i'm thinking of getting myself a new car in the next 6 months, but was wondering if there's any chance that the prices will be reduced further. i wasn't born with a silver spoon in my tongue so at the end of the day, i can only make sensible decisions to compromise on the comfortable/running costs ratio.
come to think of it, it's rather unfair isn't it? people like me were jumping up and down cheering tat the national cars will be reduced by a few hundred to a few thousand ringgit. but not everyone's happy with the price cut
first off, the jaguar XJ owner might think "crikey! now i gotta bolt on more woods or slaughter more cows & sew on my car so tat it'll retain its value" (XJ's price is RM 280k cheaper now).
then comes to the problem with fuel consumption. why on earth aren't we getting any sensible diesel cars? put those diesel 4x4 aside, there are only a BMW 5 series Diesel (>RM 400k) & a merc E-class (>RM400k) available here. oh sure, the diesel's roadtax is expensive and petrol engines below 1.5 litres get 50% price cut etc. etc. but how much is that 50% anyway? even if diesel is RM 1.92/ litre today, it is still far cheaper to run a diesel car. eg. the beemer with its monstrous 3 litre engine can do 42.2mpg and yet still does 0-100km/h in 6.8s. i failed to see why diesel engined cars are not being imported except for the fact that the sulphur content of diesel in malaysia is far higher than those in europe. so i reckon not all diesel engined cars can take it.
since the diesel solution is not feasible, then why not try hybrid cars then? buying a car with 2 engines with the price of one should attract most pple, besides that, with only the electric motor running, you can even run down pple from their back without them ever knowing how they were killed! to some, it might even be like Cameron Diaz, pretty and only eat vegetables. but then, the same problem crops up again. apart from the running down yr neighbour with a hybrid car which a diesel car can't do, there's really not much to shout about. in terms of 0-100, fuel consumption, price etc. a diesel car is still more attractive than a hybrid. imagine driving a hybrid on highway and your battery runs out of juice, so how on earth a hybrid is going to power itself with the lean burn engine? it's like asking somebody so have a sip of water and then walk across the Sahara desert all by himself!
so this brings me nicely back to the sensible car - a national car with either auto or manual gearbox. at least i still have the dignity to choose how i'm gonna die. i could kill myself with a 3-speed autobox with sky high fuel consumption or kill myself even faster with a manual gearbox and got stuck in the jam on Federal Highway twice a day, five days a week.
anyone out there care to share some opinions? i'd just like to voice out. if there's anything wrong, i'll only be editing it when i' sober tomorrow.
come to think of it, it's rather unfair isn't it? people like me were jumping up and down cheering tat the national cars will be reduced by a few hundred to a few thousand ringgit. but not everyone's happy with the price cut
first off, the jaguar XJ owner might think "crikey! now i gotta bolt on more woods or slaughter more cows & sew on my car so tat it'll retain its value" (XJ's price is RM 280k cheaper now).
then comes to the problem with fuel consumption. why on earth aren't we getting any sensible diesel cars? put those diesel 4x4 aside, there are only a BMW 5 series Diesel (>RM 400k) & a merc E-class (>RM400k) available here. oh sure, the diesel's roadtax is expensive and petrol engines below 1.5 litres get 50% price cut etc. etc. but how much is that 50% anyway? even if diesel is RM 1.92/ litre today, it is still far cheaper to run a diesel car. eg. the beemer with its monstrous 3 litre engine can do 42.2mpg and yet still does 0-100km/h in 6.8s. i failed to see why diesel engined cars are not being imported except for the fact that the sulphur content of diesel in malaysia is far higher than those in europe. so i reckon not all diesel engined cars can take it.
since the diesel solution is not feasible, then why not try hybrid cars then? buying a car with 2 engines with the price of one should attract most pple, besides that, with only the electric motor running, you can even run down pple from their back without them ever knowing how they were killed! to some, it might even be like Cameron Diaz, pretty and only eat vegetables. but then, the same problem crops up again. apart from the running down yr neighbour with a hybrid car which a diesel car can't do, there's really not much to shout about. in terms of 0-100, fuel consumption, price etc. a diesel car is still more attractive than a hybrid. imagine driving a hybrid on highway and your battery runs out of juice, so how on earth a hybrid is going to power itself with the lean burn engine? it's like asking somebody so have a sip of water and then walk across the Sahara desert all by himself!
so this brings me nicely back to the sensible car - a national car with either auto or manual gearbox. at least i still have the dignity to choose how i'm gonna die. i could kill myself with a 3-speed autobox with sky high fuel consumption or kill myself even faster with a manual gearbox and got stuck in the jam on Federal Highway twice a day, five days a week.
anyone out there care to share some opinions? i'd just like to voice out. if there's anything wrong, i'll only be editing it when i' sober tomorrow.
