Wanted - a small car for city driving in Malaysia

Wanted a small, affordable second car for city driving in Malaysia.
The maximum budget is RM 40K (approx £7298).

If I had that budget here in the UK, I would probably go for a second hand car and would have several options.

However, in Malaysia there are only 2 options available, namely the Perodua ViVA (Yes! That is how the name is written) with prices starting from RM 24,936.45 (for the ViVA 660 BX - Manual, solid white colour) and the Proton Saga with prices from RM 33,426 (for the Saga SV Manual, solid white colour). The SV stands for Super Value.

Dimension wise, the Perodua ViVA (3575 x 1475 x 1530) is slightly smaller but taller than the Proton Saga (4278 x 1680 x 1520).

Looking at the websites of the two Malaysian car companies, I am quite impressed with the information provided from engine specs in detail to the various accessories available.

Though there is nearly RM 8000 difference in prices between the two cars, the Viva seems quite underpowered even for a city car with an engine displacement of only 659 cc. If I choose the ViVA 850 - Manual (847cc), prices goes up to RM 32,756.45.

I am not too concerned about the maximum speed but I am definitely interested in the fuel efficiency.

The Perodua website does not tell us anything about the fuel efficiency, other than mentioning that the cars have been equipped with "Dynamic Variable Valve Timing (DVVT), Double Overhead Camshaft (DOHC) and Electronic Fuel Injection  (EFI)".

The Proton Saga has a CamPro IAFM, 4-cylinder, DOHC 16V 1332cc engine and according to their website, the fuel consumption at @ 90km/h (approx. 56m/h) is 5.7 litres.

So if you had RM 40000 to spend on a car, I would definitely recommend the Proton Saga.

Subaru Forester & XV - for those who love the rural life

Have you watched the recent Subaru ads?

They show their two vehicles  from their all-wheel drive range, the Subaru Forester & XV in action. They are perfect for those who love life in rural areas.

Forester Features:

• Heated door mirrors
• Remote control key system
• Roof rails
• Subaru Vehicle Dynamics Control
• Multi-function display
• Bluetooth, iPod and USB connectivity

The XT model is turbo-charged.

XV Features:

• Reversing camera
• Steering wheel audio controls
• Cruise control
• Hill Start Assist
• Rain-sensing windshield wipers with de-icer
• Leather gear lever & steering wheel

Prices for the XV starts from £21,995 and £24,995 for the Forester.

Can you power cars using AA batteries

What did you think of the post "Clubbing together for an electric revolution!" yesterday?

I am sure most of you must have realised that it was a spoof post.

"LipraLoof" is an anagram of APRILFOOLS

Unfortunately, you can't power cars using AA batteries yet.

Happy April Fools Day

Clubbing together for an electric revolution!

The UK’s largest independent car club, City Car Club, is working with innovative start-up LipraLoof Technologies Ltd, to trial smart power technology, which could one day see cars powered by AA-style batteries. Who’d have thought it?

James Finlayson, Managing Director of the hourly rental car club said: “When LipraLoof approached us we instantly realised how exciting this technology was – it has the potential to revolutionise the way we drive. However, like with any new technology, rigorous real-world testing is a must and with a 700+ fleet of cars which are used mainly for short journeys, we are in the perfect position to help.”

LipraLoof’s batteries contain complex mix of four metal hydrates which creates a quad, or 4A battery, which produces far more power than a standard battery. When these batteries are combined with technology that harnesses, stores and reuses the energy usually wasted when driving, it creates a system capable of powering a car up to 88mph over a significant distances.

LipraLoof’s founder and managing director Dr Ed Heaverben, explains: “We’ve combined our quad batteries with virtually 100% regenerative breaking which harnesses the energy normally lost when we brake. Another significant area where we’ve conserved energy is with the tyres – we’ve developed a specially designed tread that ‘grabs’ energy which normally escapes onto the road as heat. This saved energy is then stored in a French-Luxemburg engineered Flux Capacitor, ready for use when needed.”

It’s expected the trial and development phase will last around two years, and hopefully the commercial version of the complex system will be ready for market in 2016-17, and we at Auto Lah can’t wait to test it!

Car clubs are all about providing a realistic, flexible alternative to car ownership that benefits individuals, the wider community and are environmentally sustainable.
For further information visit www.lipraloof.co.uk.


Happy April Fools day

Subaru VIZIV 2 Concept

According to Subaru, the new VIZIV 2 crossover concept is "introducing the future of All-Wheel Drive vehicles."

VIZIV stands for Vision for Innovation and Subaru is using it to showcase how advanced hybrid technology can be used with "Subarus All-Wheel Drive (AWD) while also indicating at a future design direction for Subarus production vehicles."

The powertrain uses a new 1.6-litre turbo-diesel DIT (Direct-Injection Turbo) Boxer engine and three electric motors, one to power the front wheels and one on each of the rear wheels which operate independently.

We are looking at a possible future generation of hybrid technology powered Subaru AWD vehicles.

The Dilemma of an Average Singaporean Groom - Part Two: How much money do you need to get married for an Average Singaporean groom?

This is part TWO of the blog post "How much money do you need to get married for an Average Singaporean groom." If you have not read that post, please do take a look. If you have read and commented that the writer encourages couples to go into DEBT. You are WRONG. Please read the blog post again carefully. You may also read here to understand further about Part 1.

READ ME FIRST

Before we get started let us run thru some expectations:

1. This is not a blog post which you can scan thru and expect to comprehend in less than 30 secs. You have to read ALL of it.
2. My Average Singaporean Groom is base on a monthly income of $2,250 per month. I know many of the readers earn more than that.
3. Installments means 0% interest free.

Yup. I'm dirt poor. But I gave my wife a wedding she deserves.

4. There is no ROMANCE in this post titled MONEY. There is a reason why ROM is not under MOF.

My title is not How much romance do you need to get married.

5. I'm sorry if I made wedding planning sounds like a Maths question. But someone did comment about not planning properly. I know it's hard to please everyone.

My favorite critic

Since you never read after the 2nd point how did you know =)

6. All roads lead to ROME. This is just one of the ways.


Our 2 Average Singapore Grooms, Xiao Ming and John

- Both their starting pay are at $2,250 at the age of 21. (Poly grad at 19 and ORD 2 years later)
- Worked 3 years to clear their education loan.
- Dated 3 years and planning to get married.
- After 3 years, both Xiao Ming and John has no significant savings. This is to make the comparison simpler.

Poor chap. No increment.

The Conventional Wedding Planning by Xiao Ming

- Save $500 a month.
- Take around 10 years to save enough for his wedding.
- Take around 7 years to save enough for his wedding if he were to take in the projection from ang bao money collected.
- Xiao Ming is concern that the hotel rates went up every year from 2010 to 2014 and may be higher 7 years later.

All figures do not reflect the market rate.

The Unconventional Wedding Planning by John

- John decided to hold a restaurant wedding and keep his wedding celebrations to basic but complete
- He saves $300 a month.
- He will need to take 10 years to save enough for his wedding.
- If he take in the projected ang bao money collected after his wedding, he will only need 3 years instead.

A budget but complete wedding celebration

While looking around for a restaurant banquet location, John found out that a 5 star hotel is offering a weekend lunch banquet at $700 per table for that year (2010 rates). He understands that the price will be different 3 years later if he have to save first. (2014 rates range from $968 to $1318)

So John decided to make purchases which can be paid by credit cards by 0% 24 months installments which work out to be $244.93. He will still be able to cover his installments with his savings of $300.

After which he will be left with $29,879. But after he minus off his projected ang bao collection of $25,000 he found out that all he needs to pay after the end of the banquet is only just $4,879!!!

Dilemma, Debt, Diplomacy and Discipline

Although John sees light at the end of his wedding, he still needs to budget hard cash of $9,600 for his dowry, photographer and deposit hotel before the actual wedding. And after the wedding, he has another $4,879 to pay off. Therefore, John will need to prepare a total of $14,879.

Dilemma

John is a hater of debt. But if he starts saving, he will need 48 months to reach his target and the hotel rates will change drastically by then. Should he loan this $14,479 first or miss out this opportunity?

Debt

John calculated that if he loan $14,479 from parents and relatives, he will be able to pay off $9,600 after the banquet. The remainder amount of $4,879 will take 17 months to repay. But due to the first 2 years of 0% credit card installments, he will need 41 months or 3.5 years to repay. This is still too long for him.

Diplomacy

After discussing the budget with his wife, John's wife managed to seek her parents' understanding of the situation and they decided not to request any tables from John.

John will now be able to receive a projected amount of $5,000 ang bao money and this means that John will be able to clear all his debts (excl installments) at the end of the wedding. Hurray!

Discipline

For both Savings and Repayments, one needs to have Discipline. If you do not have the discipline to repay, you also do not have the discipline to save. If John cannot repay his 24 months installment, don't expect him to be able to save for his wedding 3 years later.

It's all about viewing things from a different angle

Summary

So how much did John actually spent on his wedding?
Can our fellow Average Singaporean Groom afford to get married in Singapore?

Singaporean couples are often turned off by holding wedding banquets due to hearing that some couples lose more than $10,000 because of holding their wedding banquet. If couples know the reason, they can avoid it and still hold their wedding banquet according to their budget.

Wedding couples who have done their wedding planning according to their budget will be able to budget for their house, kids, family and future. Holding and planning your wedding is really just the first step.

I do not expect couples to follow the suggestions above, because if the recent articles on "How to buy a car and house in 5 years" by a HK Billionaire & "How to be successful in life and business " by an ex-CEO, did not change 99% of the world's way of financial planning, how can I?

Do share your thoughts but if you spent less than 30 secs reading this, please don't comment =)

BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé

Roomy and sporty Coupés from BMW. Four frameless doors and a large boot.

A great example is the BMW 435i, which is powered 6-cylinder TwinPower Turbo petrol 225 kW (306 hp) engine and accelerates from 0 to 62 mph in 5.5 seconds.
Average fuel consumption is quite modest at 28.3 to 29.0 mpg (Steptronic transmission: 30.9 to 31.4 mpg), accompanied by CO2 emissions of just 193 to 189 g/km (Steptronic transmission: 178 to 174 g/km).