Hi Baraza,
I am looking for an affordable, fuel-efficient car that will not give me too much trouble. I have narrowed my choice down to the new model Toyota Vitz going for Sh650,000, Nissan Tiida wagon at Sh710,000, and Subaru Impreza at Sh800,000. I want to use the car to drive to and from work and maybe travel upcountry once a year. I have an 11-month-old baby boy and thus having a big car seat is important. I am also considering the resell value as I would like to get a bigger car in two years’ time. This will be my first car and I would really appreciate if you would help me out with your objective advice.
Brenda.
I can see the answers to your question right within the question itself. You want an affordable car, right? By “affordable” you mean with the smallest asking price, right? How much did you say the Vitz was again? You want a fuel-efficient car, right? By fuel-efficient you mean the one that burns the least amount of fuel per kilometre driven, right? Bigger engines and heavier cars tend to burn more fuel than smaller, lighter ones with tiny engines. The Vitz can be with engines ranging from 1.0 litre to 1.5 litre, which cannot be said of the other two. Also, it is tiny and light. How much did you say the Vitz was again?
You want a car that will not give you too much trouble, right? By that you mean infrequent breakdowns and ease of repair, right? Tiny engines and small cars are simpler or less complex than larger engines and/or bigger vehicles because there is less that can go wrong, and if it does, it can be quite easily fixed. Also, by sheer reputation, Toyotas are known the world over for their reliability. Of these cars, which one would you say is the smallest? The simplest? Which one is the Toyota? How much did you say the Vitz was again?
Car seats nowadays are manufactured with ISO-fix compatibility, which means that the same child seat that can be fixed in a Range Rover can also be installed in a Vitz (I am guessing the five-door will be a surer bet than the three-door, if only for ease of access). If it will not go in, you can get rid of the visual addenda on the child seat and the resultant skeleton will fit in nicely. The Vitz does have a boot, as do the other two, so you can throw the visual add-ons in there until you get to wherever you are going.
Resell value? This is a cheap, fuel-efficient, and highly reliable Toyota car in Kenya. What do you mean, “resell value”?
Dear Baraza,
I have a question about fuel consumption. Why is it that when you fill the tank, the gauge does not seem to move? It is as though the engine was combusting vapour (as suggested by my father). We drove from Nairobi to Arusha and the gauge barely moved.
Jessie.
I will let you in on a little secret. Those fuel gauges are doctored. Yes, in almost every car they build, manufacturers interfere with those gauges to wage psychological warfare on unknowing drivers.
The first quarter (between FULL and 3/4 tank) barely moves after filling up. This leaves the driver impressed with the “economy” of the car, ending up expressing sentiments like yours. The fastest moving level is between 3/4 full and 1/2 a tank. More often than not, this occurs after many kilometres of driving (having started from full), by which time the driver will be thinking of the overall distance covered instead of how the two quarters of the tank have different depletion rates.
This swift descent of the needle slows down somewhat once the gauge drops below half. It is not as fast as the 3/4 – 1/2 transition, but then again it is not as slow as the FULL-3/4 segment. This is usually the most accurate reflection of the rate of consumption. Once the needle drops below quarter tank, it slows down yet again. You may have noticed how “far” one can drive on a quarter tank of fuel.
There is more to this.
This irregular reflection of a car’s consumption is after years of study of people’s driving habits. Most people drive around in the two slowest moving segments of the fuel gauge: Either properly full or near empty. This leads them into overestimating the efficiency of the engine (but not to the point where they miscalculate the fuel consumption subconsciously). The 3/4-1/2 segment of the tank is almost ALWAYS reached from a full tank level; rarely will you find someone filling his tank to “just above half”.
They either fill it all the way up or put in just enough to get them to point B, which in most cases is barely a quarter tank. Seeing how this 3/4-1/2 level is reached after a long time with the needle barely moving, the driver is falsely confident and feels complacent, and is more likely to overlook the increased rate of gauge descent.
To safeguard against lawsuit-loving, mileage-calculating “geniuses” armed with protractors, rulers, cameras, maps, and GPS devices, the fuel gauge is also cleverly designed. Those FULL, 3/4, 1/2, 1/4 and EMPTY levels of the fuel gauge are not equidistant. I am yet to come across a car where all four points are marked at exact separation from each other. With that, what looks like 3/4, or 1/4, is not really 3/4 or 1/4.
The F mark is not exactly on the scale, nor is the E mark, which is why on some cars, you can drive to “below E”. No amount of geometry will lead you to calculate exactly how many litres of fuel you have in the tank just from looking at the fuel gauge.
Now you know. Fill up the car, drive until the fuel gauge points to E, at which point you fill up again. Life is easier that way.
Dear Baraza,
I would like to know if I can import a car which was manufactured in the year 2000 in Japan. What do the Kenya Revenue Authority regulations say about that?
Bett Bernard.
The KRA regulations say no. Thou shalt not import a car manufactured more than eight years before the date of importation. So now you are looking at a September 2005 vehicle as the “oldest” car possible to import. If it takes a few months to get here, then you have to factor in those months, plus an error in case pirates raid the ship and demand ransom, or the ship runs out of fuel… or just general contingencies. So you are looking at 2006 as the furthest year of manufacture (YOM) for an import, just to be safe.
Hi Baraza,
I am looking for an SUV that has an engine capacity of about 1,500cc and whose price does not exceed Sh1 million. It should be of the year 2004 and above. I am torn between the Toyota Rush and Daihatsu Terios. Please compare them in terms of: Fuel economy, durability, spare parts availability, purchase price, ‘comfortability’, off-road performance, and engine power.
David.
Fuel economy: It is the same for both cars
Durability: There is no difference.
Spare parts availability: The cars use the same parts. So, no winner here.
Purchase price: The difference is barely worth noting.
Comfortability: There is no such word as “comfortability”. What you mean is comfort. And it is the same for both cars
Off-road performance: No discernible disparity between the two.
Power: Exactly the same
PS: You may have noticed none of those comparisons was very helpful. This is because the Toyota Rush and the Daihatsu Terios is THE EXACT SAME CAR with different names because of market demand.
