What i had done for this holiday was not resting at home but went car hunting.
Early morning, mom and i took the bus to another town (Lower Hutt) to view a Mitsubishi Colt (year 2004). The car was just imported from Japan and hence without registration. Car registration (i.e. getting a license plate) costs about NZD300 here, and after adding the fee, the total price for the car would be NZD6,290. Yes, it is over my budget of NZD6k, but then after looking around for so long, i have decided that i really must increase my budget a bit to get a more decent car.
The condition of the car was quite reasonable but not as good as i had expected. Then in the same warehouse, there was another car there, which cost NZD1K more but in a very good condition; it was almost like new, and it is one of the cars that i have always wanted to buy - a Mazda Demio (which is Mazda 2 in SG and Msia).
Uh huh, i like small cars. Other cars that i like are - Mini Cooper, Volkswagen Beetle, Nissan March and Suzuki Swift. My first car back in year 1996 was a Satria and i did like it even though it was a Proton. Surprisingly, it did not give me much problems except some issues with the power window.
My mom told me to just go ahead and get that Mazda. Besides comparing the conditions of the two cars, she also didn't like the Mitsubishi due to the odd design - the windscreen is very slanted and may feel different from the usual cars we drive. Since i had arranged for another car viewing in the evening, i told the dealer that i was interested in the car but would like to make a decision later today. Of course, if someone else is to make an offer directly while i was considering, then he would not hold the car for me unless i placed a deposit first.
The other car that i was to view was a Toyota Platz from year 2000. It was advertised by a direct seller and was selling for "NZD4,995 or near offer". When anyone puts up the words "near offer", it means there will be room for bargain. This car was within my budget and the condition of the car looked ok from the pictures. Hence i would still like to take a look first before making the decision.
Well, i did see the Toyota in the evening and all i could say is that we should never trust the pictures we see on the Web. The owner apparently did not maintain the car well at all. Both the interior and exterior were dirty and there were also several dents on the car. The bumper was loose on one side and looked like it was gonna fell off. It was definitely an outright NO for me.
Since i have decided to increase my budget, i searched the Web again and found another dealer who is also selling the same Mazda at cheaper price but of different colour and manufactured year. I have contacted the dealer and make arrangement to view it early tomorrow morning.
Just now i received the call from the dealer i met this morning and he informed me that he received another call enquiring about the car and he would like to give me priority since i viewed it first. I asked him to give me until 10am tomorrow to make the decision and he gracefully agreed. By that time, i would have already viewed the other Mazda and be able to make a decision on which one to buy.
So, now it is a tussle between two Mazda Demio. Assuming that the specs and conditions are all the same, i would have to make a decision based on comparison of colour, manufactured year, mileage and price:
(a) Silver car, year 2005, 94K+ km, NZD7,290
(b) Black car, year 2006, 109K+ km, NZD6,995
Which should I choose? We will know tomorrow.
Labels: life
