KEMBARA EZ AERO (A) (METALLIC) RM58,003.20
KEMBARA CT ELEGANCE EZS (A) (METALLIC) RM59,863.20
MYVI 1.3 EZ (PREMIUM) (A) RM50,756.40
MYVI 1.3 EZ (PREMIUM) (A) (METALLIC) RM51,391.20

PROTON
SATRIA 1.5 (A) SE RM50,280.46
WIRA 1.5 (M) SE A/B (METALLIC) RM50,577.97
WIRA 1.5 (A) SE A/B (METALLIC) RM52,656.77
WIRA 1.5 (A) (METALLIC) RM51,337.43
GEN. 2 1.6 H-LINE (M) (METALLIC) RM59,391.50
GEN. 2 1.6 (M) VERSION A (METALLIC) RM55,036.50
GEN. 2 1.6 (A) VERSION A (METALLIC) RM58,114.50
WAJA 1.6 (M) STD (METALLIC) 59,455.60


Oh, and if you have some extra money:

HYUNDAI
GETZ 1.3 GL (A) RM65,985.40
GETZ 1.6 GL (A) RM77,562.40

CHEVROLET
AVEO 1.5 SOHC (A) RM74,495.50

HONDA
CITY 1.5L I-DSI RM84,900.00
CITY 1.5L VTEC RM89,400.00
JAZZ 1.5L I-DSI RM95,563.10
JAZZ 1.5L VTEC RM103,000.50

posted by judd. # 12/07/2005 01:42:00 AM

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