Maintaining a vehicle is not as easy as most people think. There are several problems that a car owner has to deal with from the moment he/she acquires the vehicle to the day he/she decides to sell it.

You see, from the very beginning, a car owner is a slave to gasoline. Since most cars require gas in order to work, the owner has no choice but to continue buying gas regardless of how absurdly its price goes up.

Secondly, a car, unlike real estate, is an investment that is bound to depreciate. The older a car gets, the lower its resale price tag becomes. It doesn’t matter if you have several car lifts at home or a whole crew to maintain your vehicle’s condition. The more years a car accumulates, the more wear and tear it experiences. This is what brings down a car’s price.

Third, aside from gas price hikes and unit depreciation, there is one more factor that plagues car owners. These are the emergency breakdowns – those instances when suspensions, brakes or other car parts decide to act up or break down completely.  You see, even the most careful driver or owner is not exempted from the worst driving conditions – floods, road bumps, snow, etc. All vehicles will eventually break down. It’s just the rate of decomposition that would differ from vehicle to vehicle.

Car owners or would-be car owners need to know these facts before deciding on acquiring a vehicle. Owning a car is not the same as owning a toy. It requires a lot of money, effort, and most specially attention.

How many times have I thought about owning a new car? I can’t even remember. The truth is, no matter how much I think about it, there’s pretty much nothing I could do right now. As it is, I barely get enough to keep our heads above water. What more for a new car?

What we currently have right now is our red car. I’ve posted quite a few entries about the heartaches and headaches we’ve gotten from it. Heck, I don’t even have to look for those entries to remind myself about how much trouble we’ve gotten from our car. It’s right outside in the garage, for almost a month now. The last time I tried to move it, the brakes gave way. It’s in such a bad condition that none of the car insurance companies would want to get their hands dirty with it.

I can’t help but long for a new one – a more reliable and better looking one.  I mean, I can always dream, right?

I’ve never given up on my dream of purchasing a brand new car… well at least until yesterday.

You see, I’ve always thought that somehow we could find a way to afford one. I mean, I always believed that it was only a matter of time before something comes along and provides us with an opportunity to actually go for it.

When I heard about Kia’s promo – the trade-in-your-car-to-get-a-new-kia deal, I figured this must be it – the opportunity we’ve been waiting for. Since they were accepting any brand and any model at any year, I thought I could finally get enough money for a down payment of a new vehicle by simply trading in our trusty old car. So yesterday, while I was out on a chore, I quickly passed by the nearest Kia outlet to have the red car appraised (without andrea’s knowledge that is). But as things turned out, the red car’s worth was not even enough to pay half of the down payment for the Picanto, Kia’s cheapest model. Even the general manager went out to inspect the red car in order to help with the trade-in, but 50k was the most that they could offer.

I guess this means we’re stuck with our beloved lancer, perhaps for the rest of our lives. Because the way things are going, we won’t be expecting any dramatic increase in the inflow of money any time soon. Huhuhu!

Last Saturday, when we went on a family outing to SM Taytay, I came across a car exhibit again. This time it was Hyundai that’s showcasing their two flag carriers – the Grand Starex and the 2008 Getz. I figured we could never afford the van so I chose to look at the econo car instead.

At first, I was excited to see that the car was on promo. I mean, for as low as 98,000,  you can bring it home already. It sounded really nice but after thinking about it carefully, I realized that’s still one heck of an amount. Not to mention, we’d still have to pay around 10k every month for  5 years even if we took the lowest installment plan available for the cheapest Getz model.

I realized, a brand new car is definitely not an option for us, at least not right now. That’s why I’m starting to give up hope. Instead, I’m trying to look at a different option – restoration. You see, andrea and I have agreed that the most affordable way for us to secure a vehicle is to put our faith on the old one – the red car (an 89 series GLX Lancer). All we need to do is to find a good detailing or restoration shop to make it road-worthy again. And I’m not just talking about city-driving-worthy, but close to brand new road-trip-capable kind of worthiness. I mean if we’re going to spend a small fortune anyway, I’d like the car to run the distance.

So if there’s anyone out there who knows of a good car detailing or restoration shop that’s a bit friendlier in the pocket than others, please, I need your help! I’m not dreaming of pimping my ride (although that sounds really nice too). I just want a worry-free, baby-friendly ride for me and my family.

Last week, andrea and I were reunited with our dream car, the aveo sedan. We went to SM taytay after work to buy some groceries when we saw her there, all shiny and seductive. So once again, we felt the desire we fought so hard to overcome last time – the desire to buy a new car.

So what’s the problem with getting a new car? Well, there is none actually, if we had the money. For us, getting the car, you see, would mean getting a loan. And that is what we can’t afford. I mean, we’d probably get approved but what’s the point if we can’t pay it off anyway. (Darn those loan sharks and their false hopes!)

So after reliving the agony of touching it again – the elegant seats, the leather-clad dashboard, steering wheel and shift knobs, we went home sulking. At least, it wasn’t as bad as last time because Mateo was there waiting for us when we arrived. He was the living reminder that we absolutely can not be careless with our spendings. We have to consider each and every buck we’d spend. And this sedan, is just too much of a risk. So we had to move on.

Or at least we tried to. I, still clinging on to the idea of a new car, just surfed the net to get my mind away from it all, when another idea struck me. Heck! If we can’t buy a new one, then we’ll just have to focus our efforts on restoring our current car. So I continued browsing, this time for car shops specializing on restoration.

I found this interesting shop, Leder interia, a shop specializing on leather restoration. When I saw the wallpaper and the gallery, I was instantly glued . I just had to know more about the shop so I kept clicking. Their services, aside from the obvious seat restoration, included tinkering with your dashboard, steering wheels, shift knobs, and even paint restoration. They can accessorize the inside of any car with wooden or metal panels, replace all mattings, and customize the type and shape of seats for you. It was heaven.

I kept picturing the red car with new sporty seats, glossy new paint, and an elegantly-accessorized dashboard… and I got excited. I know it may cost a bit but at least it won’t compare to the prize of a new car. Hey, I’m not that picky. If I can’t buy a new one then I’d settle for a fresh-looking one.

The only problem now is how to save up for it. Oh well.

A few weeks ago, we were invited to a birthday celebration. My Ate Cel’s first child just turned 1 last October and she invited me and my family to come and celebrate with them.

Since we rarely go out together, my parents and my own family (Andrea and Mateo) and also because we’re attending the same party, it is only proper that we go there together. Unfortunately the red car poses a big problem. Because of age, its shocks are a far cry from what they used to be! It already creaks with just me, Mateo and Andrea on board. What more with two additional passengers? In fact, for the whole trip, from the house to the party, it was producing loud noises that made it real hard for me to concentrate on driving.

And to add salt to injury,  it’s only been less than half a year since the car was brought to the repair shop for an engine overhaul, and even less than a month for a transmission overhaul. Now, after the ordeal, I’m guessing it’s due for another trip to the shop. And this time, it’s not an overhaul anymore but a replacement… of shocks! Shucks!

Recently, we came across a car show in SM City. This time, instead of a sedan, a hatchback was being featured – the Hyundai Getz. Now, if you read my previous post about the Aveo sedan, you’ll see that it takes a lot for me to get impressed by a car. So initially, I wasn’t at all with the Getz, but my wife egged me to take a closer look.
Up close, this Hyundai subcompact car looked interestingly sporty. The interior brandishes the same two-tone color and texture that we loved in the Aveo sedan. The space ofcourse was incomparable to the sedan but amazingly enough, when I jumped in the driver’s seat, I was surprised to find a spaceous leg room. The 3-spoke steering wheel lacks the music control buttons in the Aveo but otherwise feels good to touch. It will still take a bit of getting used to with the dashboard controls though but it doesn’t look bad at all. The plastic material of the dashboard gives a synthetic (but almost cheap) feel to the touch. After all, let’s not forget. It still is an econocar. Outside, the car looks less feminine than the Picanto. It has an angrier looking front face. The black trims across the body (body side molds) add excellent contrast to the color and give a more sophisticated look to the Getz (something that the Picanto designers could definitely look into).The engine, on the other hand, is definitely a stride slower than the Aveo sedan’s. The Getz sports a 1.1 L displacement SOHC engine – a rather poor comparison to the Chevy’s E-TEC II DOHC engine (VTEC equivalent in Honda). But then again, the Aveo Sedan is not an econocar. Chevy’s econocounterpart, which is the Spark, I feel will not hold a candle to the Getz at all so I did not compare it to the Spark at all. Furthermore, the Getz showcases different engine variants. It comes in 1.4 L and 1.5 L versions, with the latter sporting the CRDi DOHC type. (The CRDI technology is the same technology used in european top cars like BMW, Mercedez and Audi.)

The price, however, is a serious consideration. The P468,000 1.1 L Getz costs even less than the 1.1 L Picanto (P490,000). That for me is a big advantage for the Getz. However, the 1.5 L version with the CRDi DOHC engine, comes with a price tag of P628,000 – a slight disadvantage because at this range, it will be taking on the much bigger competitors like the Honda 1.5 L VTEC City (P700,000) or the 1.4 L E-TECH II Aveo sedan (P640,000), or even the 1.5 L G VVTi Toyota Vios (P687,000).For a while I seriously considered buying the Getz… but then again I remembered why I didn’t take the Aveo Sedan in the first place – obligations. Huhu!

Everybody dreams of having their own car. Some go for the sporty-looking ones. Some go for the big ones – I mean the really mean-looking, and imposing road monsters. Others dream about petite, cutey, almost feminine econocars. Me, I just wanna have a new one.