..to be another corporate drone driving a boring 3 Series BMW?
Even worse, why take a 9 year loan and buy a Kelisa? With the interest you can pretty much buy another car.
Yah I know cars are a necessity here, not a luxury, I know that, the public transport is so abysmal here I had to get a car ASAP or I was just stuck in the appartment festering, oh for good public transport.
I always wonder why people buy cars and break their balls to pay them off just so they can look better in front of their peers or something.
9 years of composite interest, the current rate is 4-4.5%, so let’s say 4% for 9 years, that’s 36%.
36% of interest, if it’s a Kelisa, that’s about 36,946, let’s say 40,000 on the road.
36% of 40,000 = 14,400
That’s huge, you can buy a decent second hand kancil for 15k.
You are being raped.
Then a BMW, that’s a RM280,000 car for a decent 3-series.
36% of that? You don’t want to know…a massive RM100,800, 100k you are paying to some shitty bank for an overpriced boring drone car to fit in with your peers.
100,000 RINGITT
Why do people do it, this whole Asian Face thing baffles me sometimes.
So they look good in front of their peers? So they can impress the girls? They break their balls paying RM3000 a month out of their RM5000 salaries so they can drive a BMW.
Then they drive the goddamn beemer at 80km/h in the fast lane because they can’t afford the petrol to go any faster..
All of this adds up to Road Rage incident in KL.
Back to the point anyway, why spend so much on a car, why, what’s the point? Why burden yourself, even with my 5 year loan I feel pain, that’s why I took a lump sum and reduced it by a year..
20% of the value of my car, just for lending me the money to buy it, that’s cut-throat man.
The necessity of cars and the poor public service allows the banks to become cut-throat loan sharks.
And the government with it’s over inflated prices for overseas cars, it all adds up to a poor consumer at the end of the day, plus we still have to pay Road Tax for roads with holes in and tolls…The tolls which shouldn’t even be there any more.
The maximum amount you can get for car loan is something like 30% of your monthly salary.
However, I do agree that some of the blokes trying to impress people with overly expensive car is a little ridiculous. There are people who have cars that are more expensive than their house, and they won’t invite you to their home, of course.
The face reason cannot explain everything and will be an over simplification to the concept.
Well, the new 3-series is rubbish anyway.
Get yourself a Ford Focus 2.0 instead! It’s only RM130,000 and has far more street cred (and exclusivity) than any Japanese family sedan.
Yes, it’s as common as cheap lager in the UK, but it’s a fairly rare car here.
Plus, it handles beautifully – it’s suspension is firm yet supple enough to soak up bumps and the whole car corners like a well-sorted GTi hatchback. In fact, it’s almost on par with the VW Golf and it’s only a fraction of the price.
AND it looks wicked in black with the standard bodykit and optional 17in rims.
My only complaints are that the steering is a little too light (using some over-assisted hydraulic-electronic system) and that the autobox has only four cogs. However, it’s got a fast shifting manual gear selector, which is good.
I went to the Ford showroom along the Federal Highway last Saturday to give it a spin. I highly recommend you do the same ^_^
If RM130,000 is a little too much, there’s a 1.8 litre sedan model for RM10,000 less.
car = 4 wheels an engine and gets me from point A to B in one piece.
Paul!!! Please explain…
Mate, you’ve just underlined why money-lending is a good business to be in. 😛
Man i am keeping to the public transport. 😀
Why take a 9 year loan? Go for 5 yr loan lah; if you need to take a niner that means u cannot afford the car ;p
KY: Yah it’s extremely messed up, it doesn’t account for all cases, but it does account for a lot..The biggest problem is the ridiculously inflated price of cars here.
Chris Chong: That is a bit of a beauty I agree, especially with the 17 inchers dropped on it, w00t! Shame they don’t have the authentic RS model here, or do they?
tigerjoe: Yah man…that’s for sure.
Badawi Rocks: Why take the 5 year loan? Just buy the car cash, if you take the loan at all means you can’t afford the car 😛
ST: the reason one should not buy a car for cash is because such buyers get their names and I/C numbers sent to Inland Revenue.
its all a false economic status of malaysian. Everything is credit. Cars, houses, or all thingy are credited. Usual boleh land mah…
I JUST CAME BACK VISITING MY MUM IN PJ AND QUITE PERPLEX AS TO WHY SOME RESIDENTS NEAR MY NEIGHBOURHOOD HAS 2 SETS OF MERCEDES MARKET VALUE MYR 600K IN A HOUSE VALUED 350K? JUST DON’T MAKE SENSE. INVEST IN CARS..DEPRECIATING VALUE WHEREAS PROPERTY APPRECIATING VALUE.
I GUESS THE FACE SAVING AND “STATUS” IS SO STRONGLY EMBEDDED IN THE CULTURE. THE GAS PRICE IN TORONTO CANADA IS ABOUT 1.02 CAD PER LITRE IF THERE IS ANY CONSOLOTION TO MALAYSIAN DRIVERS!
REGARDS!
No Focus RS model here, but just get yourself a couple of cans of bright-orange spray paint and you’re all set.
ST… when it comes to prices, you talk like an asian lol!
Dude, “this whole Asian Face thing” really shouldn’t baffle you this much. Most cultures (definitely includes Western) have this “face” thing, too. It’s called “keeping up with the Joneses”. Trying to look good in front of peers, impress the girls … trying to be cool, man. That’s what it’s all about. It happens EVERYWHERE. It just depends on the person. Not everyone cares about “face” in Asia just as not everyone tries to be cool in the Western world. I mean, sure, it would be great if we could afford the most ginormous H2 there is just to shut that next door aunty up for bragging nonstop about her daughter’s new Range Rover … but some of us know our limits. Others … ehhh… not so much. They’ll go to any length to have the latest gadgets and toys; and that includes nine zillion percent in interest payment. I don’t think it’s worth it. By the time you’re almost half done paying for it, it’ll be worth like nothing. If you don’t have the cash, you can’t afford it really. Having a car that runs dependably is all I can ask for. And, boy, am I asking for it 😉
I couldn’t agree more..Can i quote that, “So they look good in front of their peers? So they can impress the girls?”!! i think it should be a “save-all-arragont-young-lads” campaign’s theme or sumthin..
That’s why I ride bikes. OK, my truck ain’t exactly low profile, but … I CAN AFFORD IT. 🙂
Hang on… I just realised that ‘ST’ also stands for sanitary towel.
tigerjoe: Ah makes sense.
foodcrazee: Yah show richer than you are, end up poorer than you should be.
HOCKEEY: Yah a bit crazy right? Cars worth more than the house.
Chris Chong: That’s a shame, my friend has the previous series Focus RS, nice nice car!
Jon: I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing..
Blinkyboo: I agree it is present in western culture, but it’s very much less prounounced, keeping up with the Joneses is more like educating your kids and going on holiday…come to my estate in my hometown you won’t find any working class people driving expensive cars…cos they spend all their money on booze and holidays to Greece 😉
Jayna Teng: If only we could save them, their egos will be the downfall of us all.
Snark: You don’t count man..
Chris: STFU.
Amen to that, I now have a response as to why I’d save up for a second-hand car.
Relocation to a more public-transport friendly place is the only option for budget-strapped people.
I don’t feel the major inconvenience of not having a car, it’s just whether people want to make an effort to go out or not. Subang drivers still won’t come to KL, for example.
Well, lots of guys throughout the world seem trapped by the same thing, buyin expensive cars, or big V8 motors and stuff in order to impress people.
I never did buy into that culture, I’ve always driven small cars. [Because lets face it, none of us here need to compensate for other areas!] 🙂
Plus, I own some awesome computers! 🙂
face is face; what to do? asians, in general, abhor deviating from the norm, so different means crazy lah.
bank interest is not the only thing that rape you. gov taxes whack u even more kau kau…
see paul tan blog for the cif price of beemer, the priciest 3-series is 120K, even after all the seller margin n what not, the car should sell for less than 150k on the road – WITHOUT gov tax.
think about it, you pay interest for a loan to pay for tax! wtf!
ford focus? just another over price car on msia road. in fact, all new car are inevitably overpriced in bolehland.
A 2006 BMW 325i is only US $30K excluding sale tax (about 5-9% depending on the city). It is absolutely disgusting to see the Malaysia government gorge its own people. Oh yeah, now I remember why I jettisoned my Malaysia citizenship.
Albert Ng: It depends where you live really, some places are just horrible for public transport, I mean if you have the option you can always buy a house near an LRT station, but for most people it’s not a viable option. I tried living without a car where I’m at and well it’s pretty much impossible.
2cents: Yah the tax is disgusting man…cars are SO much more expensive here.
SLer: Indeed I’m familiar with the prices in UK where you can pick up a decent second hand 98 3 series BMW for about 5k, thats about RM35,000…what can you get for that here?
A 98 3 series is about 11K (40K ringgits) here in the west coast of USA. So UK is cheaper, in relatively to the states.
Also, here, we often associate 3 Series drivers as the young, fabulous & broke. 3 Series is too cheap for the rich and too expensive for those young homeowners (real estate price just unbelievably pricey these days).
I drive a 20 year old car… nice and comfi! Gets me from A to B. I sold my waja1.8 which is more problematic than my current old car.
I love my old car!
Hi bro, dont know if you remember me, but i’m that ‘driver instructor’ dude who sat in the car with you during the testdrive for the bbs and eibach launch?
anyways.. just came across your blog only today. and started going thru your postings.. i know this is a bit late, but heres my contribution.
yes, i own a boring drone, an e36 328i. at legal speeds, the car is quiet, comfy, and the miles just disappear. but driven hard, the car comes alive. The steering lightens and sharpens up, feedback is great. Car also has good balance btween understeer and oversteer… I’ve used it for trackdays, as well as competitive autocross races.. to me, its not just face value, but a practical and fun car. It really is a great driver’s car, but only if you know how to use it.
but yes, i do admit that in malaysia, a high majority of bmw owners buy them for the face(snob) value.