At the press briefing for the 2nd Philippine International Motor Show held last Tuesday, automotive manufacturers promised to tell car buyers what they really need to know to “get all that jazz with less gas” and what they need to do to squeeze more mileage for every liter of gas or diesel.
Homer Maranan, executive director of The Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines (CAMPI) shared the following tips:
- Buy smaller engine vehicles if your family is small
- Go for diesel-powered cars. He says it is a misnomer to say that diesel is dirtier than gas (although some “insiders” swear by that.)
- Avoid stop-and-go driving and sudden acceleration as much as possible as this uses more gas
- Paying for proper and regular maintenance is more frugal in the long-term
Watch my video interview with Maranan with reporter Izah Morales.
Elizabeth Lee, president of CAMPI, gave these tips:
- Plan your errands
- Pick the right size of car for your family
- The more gears, the more fuel-efficiency in a car
Watch my video interview with Ms. Lee with reporter Izah Morales.
With this in mind, let me pose a question to you. What if you were offered an almost two-year old, diesel-powered Toyota Fortuner with 5,000 kilometer mileage for P1.4 million, but to be paid on installment at P20,000 a month, with two years grace?
That means you can drive home the macho wheels right this very minute, paying nothing to the owner and with only your face as collateral. You start paying at the end of the second year of happy driving and then go on paying every month until you pay the entire amount.
Let me throw in a couple of details to make this really interesting. Your family is growing. Let’s say you have four kids and enjoy the occasional out-of-town trips. Right now, you have a small Honda car. Gas prices are rising weekly and you live in the city.
This puzzle had several people stumped. With such payment terms, the deal can be too tempting. Yet as you all say here in MoneySmarts, anything that you don’t need, at whatever price is expensive. Right paetechie?
Will you take it?
July 24th, 2008 at 10:24 am
our 8yr old limited edition CRV is doing fine, and honestly doesn’t guzzle up gas..salve, you may have the fortuner
July 24th, 2008 at 10:19 am
no. thank you on the Fortuner. =)coincidentally, we are on that situation right now. driving a honda city but thinking of buying a bigger car for our growing family. but for now, we’re sticking to our honda city. saka na pag 3 na anak ko. hehe
July 24th, 2008 at 9:25 am
I guess the 2 year old second hand fortuner vehicle being dealt here is given up by its owner for the same reason that its too costly to operate because of high price of diesel.
I rather take a small engine, compact size vehicle!
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:00 pm
Two year old Fortuner with 5,000 mileage @1.4M even at 2 years grace will take you eons two pay and by the time your done paying it, almost worth less than half of its orig price.
Not to mention it eats a lot of diesel/km and the skyhigh prices of diesel today.