No, I didn’t go watch the rugby or the wakeboarding this weekend, because every time I looked out the window, it looked like it was gonna rain chubby rain.
What I did instead was a spot of retail therapy with a friend who’s looking to buy a car. Because this was the first time either of us were looking at showroom cars (as opposed to caryard ones), we were very excited. We collected half a dozen brochures before we mustered enough courage to ask for a test drive. Yes, me and my friend are what you would call Motor Morons.
Very tiring weekend, but here’s our Motor Moron Motor Review:
Not a good feel at all. Horrible interior with plastic trimmings that look like Airfix parts. (In fact, the drinks-holder fell apart because the airfix glue never glue properly). The doors were tinny-sounding when you closed them.
Two thumbs down.
Looked pretty alright from the outside, though a bit ‘Beng/Lian’. The inside was a bit outdated, with the instrument cluster looking like something from the early 90s. The ride was pretty smooth, and we didn’t bang anything or what, even if it was our first time driving it. We even went into a road hump pretty hard, and the car still stayed together like a dream. Not a peep from the salesman either.
In the lobby of the showroom was a ‘Ralliart’ version of the Lancer. My brother (who’s not a Motor Moron, but likes to make fun of Motor Morons) says I should get it, so I look like I have a sports car, though it won’t drive like one. Apparently there’s something called the Evil Eight or something version of the Lancer that the Bengs and their molls can’t get enough of. Now, that’s a sports car, says my brother.
My brother also says Mitsubishi is coming up with a ‘new shape’ for the Lancer, so don’t buy a Lancer now.
But the Lancer comes with a Sony or Kenwood car stereo that plays MP3 discs leh.
One thumb up, one thumb down.
We didn’t get to test drive this car because the showroom was chockers with people looking to buy cars, and the salesman said ‘How to test drive, see how crowded it is?’. Minus 20,000 points. But the Vios is pretty neat, with the instrument cluster in the middle of the dashboard, tilted towards the driver so the driver can still see how fast he or she is going. But there’s still too much of that fake wood veneer panelling thing going on, and that makes it look a little dated. The doors shut pretty nicely though.
One thumb up, one thumb down (for impatient salesman).
We already liked the look of the Mazda 3, and we were attended to by a woman called Rosie, and she could tell at once that we were Motor Morons. (There was that glint in her eye while we had that glaze in ours). Rosie was pretty good at convincing us that the Mazda 3 was the best car in its class, even if it was $10-15K more expensive than other compact sedans. It was pretty crowded at the showroom too, but Rosie managed to get us a yellow Mazda 3 to play around with.
The ride was pretty good, and we weren’t at all distracted by Rosie talking non-stop while we negotiated the weekend afternoon traffic. The car’s interior is very stylo-mylo, and it has one of those nifty steering wheel controlled stereo systems.
And when we were done with our test drive, we closed the doors and there was a very satisfying ‘clump’ sound as they shut. Mmmm. Not tinny.
Rosie carried on talking about which model we should buy, as if we were already set on buying one.
‘Don’t buy the RS! What for? Sports package make the car very heavy! $5,000 more to make the car drink more petrol! No point lah!’, she said.
Two thumbs up.
Next week: Test driving cars I cannot afford.
