39. Cars in my life

Triumph Spitfire

2005-07-15T15:55:00.000+12:00

In 1972, as soon as I got the job with SSB as a trainee production wireline operator, I was sent to BSP in Brunei for two years’ training. I was staying at the SRC bachelor flats. I bought my very first car in Brunei. It was a twenty year old Triumph Spitfire! It cost only 2000 dollars. The special thing about this car was its twin Weber carburetor which was the fore runner of the turbo charger. The car had very good pick-up in spite of its age, was therefore very fast off the mark! It was a real sports car, a convertible. The bonnet was hinged in front and opened the other way, forward. There was a lot of room for the mechanic to work on the car as it had only a small 1.2 litre engine. Wearne Brothers in Seria could not give it a proper tune-up because that car was just too old! It never performed 100%.I learned to drive by driving this sports coupe to work every morning for a month. Then, I went to KB with a licensed driver for my driving test! The oral test was easy because I knew the high way code as I had a motor cycle driving license for many years. The practical test was harder because I had problems negotiating the S bends tests. However, I surprised the vehicle tester and myself; because the Spitfire’s steering wheel could turn the front wheels beyond 80 degrees and I managed to just clear the last stick! Most saloon cars cannot over steer like that!

Fiat 125

2005-06-15T15:54:00.000+12:00

My next car in 1973 was a 12 year old Fiat 125 bought for 2.5K in Brunei. Its engine was very smooth and quiet on the high way. It had an external rubber timing belt which was ok for the clean roads of Italy and Europe; but entirely unsuitable for the dusty sand roads and dirt tracks of Borneo! Also very often, it refused to start in the morning. After sitting idle for a few days, the battery became dead. I knew nothing about cars then and could not cope with all the constant breakdowns. Quite often I had to go to to work on the Yamaha motor cycle which I kept as a spare. Even today, I still keep a mobile phone in the glove box which I use for calling AA! It is seldom turn ON and I don't even know my tel. number!

Datsun 100A

2005-05-15T15:53:00.000+12:00

Christine did not like this car, a Datsun 100A which I bought for her in 1975. She complained a lot about the front suspension noise because it was a front wheel drive! The engine was only one litre and it had no air conditioner! The only plus point was the child proof door lock for the rear doors. The children were still very young and this small car was ideal for us then. I was driving an old Austin Healey Sprite. We became a two car family! I also kept my Honda 175 motor cycle which I used mainly for entertaining the kids on my days off from working as trainee driller on the oil rigs. They also love rides in the convertible which I used mainly for going to the golf course.

Toyota GL

2005-04-15T15:52:00.000+12:00

After five years, I inherited the Datsun 100A when my wife bought a new Toyota GL in 1980. It has air conditioning. The GL was one of the best models produced by Toyota and she was very pleased with it for a while. There were two drivers; but we then had 3 cars! When we got ready to move into our new house in Pujut I was required to sell one car. The Austin Healy Sprite was sold reluctantly

because all the kids loved riding in it! It was my trade mark, going to the golf course against the peak hour traffic with a pipe in my mouth and my golf set sticking out on purpose on the small back seat for all to see. It really killed them going in the opposite direction to work in Lutong. Ibrahim Ahmad had an MGB with spoke wheels but he doesn't play golf. I believe that he lived on a boat in Labuan after he retired from Shell.

Isuzu Trooper/Subaru 1.6

2005-03-15T15:51:00.000+13:00

Soon, I swapped the Datsun for an Isuzu Trooper, 2.3 litre, 4x4 diesel jeep. That cost me another 25K. However it had plenty of oomph for towing the boats across logs and all, on the beach. The only minus point was, this jeep was bright yellow in colour and the diesel engine was very noisy! I used it for 10 years until I bought an old Subaru 1.6 litre station wagon in 1993 for 7K. That was supposed to become my retirement car.Kevin used the jeep to drive Pearl and Eugene to school.

We became a 3 car family![3] After he went to New Zealand to do form 7 in 1994, Pearl became the driver and she sent Eugene to school. She, however, preferred to drive the Subaru mostly because she discovered that it had more oomph than the jeep. I tried to make the jeep more attractive by respraying it blue and renovating the cushions and carpets; but it was no use. I ended up driving that old jeep once more until I left Miri, in January 1996! It was sold for 14K to Gregory Tan's brother in-law.

Honda, Mercedes, Volvo, Mitsubishi Challenger

2005-02-15T15:49:00.000+13:00

So, on arrival in NZ, the first car I bought was a twelve year old, 1.6 litre Honda Accord(6.8K) followed soon by a Mercedes 280SE (7.8K)and then a Volvo 760GLE (9K)! These had been my dream cars for far too long. I cannot tahan any more. The only problem now is, what do I drive next?! (answer? my next car) Luxury cars tend to spoil their owner’s taste for ordinary cars like Toyota!

Recently, when I had some visitors from home, we drove 4000 Km around the north island in my Volvo. I was showing my in-laws: - Napier/Hastings, Wellington, Rotorua, Taupo, Tauranga, Bay of Islands and Auckland. All I could hear in the Volvo was just the wind on the outside mirrors! In my Isuzu jeep, I could not even hear myself thinking, not to mention the stereo!
The public transport system in New Zealand is rather poor. A car here is not a luxury at all. It is a necessity, for use to get to work and for going on weekend breaks away from the cities and on holidays. A few years ago, the NZ government decided to remove the 12.5% import tax on used cars. For 8 to 10K one can now buy quite a reasonable car, say a 6 year old Japanese import, 1.6 to 2 litres. Prices of used cars have dropped considerably since I came here in 1995.

However, one must be prepared to write off about 3K a year on a car's value due to depreciation, depending on the model and age. All repairs, running, maintenance and other associated costs are not recoverable! A top over-haul to replace the head gasket cost 1,200 dollars. I know, because I had to do that for both the Honda and the Mercedes! So far so good, the Volvo was less costly to maintain than the previous cars which were all around 12 years old when I first bought them. The old Honda was given away for 500 dollars, the Merc traded for 4K after maintenance cost of 12K over two years! It was a very expensive experience for me indeed!

The moral of this story is: Don’t pretend to be a timber tycoon when you are not! The Volvo was an excellent buy. Besides the usual small electrical problems with sunroof and windows, the engine runs very smoothly except in the morning, when it needed to be warmed up properly for 5 minutes! I was very satisfied with it and was quite reluctant to let it go. It looks like I am stuck with the 4x4 for a while yet. I need its oomph to tow my 22 foot yacht over the Kaimai ranges to Tauranga.

Four wheel drive

2005-01-15T15:30:00.000+13:00

For practical reasons, I have decided early that my next purchase was going to be a 4x4. This was due to my Volvo being stuck on the wet lawn in front of the Ngaroto sailing club one weekend. Everyone has left and I was starting to panic because I could not get home! In the end, an old couple in an old Holden gave me a hand. I hitched the boat to the Holden and it was towed from the grass on to the gravel road for me and I was ok!

Now the question is: should I buy a 4x4 just in case?! The Musso made in Korea is very attractive indeed because it has a Mercedes engine and looks very striking and unusual. I could probably drive it for a while because it is diesel and cheap to run. Need to find out whether it is turbo charged or not. Then it is ok for motorway driving. I can live with that. Some boat ramps are extremely slippery for recovering boats from the water on to the trailer. At Miranda, near the firth of Thames, there is no boat ramp, only the river bank at low tide! Only a 4 x 4 would work properly there. However, the sea water would be a killer for the Volvo which has a low suspension. I must consider whether to stay on the fresh water lakes or go offshore.

Toyota Sprinter

2004-12-15T15:47:00.000+13:00

On arrival, Christine bought a 6 year old Toyota Sprinter for 13K from Capital Car Court on Hall Street. It had only 38K on the clock and was in very good condition. She has no intention to upgrade just now as I can no longer afford to buy any more new cars for her! So far, I have driven nine second hand cars and no new cars. She had two second hand cars and three new ones, which was quite a fair deal. I do not think that she can complain very much! Besides, it is her turn now to buy cars as I am now unemployed and can no longer afford to buy any more new cars for her or the children.

Proton Iswara

2004-11-15T15:50:00.000+13:00

Christine wanted a new car again. This was her third new car. Using Shell senior staff car loan at 4% interest, I bought her a Proton Iswara 1.5 litre automatic saloon for 40K. She was half expecting me to keep the Toyota for myself; but no thanks, I had enough of hand me downs during my life! The 5 year old Toyota was sold for 12K to a car yard. I sold the Subaru for 5K when I left Miri. Even after the make-over, the jeep fetched only 14K; but I had good service from it for 10 years.
A year later, Christine came and joined me in New Zealand. Some how she managed to sell the Proton for 40K! This can happen only in a place like Borneo! After five years’ use and a car suffers no depreciation?! Not possible! This was mainly due to the rapid increase in price of the Proton Saga and Wiras manufactured in Malaysia by Mitsubishi Motors. The new Wira was selling at 60K and were now beyond the reach of many Malaysians.As Mitsubishi/Proton was a joint venture with the government, it enjoyed a 10 year pioneer status and had other tax incentives. However, at 60K, not many people can afford a new Proton Wira. It is time to switch to a smaller Kanjil!
Due to the high import tax on foreign made cars, ordinary Malaysians cannot afford them any more. Many Malaysians were in fact condemned for ever to drive Kanjils. Even a reconditioned, 6 year old Honda Accord [4]cost 40K in 1992 and a little bit more for the ever popular and sporty Honda Prelude. A new Pajero 4WD cost over 120K, the price of a small house! So, at 30K my Isuzu Trooper was considered cheap when I bought it in 1985! In Malaysia, luxury goods are now taxed at 300%! These items include French perfume, Johnny Walker black label whisky, Mercedes and Volvo cars, etc. The government did not want people to buy luxury foreign made goods and it became compulsory for the masses to support the national car, Proton. Apparently, freedom of choice does not exist any more.

Toyota Cerres

2004-10-15T15:45:00.000+13:00

In the year 2000 we needed a car for touring the South Island. Christine bought a car for Pearl and Eugene to share in Christchurch. They shared the Toyota Ceres when they were attending Canterbury U and used it mainly for going around to do their projects during their final year. We used it for touring the South Island when we were there for Pearl’s convocation in 2000. Eugene was unable to join us. He needed to work for his course requirement practical experience.
The family went on a 12 day tour of Hanmer springs, Greymouth, Punakaiki, Franz Josef glazier, Wanaka, Mt. Cook, Kaikoura, Malborough sounds, Picton and Christchurch. We stayed at back packers along the way and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. Now Pearl lives and works in Wellington and prefers to walk or catch the bus to work. Eugene therefore has inherited the Cerres and is quite pleased with it. He drove it all the way home to Hamilton from Christchurch in 2001 after his final exams.

Kevin's cars

2004-09-15T15:43:00.000+12:00

Kevin was driving a 1994 Toyota LE which mum bought for him at the Ellerslie car fair for 6.8K. He was using that for going to work in Auckland. Just buying cars alone is quite an expense for the Chin family in New Zealand! Total cost for 6 used cars was 54K, excluding running costs and maintenance. Generally, a car selling for less than 3K is not really worth buying here because the repair and maintenance costs are much higher than in Malaysia. Repair cost is nil for a brand new car; but the depreciations are higher! 10K, the first year and 8K the next! The best buy would still be a 5 year old Japanese import for around 12K. There is also a very wide choice here for that type of cars : Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Subaru, Hyundai, Ford, Holden and various imported European models, Citroen, Peugeot, VW, BMW, Volvo, Mercedes and Audi. They are all very cheap here! Buying a car is not a problem; but selling it, is sure difficult. Apparently, no one else in NZ share our taste for cars!

In the Muldoon years, no one can import a foreign car unless he has foreign currency held in an overseas bank! This favoured only the rich and the businessmen in New Zealand. For many years, most ordinary kiwis are condemned to drive very ancient Morris Minors and Austin Minis because not many people can afford to import new foreign cars. Second hand cars kept their value very well and there was hardly any depreciation. With the set up of Japanese assembly plants for the Toyota (Thames), Honda (Nelson)and Volkswagen (Invercargil), the price of new cars were still beyond the reach of many people until the era of the Japanese imports. These are reconditioned used cars imported from Japan.

The people in New Zealand started to buy these old cars in large numbers in the early nineties. This killed the market for British manufactured Morris and Austin in spite of the claim: New Zealand New is better! Everyone knew in their hearts that Japanese imports are better. This is in spite of all the malicious rumours spread by present owners of old British cars who are now stuck with cars which are destined for the scrap heap! The monopoly on new car ownership is now broken for ever.

Some new Korean imports are selling at less than $30K! The Hyundai Sonata is a very good buy indeed. A two year old, ex-lease was selling for just $15K, from Waikato Motor group, the Hamilton Volvo agent. We are now so spoilt for choice that it is now difficult to say which the best buy is!

In fact, both Kevin and Eugene are now riding bicycles and motor bikes in Australia! They have gone full circle back to push bikes.

Eugene's cars

2004-08-15T15:35:00.000+12:00

Eugene inherited the Cerres from Pearl in Christchurch. He used that for going to work. He also has an old Toyota Trueno AE86 which he stripped down and rebuilt with a roll cage inside. He uses this car during week ends for drifting, a motor sport in which the driver guides his car around corners by using the throttle, hand brake and clutch to slide the car around instead of just turning the steering wheel.

Eugene also owns another red Toyota Trueno which is fitted with a 3 litre Supra engine with twin turbo chargers. He flew down to Dunedin to pick up this car, driving more than 1,400 km back to Auckland. This car enables him to challenge the boy racers on Auckland streets. Its high powered engine in a small body gave it a very high performance to challenge even the Fords and Holdens.

Buying cars in New Zealand

2004-07-15T15:10:00.000+12:00

When Steven and Serena returned from the states in September 2004 they came to stay with us until they sorted out their priorities. They were driving a rented car and wished to buy a cheap second hand car for temporary use. I took them to Turner’s auction to get a feel of the market trend for second hand cars in NZ. After seeing a nice car sold for $1750, they gave up the idea of bidding for the 1.5L Honda Civic at a reserved price of $5000. They have test driven the car earlier in the day and initially wanted to bid a maximum of $6,300 for it. The Civic was not from a car yard which has folded. It was imported by Turner’s directly from Japan just for this auction! It has never been registered in NZ.

The other one, a 1.8L Nissan Primera at $4500 was also a good buy; but the panels and bumpers suffered a lot of scratches. The nasty thing was the horrible smell inside which suggested one of two things. It was in the recent Kobe floods or it has dried blood in the carpets or upholstery! Either way, it was not a good buy even though it was a newer model than the Civic. The Civic’s rear bumper shows a wide gap between the body and the bumper. This could easily be fixed by a mechanic; but the market price appears too high when compared to other cars sold at auction last Tuesday.

It takes time to find a good car at auctions. There are risks involved because a car worth 10k at the car yard usually sells for around 6k at auctions and 8k at the Ellerslie car fairs. First a buyer needs to decide on the model, age of the car, engine size, manual or auto, colour, appearance etc. He needs to take the short listed car for a test drive (we would never have known about the smell otherwise). Time needs to be spent looking all over the car for tell tale signs and listen to the engine at idling speed. Check that everything like wipers, electric window and lights are all working properly. Ensure that there is a jack and a spare tyre. Many cars nowadays carry only an emergency spare which has a speed limit of 60 kph and also a distance limitation. Speedometer readings are only a guide. Many speedos have been wound back by dealers to deceive the unwary buyer. Cars which are over 12 years old and have done over 150k are to be avoided like the plague. Most mechanical parts are starting to fail and require expensive repairs and replacement parts.

Carol bought a car successfully from Turner’s car auction. Chai Kee’s partner brought her there. It was a Nissan Sunny for around 5k. Compared with Lisa’s car from Collin Walker at 9k, Carol’s car was a better buy although it has no power window. Robert Chua bought his Toyota from a car yard also at around 5k. I think the morale of the story is not to buy a car worth less than 5k no mater what. It was a good idea to use a rental car while the Huangs hunt for a suitable car to buy, either from the car yard, car fair or auctions. There are also the classified ads’ private sales. From personal experience private sales are not a good source because of limited choice. Private car owners are notorious for over valuing their personal property.

A few years ago, cars were over priced from source and owners were caught like children playing musical chairs, left holding the product which no body else wanted. Prices of cars have come down a lot since 1995 when I bought my 12 year old Honda Accord for 6.8k. Today the same age car is worth less than half that price. In fact I sold the Honda privately for $500 after only two years’ use. It is very easy to buy a car in NZ; but not so easy to sell it. Apparently, nobody has the same taste for cars as I have.