One of the major decisions that a young person has to make is to choose which automobile to be their first. I’m sure most youths, like me, look forward to the day when we can drive away with our first car that was bought with our own hard-earned money.
So, which car do you have in mind? A Perodua? A Proton? A BMW? In this post, let’s have a look at a few cars that I consider to be within our financial reach (of course, some can afford a more expensive car). Let’s consider a few things like how much they cost and what will their monthly loan repayments be.
Assumptions:
- Interest rate: 4.10% p.a. (CIMB rate) compounded monthly
- Loan tenure: 5 years
- Your deposit: 10% of purchase price
First Contender : Perodua Viva 660cc EX
(Photo courtesy of perodua.com.my)
Price: RM28,800.00
Deposit: RM2,880.00
Amount Financed: RM25,920.00
Monthly Repayments: RM478.53
What I think of this car: Design OK, small (you might prefer calling it compact), short-distance drive OK, long-distance don’t think so, 660cc engine I’m assuming not that good.
Second Contender: Perodua Myvi
(Photo courtesy perodua.com.my)
Price: RM39,447.30
Deposit: RM3,944.73
Amount Financed: RM35,502.57
Monthly Repayments: RM655.44
What I think of this car: My brother has this car, pretty spacious (I think passengers at the back have more leg space than in Mercedes C200), design quite nice, according to my brother, engine underpowered.
Third Contender: Proton Savvy
(Credit to proton.com for the photo)
Price: RM33,549.00
Deposit: RM3,354.90
Amount Financed: RM30,194.10
Monthly Repayments: RM557.43
What I think of this car: Cute design, looks like a turtle.
Fourth Contender: Proton Perdana
(Photo courtesy of proton.com)
Price: RM105,000.00
Deposit: RM10,500.00
Amount Financed: RM94,500.00
Monthly Repayments: RM1,744.63
What I think of this car: Drove this baby before, design OK, auto-cruise control useless after a while, good leg space, all in all, good car.
What do we look for in a car? Low price? Value? Safety? Comfort? Most people (I think), first and foremost, would look at how much the car will cost them. Most will choose the cheapest car they can find. All they want is to get from point A to point B.
Personally, the first thing that I look into is how safe the car is. Brake system, airbags, roll cage, and etc. To me, I don’t really mind spending a bit extra if I know that the car I’m driving is safe for me and my family. Who cares about saving a few bucks per month buying a cheap low-quality car that can virtually be vaporised in case of an accident (Of course I hope this doesn’t happen to anybody at all including myself).
At the same time, I don’t think we need to fork out too much on cars (unless you’re stinkin rich of course). Remember, car is a depreciating asset and car loans are bad debts. Even Tun Daim Zainuddin (Former Finance Minister of Malaysia and Businessman) and Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary (A Malaysian Billionaire) are using Proton Perdana. Also, I read somewhere (I think in his blog) about Irfan Khairi (another self-made millionaire). He said that after he got his first million, the first thing he bought was a house and a car. His car of choice was a Perodua. People asked him why and he answered, “Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar is only using a Proton Perdana even though he’s a billionaire. As I am only a millionaire, it is only appropriate for me to use a Perodua.”
I hope what I wrote above would be of some use to people.
Before I end this post, let’s go crazy a lil’ bit…
Let’s have a look at an expensive car (I wish this can be my first car….any billionaires out there kind enough to buy me one? Hehe..)
The car that I want (I wish..) : Mercedes CLS 63 AMG
(Photo courtesy of mercedes.com.au)
Price: AUD 270,000 (I couldn’t find the price in Malaysia’s Mercedes Benz website, so I’m using Australia’s price instead.)
Interest Rate: 10% p.a.
Loan Tenure: 5 years
Deposit: AUD135,000 (50% deposit)
Amount Financed: AUD135,000
Monthly Repayments: AUD2868.35
What I think of this car: Well, what can I say, absolutely gorgeous. Love the design. Love the roaring sound of the engine, love everything about this car.
If you agree with me that the car is nice, have a look at the video below. It will blow you away…
[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijq9q9KoJ0o]
P.S. Yes, I do love Mercedes Benz cars… (Drools…..) And Golf 😉
Disclaimer: Prices, interest rates, and monthly repayment calculations might not be accurate. Do your own research. Also, my opinions of each car are just MY OPINIONS. They could be wrong.
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