September 7, 2010
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Alexei Sale
With the job offer coming in for a position down the coast, close to the airport, there was a new direction to be taken in terms of the transportation requirements, especially with Joanne not liking scooters/motorcycles so much. So we decided to go and have a look for a car down Cheng De Road, where there are used car lots after used car lots. Essentially a 3km strip of road with a ton of car dealers, all vying for your business. Or not, as the case may be.
We took the MRT to Shipai, had some Thai food and then walked down to take a look. We had done some research, and there was a website I had spent the previous days at Instek looking at, SUM, which apparently had a good reputation. Nice one - and wouldn't you know it? At least 4 of them along this stretch of road. Cool.
So the first place we go to, we take a look at a Toyota Altis, not bad looking, decent quality, but the price is a tad high. Not over the top, but still. Then Rob notices a dirty Nissan Sentra on the lot.
"Oh yes - we just got that in last week," the guy explains. He's friendly enough, talks through all the cars, what they have, what they do. The Nissan interests me - it has less than 60000 km, despite being 10 years old. What's the price, I ask. He tells me. Hmmm.... not TOO bad.
Ok, we decide to go and look elsewhere, get a comparison, and walk towards downtown, where there are some dealers with some decent cars - we're looking for something in the Altis/Sentra range of cars, ideally a VW Golf, but we know these have a high resale value. A couple of places, we just get ignored, obviously they don't need the sale. And you know me - if I am not getting the service, then I don't want to do business with you. So we keep walking, find a place that has a VW Polo. Yes, that looks good. I sit inside, it's a little small, but ok. Then I ask the price - ok, you're kidding me mucker. For a car that old?
We cross over the road and walk back the way we came. More Nissan, more Toyota, another place where they don't even want to talk with us - even though the boss is inside his cabin, eating away at his bin lang.
There was no decision going to be made that day - we were just looking, but in the same way as we were also not going to make a decision about the wedding photos, and ended up placing the order with them on the spot, we decided to go take one more look at that Nissan from the first place.
I take a look at the engine, and get the guy to turn it on. Sounds decent enough, the engine purring. But what you would expect for a 60000km car. The back seat needs a little rework - it is a bit scraggy, but otherwise I like. I want a test drive.
The guy though is reluctant. In Taiwan they don't like you driving the car unless you're going to buy it. Joanne and I talk - we can probably work something out and put it on hock for a year. That could work. So we tell the guy, if it is fine then we will negotiate on price and if we come to an agreement then we will do the deal that day. These are words a salesman likes to hear, so the bonnet went down, and off we sped, along Cheng De Road before chucking a u-ey and heading back. It felt ok - sounded ok. Yea - it does what it should do.
We get back and head in to the cabin for the negotiation. This is Joanne's area of expertise. I tell him what I want done to it - he says he will repair the GPS for free (yay - although I am a walking GPS, even in Taiwan!), and I am satisfied. Joanne does a Kevin Spacey, and everyone agrees. 1 year warranty - excellent. Smiles all round.
The bank confirms the credit, and we're set. Car can be picked up in a few days. Nice one.
Rob has a final meeting on the Friday with the new employer, so we pick up the car the day before. We have to pay extra for the GPS after all, apparently half the costs because the guy messed up. As the GPS is an old one, with a very old map, it is not really the best deal we could have hoped for, but not the end of the world, despite the fact that the guy has now lost my trust because he has gone back on his word.
It's a pip of a drive - with 12 CD's so I have a ton of Pink Floyd to listen to before I get bored (Joanne is bored after one song, but the driver gets to choose the entertainment, and I have hidden Joanne's key!).
I have my meeting and accidentally leave the lights on. When I come down, a mere half hour later, the car won't start. I walk down the road and ask a guy to come give me a jump start, and he brings his jump leads and gets the Nissan started again.
"Keep it running a half hour at least" he said. No problem with that - I live 45 minutes away!
So I get home, and park the car, the plan being to meet Joanne and head out for the afternoon to sort out some wedding stuff. I get upstairs and change, back down and start the car. Well, I TRY to start the car. I know what this means - alternator is bust. I call Joanne and she calls the car dealer.
"Oh no - that's not covered on the warranty" he informs her. What is? Just the engine. All other stuff... no. "But bring the car in and we will see what we can do."
So that is what we do - I get the car jump started once more, finding a very nice guy who brings his fork-life truck over to help me start up the Nissan, and off I drive, picking up Joanne from the MRT station first.
When we get to the dealer he tells us he can't do anything, but amazingly enough, his friend can and wouldn't you know it? There he was, so he took the Nissan to his workshop and told us to go back within an hour and a half, the afternoon now mostly shot, and said it would cost us about 4000 TWD more. Not terrible, but again, not something I was expecting to pay for less than 24 hours after picking the car up.
We head out looking for a coffee shop, end up in the McDonalds with an orange juice and a chocolate sundae. The call comes in - the car is ready. Cool...
A few weeks later, we are coming out of a parking lot - the exhaust drops. Driving along, a nasty scraping noise on the tarmac, everyone looking at us as we drive, we're heading to one place and one place only - the mechanic. It's late on a Friday night, but Joanne spots one guy still open, so we head in and he says oh yes - you need a new one. Can he repair it temporarily? Yes, no worries, he says. I bet that was also known about, alongside the alternator, but as this too was not too expensive, we're not overly concerned. Always one of the risks of buying a second hand car is that there are things going wrong on it, but having bought a Sentra, which is common as muck, it is cheap to repair, and with the engine now approaching 70000 km, hopefully now all it needs is a good oil change and service.
It certainly gets me to the office every day in a much better state than the Suzuki would have!
