Early change..

 

I had Z service 1+ months ago – 3.5 years and I had completed 100,000km with it…Z is such a nice car – safety and driving fan. However the parts were so expansive and the hot weather of Taiwan is not really suitable for a European car. Just like our cardiologist T told me about his Volvo – good car but small problem here and there…I considered him as “car god” – he knew lots about car and an awesome driver. Don’t judge him by what he is driving ( a 10+ years old Nissan Primera P11 – sporty though, I saw him snake drive in front of me months ago…, he had a Volvo 460 before).

Few months ago, there were rumors that the OPEL dealer of Taiwan – YGM is not going to continue their dealership. The YGM is a subsidiary of the CCar (dealing with Mitsubishi and Nissan ). The CCar had however launched their own branded SUV+MPV(LUXGEN) 1 + years ago. Since then, the showroom and service center for OPEL had been shut down one by one. Last months, the rumor had become a truth. It means there would be no OPEL dealer in Taiwan after June. Market rumor had claimed that VW dealer would be taking over the dealership but next year.

My Z would become orphan, even though the service center had told me that they would continue to service my car but I felt unsecure as parts would need to be ordered and waiting time would be much longer….

I had to bring the date for change a little bit earlier(much earlier to be truth…).

My first consideration is definitely a 5+2 seaters. The +2 will definitely come in handy when there is visitors…. And the extra space could load our bicycle and camping equipment as needed….

But I still missed the SUV – better view and safer when driving over some muddy terrain. I had driven my kembara up to the highest road in the Malay Penisula - the Telekom Tower in Cameron highland - hell of an experience...so I had put an eye on SUV again...

It is hard to get a SUV c 5+2 seaters in Taiwan – not many selection . I did not consider any European brand – another walk over the plank trap, had to settle with local assembly one/Imported Asia model. One of my favorite is Land cruiser Prado -  however the only version here is the 4.0 one =>super petrol tiger….just had to skip it. The more fuel efficient selection is Pajero ( the only version is 3.2 diesel) but it cost about 220k RM…still way beyond my budget.

There were owner who add the 3 rows seat to their Outlander and RAV4, but it is not my option as I wish the seat could be completely hidden to the bunker..

There is one car left on the market with the basic requirement of mine – Hyundai Santa Fe. However, the only version is 2WD…. a little short of my expectation.

However last month, I saw the news over the net that a 4WD version speculated to be launch in May. The dealer had officially denied the plan but later I had got a affirmative news from a showroom manager through a church friend.

I took Ving to the showroom and arrange a test drive[2WD of coz..]. Darn, the engine was so quiet, I had a moment thought that it was a N/A engine instead of a diesel one. With 197 hp - >the pickup was good…

Ving did not suffer from any motion sickness and after some discussion we had decided to take the car….

come with twin exhaust ...

a roof spoiler....

10+days before the hand over – it was truly an agony waiting….