So my car saga did a 180 this weekend. I finally grew disgusted with the whole idea of getting a SUV. Buying a 'real' 4x4, like a Toyota Landcruiser or Land Rover is silly -- they're physically too big for Singapore. Parking is awful, price is awful, and Ling would hate to drive it. Buying a soft 4x4, like a CRV or RAV4 is stupid, they cost much more than a car, but they can't do much more than a car. At some point I told myself, "I don't want to pay $40,000 extra for a wimpy suv that I might take offroad in Malaysia five times per year, if I am very lucky."
So for the time being I am way off the market for SUVs and trucks. The whole idea has the same funk that many other bad ideas I've had in the past had, too. That smell is evidence that I am maximimizing way too far along one variable's axis, and ignoring a lot of other axes. I'm going to buy a simple, straightforward car.
At the same time that feeling moved in and kicked the SUV out, I starteed thinking that a Ford Focus would be a cool car. So on Monday I went over to the showroom and checked it out. Not much variety. They all have the same 1.6l engine. There is a hatchback, station wagon, and sedan. The sedan is a choice of manual or auto, while the wagon and hatch are both auto. There are no other options to choose from beside color. But boy, superficially it seemed like a nice car -- the interior, for the short time I sat in it, felt very nice. I'm a sucker for leather seats, and the control seemed very solid and high quality. There seemed to be a lot of legroom in both back and front seats. The sedan and wagon had more space, but the hatchback looks much nicer. The wagon looks dorky.
I didn't drive the car yet, and I have been stymied in my research. I believe the Focus in asia is at least somewhat different than in the US, so I have so far been unable to find decent reviews on the Asian-available version of the Focus. Google seems to have failed me a bit here.
I talked very briefly about price with the sales woman. Looked like their initial offer was about $85,000 for the hatchback. No idea how much they'll come off that price. For that price, I feel like buying a brand new one and not screwing around with used. I get an approximately $85,.000 interest-free car loan from my employer, so that makes it a bit cheaper. I'll plan on keeping it till our family grows, and then Ling can take it and I will buy something bigger if we need it.
Posted by Nils Blutig at October 17, 2002 11:04 PM | TrackBack