RON97 & RON95 is now @ RM2.11/litre & RM1.91/litre respectively

No cheaper car still, so our election manifesto has yet to be seen or never will realize!  However, due to the continuous drop in crude oil price, starting in Jan 1, 2015...here is the present for all car owner.  A hefty 35 cents drop per litre in petrol price, whatever RON it is!  

RON97 = RM2.11/litre

RON95 = RM1.91/litre

Diesel = RM1.93/litre (Yes, it is still more expensive and it is still of the lousy Euro-2M quality)

Enjoy folks, Happy New Year ... let's bring in 2015 ... TURUNKAN HARGA KERETA!!!

The Suzuki S-Cross...Arrival of the Jap's Urban SUV

Again and again, Suzuki likes to launch new car, yet without any showroom unit of test drive unit for people that are interested in the brand.  When it brought in the Jinmy, and until today, most dealers are so lazy to "layan" you, and told you straight no test drive, no show room unit.  So when Suzuki launched the SX4 S-Cross, this will be the similar expectation.  Although the car is fully loaded, but a jump from the old SX4 sub RM90k pricing to a hefty RM130k will only mark the car with label "only for the niche" or "if you were crazy"!  The S-Cross though marked the arrival of a Jap's urban SUV, will definitely lose out when it competes head-on with the Peugeot 2008 or Ford Ecosport, especially with its boring old 1.6-litre engine and CVT gearbox.

	Suzuki S-Cross	Peugeot 2008	Ford Ecosport	Great Wall M4
Engine Power	115HP/156Nm	120HP/145Nm	109HP/142Nm	105HP/138Nm
Transmission	CVT	4-speed	6-speed	6-speed (AMT)
Engine Capacity	1.6	1.6	1.5	1.5
Traction Control	Yes	Yes	Yes	Maybe
Cruise Control	Yes	No	No	No
Airbags	7	6	7	2
Wheel	17"	16"	16"	16"
Price	130k	120k	104k	60k

When a crossover is overpriced like the Suzuki S-Cross, one could always look elsewhere, either by spending less to get a continental Peugeot 2008 or one could spend slightly more to look at a C-Segment sedan such as the Toyota Altis or Honda Civic, or even remain the crossover ownership by having a Subaru XV or Mitsubishi ASX!  Anyhow, Suzuki is only making the number with the Swift, which with the latest facelifted model, looks dated now!  Adding the lousy salesperson,  dealerships and after sales service.

The S-Cross is Suzuki attempt to bring back its mass, but it is doom to fail now.  However, it is definitely a good car as it is fully loaded.  7 airbags to start the safety list, adding on those standard Hill Hold Assist, Traction Control, ABS, EBD and BA.  Off course, at this price, you get the auto headlight and wiper, GPS Navigation audio unit, cruise control and the very special double sliding panoramic sun roof.  But again, do all these worth the RM130k price tag?  

With no test drive unit, and not even a show room unit, no one is allow to even take a deep look at the interior as they claimed this is a customer unit.  Not going to push for it, and if you are a clever consumer, you will not be getting the S-Cross anyway.

A peek inside the car reveal boring dashboard and meter cluster.  The S-Cross is not for the stylish, not for the sporty...and maybe only suitable for the soccer mum who use it to ferry kids to the field or school!  To Suzuki, if you want to sell, train your dealers, and force them to invest in a test drive unit!

Another choice for the kid...the Old New Hyundai i10

The Hyundai i10 could be a good choice for fresh graduate or those parents that want to get their kid the first car, but with its size and price that start from RM53k - RM57k, further burden with the emergence of Perodua Axia and Proton Iriz, and the better specifications twin brother, the Kia Picanto, the i10 is really hanging tough in its segment.  Unless you are a crazy fan of the brand, the i10 might not make much sense anymore and has totally lost its competitiveness.  A basic small car should always be priced below RM50k, or even better, below RM40k if at all possible.  But, all the protection and tax incentive given to sustain our local brands, and the world is fill with profit hungry businessmen that would want to reap all they could from consumer, most have forgotten such segment should focus on volume, but not for the niche only.

Using the same engine as the Kia Picanto, this 1.25-litre Kappa engine is capable of producing 86hp/120Nm of power, mated to a 4-speed gearbox.  The i10 is also available with the older generation Epsilon 1.1-litre engine, which is only good for 68hp/99Nm, and without CVVT.  One could wonder why Hyundai is taking the trouble to stock 2 engines choice where the price difference is only RM4k?  I would think our local distributor has committed too many of the Epsilon stock and might be taking them years to clear them of their warehouse.  If you compare to the Picanto engine arrangement, it is also weird that both does not look similar, which could be because the i10 was designed to fit the Epsilon initially.  The final truth is, the i10 available here is an older model now, where a refresh model has already been available since 2013 in other market.  Years ago, it also took awhile for the Atos to be replaced with i10 here!

At time, it is also weird that the Hyundai i10 is badged as Inokom, but the steering wheel remain using Hyundai logo.  Why can't Inokom update that as well, to make it a wholly OEM product.  Remember when Naza rebadged some of their product, everything was changed to NAZA badge instead.  We used to have Naza Ria from the Kia Carnival, Naza Sutera from the Hafei Lobo, Naza Suria from Kia Picanto.  Perhaps Inokom has not gain enough branding to gain popularity, thus would like to retain it as Hyundai is some form to make the car sell more.

If you really want a foreign name small car, and has enough budget for it, try looking at Kia Picanto instead.  The i10 is equipped with only 2 airbags with ABS, where the Picanto is fully loaded with 6 airbags, ABS and Traction control.  If you insist on a Hyundai...wait for the new i10, not this one, unless they slash the price to below RM40k.

The war had ended, but the Jeep Wranglers are back!!!

After the WWII, the Jeep Wrangler has become the defacto 4-Wheel-Drive hardcore wannabe back in the United States.  Designed for the war, it is known for its tough and reliability, adding to the fun factor where it could be driven without the door and the top.  After many years of missing any representation in Malaysia, finnaly, the Jeep is back and the Wranglers are available in 3 flavours, namely the Sport, Sahara and 2-door Rubicon.  It is a good news for the rich hardcore owners, as the Wranglers has nothing good, but designed for the real gravels, rivers, and sand storms if we were to have them here.  Starting price for the Sport edition is marked at almost RM300k, Sahara at RM340k and Rubicon at a hefty RM348k.  Comparing the sticker price of similar model in US, our distributor here has really mark up the price a lot.  Even comparing to prices from our neighbour Singapore, the Wrangler is not for anyone.  Well, the Wrangler definitely looks much better than the Land Rover Defender and it is the unit we get here is a true American made unit from Chrysler America.

The engine compartment is being hold on with a latch at the front sides of the cover, and it is rugged.  Most owners might want to upgrade to the Mopar's latch which is in stainless steel instead of the original plastic.  As usual, American likes car with big engine, and all Wranglers are powered by the Pentastar 3.6-litre V6 VVT engine.  It could only produces 284hp/347Nm of power from a 5-speed auto transmision, which is not impressive at all, a typical American number...as long as it sip petrol like water...they love it.

The dash and meter cluster the Wrangler is pure simple, where the most basic Sport edition getting a simpler audio head unit and the Sahara and Rubicon get the 6.5" touchscreen head unit with in-built HDD.  The rest of features are similar, and all models will have the Sub-Woofer int the boot floor - enjoying music in the middle of wild jungle?  Of course, only 2 airbags for Sport and 4 for the other two models.  By the way, the Sport edition is kind of bare, even without the footstep to assist one getting up and down from it.  If you were to ferry your wife or girlfriends or even daughters with the Wrangler, make sure they are not wearing skirt.  This Jeep is high above ground, and with this, it is good to tackle our flood prone country!

The design of the Jeep Wrangler has stay put as what it is, which could be describe with one word - Classic!  The visible door hinges, the petrol cap, the engine hood latch, the big button door handle and the roundish headlamp.  Wonder what the local law here state if one choose to take the doors off and drive it on the road, will it be legal still?  We knew we could drive it without the top, which is a mutiple parts that need 3 person to take them off.  For limited time, the Sport edition get the soft top bundled together with the car, which is located at the trunk area.  Be prepared to find space in your house to store the hard top and get screw by the wife!  Once the hard top is off, most time, it will stay off since it has a soft top which is easier to open and close.  Time to enjoy some drop top driving!

For those hardware off-roader, the Wrangler uses the Dana axle system, and the Rubicon enjoys Front and Rear Tru-Lok differentials.  Wow, these are real tough system that could pull the car out of any adverse condition.  Driving the car on normal road is really a waste with the Wrangler.  But at almost RM300k a pop, wonder how many owner will really bring it off road.  A short drive with speed over road bump shown the car is real solid.  It sails through any pothole, uneven road, hump and bump at high speed without any hiccup, not even a knock of sound!  

So, fancy getting a Jeep Wrangler so that you could use it when WWIII strikes?  There is a RM10k discount now for 2014 unit and with 10 colours available, you could be spoilt for choice.  Though only selected colours are available now.  Those in bright colours such as orange, red, blue and yellow are really eye-catchy.  The Wrangler is built in America for the American, thus the dricing position could be at odd for our smaller Asian size fellow.  A final comment, it is definitely better looking than the Hummer which looks like it was built for the gangster land!  The Jeep Wrangler does make a man the real man!  Go for it, if you have extra cash under the pillow or in your bank.  For me, a Jeep Renegade would make more sense in our concrete jungle...DRB Hicom...we are waiting!

The Great Wall M4...tons of complaint on gwm.my facebook!

In the business world, sales and marketing is the utmost important department to bring up a brand, and when this department runs wild, with broken promises...it could be an early sign of failure.  The Great Wall M4 looks great, and it is in fact handsome, and arms with an extremely low selling price, it should immediately sell like hot cake.  However, if you dig around in gwm.my facebook account, you could notice a lot of complaints and uncertainties from soon-to-be owner of the M4.  Try dropping by the Green Oranges showroom in Glenmarie (Yes, that is the distributor company name), the experience is a horror as well.  Impolite salesperson and no test drive available (although there are rows of manual version of M4 park outside and a show car with automated transmission inside).  Waiting time for the car could be months and months...as in most facebook complaints, it could be very frustrating from all broken promises by the company.  If one could recalled, the Greatwall M4 is the first certified EEV in Malaysia, with its own assembly plant in Gurun Kedah.  Looks like when an orange change its colour, it could be sign of being "rosak"...

Powering the mini SUV, is a 1.5-litre VVT engine, where one sales person claimed it is from an older Toyota VVT engine, but most claimed it is from a Mitsubishi 4G15 derived unit.  But in actual fact, the engine is like a copycat unit of Toyota's 1NZ-FE, and fully developed in house by Great Wall.   It could produce a modest 105hp/138Nm of power, and achieve 6 litres/100 kilometer fuel economy, and if these figures were true, it could be quite impressive.  China manufacturers are now keen on making world car, thus the M4 is equipped with dual airbags, ABS system and ESP (Electronic stability control).  However, the ESP on/off button could not be found in the car, thus wonder how true this is?  Asking their sales person equivalent to talking to a rock, and checking for further information from the web return nothing.  Great Wall even go further in publishing the ABS is from Bosch to ensure the public the M4 has some traits from the German.  We all knew very well there are not a lot car safety components manufacturers in the world, and let's hope the airbag is not from Takata!  A deep dive into the engine compartment reveal the neat layout, clean and some component in Chinese wording...pray for the quality!  The Varta battery installed is reputable, but this is the CBU show car, and when it is being assembled locally, most likely you will see an unknown brand being replaced into it.

When you pay peanut, you get monkey, thus don't set your expectation high if you were buying it.  For the dirt cheap Perodua Axia's price, hard plastics are fully loaded in the car.  Big room of improvement is needed to improve the build quality.  A short walkaround reveal most control buttons are flimsy, and you could try the door lock button here, be gentle not to damage their "show car" though.  Proton took decades to get the glove box right, so don't expect a China made M4 could have a perfect fit for this as well.  Rubber seal on the windscreen is not being seated well, further adding a big gap for the plactic cover between the wiper and engine compartment.  After a rain of car wash, most probably the engine compartment will be cleaned as well!  Well, at least the bumper and light fit real well here, which also took Proton decades to learn.

The M4 has a great outlook, where the side profile looks a bit like the Pininfarina-penned Hyundai Matrix, though the interior space is not as spacious, and boot capacity is small.  The interior is neat and simple as well, except for the extra big button for the windows.  The speedometer is digital, and it lights up beautifully.  Hope this will last the lifetime of the car, as digital panel could have segment failure overtime.  Each digit is made up by 7 segment, and if anyone were burnt, you will get an incomplete digit.  The AMT gear stalk feel lousy though.  Wonder what an AMT is?  It is the automated manual transmission.  It is a manual box in reality, with an automated clutch activated by an actuator/robotic arm.  If you could remember the Proton Savvy AMT?  The Citroen C2/C3 Sensodrive, or even the those Citroen using the EGS gearbox?  Similar concept.  AMT are known to produce impressive fuel economy, and also known to a lot of failure due to badly adjusted actuator or hung mechanism on the actuator.  The Getrag 6-speed AMT gearbox in the M4 is not for anyone, especially for older people that has weak coordination of handbrake and the gas pedal.  This is because without the hill-hold/hill-assist function, the car will roll back when you release the brake pedal.  One must use the handbrake to hold the car, press the gas pedal lightly while releasing the brake.  AMT is also known for slow gearshift, which causes the jerkiness during this process, and overtime, the actuator will produce the shifting noise.  Any moving component is doom to failure, thus AMT being a manual transmission, get this additional component to maintain, which is costly.  The actuator also draw higher electrical current, thus the need of bigger battery for a small car.  Proper equipment needed to adjust the position of the actuator if it has been unscrew for any service purpose.  Most manufacturers that had tried this type of gearbox had abandoned it in choice for a normal torque converter auto box or dual clutch unit.

Even after much unknown factor of the car...for it be quality or reliability or after sales service, most in the trend for an urban SUV, would still want to give this a try, as the price from RM47k to RM60k really make the Greatwall M4 irresistible.  Always remember...pay peanut...get monkey.  However for the next 3 years, the owner is cover by warranty, thereafter tender loving care to the car is needed to prevent it from breaking apart, for example...don't put the button to hard...don't park the car under the sun, etc.  By the way, the M4 has already attracted quite some numbers of order, but delivery date is still unknown...might be due to poor product planning or management.  The AMT could be available in 2rd quarter of 2015 only.  The Green Oranges' showroom in Glenmarie is close on Sunday, which is a sign that the people running the show is not customer focus...Most other showrooms would want to open on Sunday as this is the only day where most will be free!  Wonder what is wrong, as leaderships from the company are veteran from the industry!  Anyway...again...the price is so good...thus to some...as long as the car run well without breaking down...who care about lousy fitting or button quality!

If you really want one, suggest to wait for the test drive!

Oh, by the way, with so many complaint of the ESP malfunction in the M4 owner's group, one could know the ESP has not been tuned well.  ESP light ON means it is off by the owner (if a switch is available) or a malfunction detected, thus will not function.  If you want more info on the AMT, click here.

Update: Talk about inconsistency on the M4, the recent unit with ESP has finally been fitted with the ESP On/Off switch, which should always be the default standard.  Slowly and gradually, Go Auto is getting their cars right with the specifications.  Even the tactile feel of some switches has improved.  Hill Start Control is also a standard in the AMT model now, bravo!

Beside the Standard, Comfort and Premium variants, soon the Elite variant will join force with different enhance headlight, grille and wheels, which shall command for additional premium price.  For the cheapest B-Segment crossover, maybe one should hop over to look at some other B-Segment sedans such as the Nissan Almera, Honda City, Toyota Vios or even the latest Kia Rio.  The M4 till today, only excel in the look and price.

To give peace of mind for all future owners, the car now comes with 7-year unlimited mileage warranty, which is the longest in the industry.  Looks like an attractive package now.  It has even been tested by ASEAN NCAP now, earning a 3-star safety rating.

The Android Hyundai Sonata

The fluidic Hyundai Sonata will go into the history book as a lesson where the curvy design is not timeless, yet could only last the first wow, second wow...then The End!!!  The latest incarnation of the Sonata has now been redesign with less curve, where styling is now almost and nearly to the taste of its Japanese competitor.  

However, a Hyundai is still a Hyundai, and the continuance of the previous Nu 2.0-litre (152hp/195Nm) engine is the first big mistake, further using the now Hyundai-Kia standard 6-speed transmission, even further proof our local distributor is trying to maximize profit and to keep the cost low.  The direct injection engine used in the i40 is much better in technology and refinement, and it is now year end to get discount that could almost match the price of the new Sonata!

The interior os the Sonata has no surprise, inheriting the norm of Hyundai, with no surprise for the D-segment.  Simple layout, functional, with a dual zone aircon control.  The steering wheel is loaded with button, which could be messy, and instead of paddle shifter, the audio button extend to the back of the steering wheel, which is a convenience!

The Android-powered head unit is a first, especially it has Waze preloaded as navigation.  However, one need to have a data plan on your phone, enable Wi-Fi tethering/sharing for the unit to be useful.  This could be the best useful feature and improvement of the Sonata.  Let's hope the player CPU is powerful enough to ease the usage.  There are just too many similar China-made Android-based player in the market which is so slow, with a lousy screen that is a frustration to use.

3 models are available, with the elegance basic unit selling at RM139k, which comes with lesser airbags and smaller 17" wheels, and the elegance unit at RM145k for additional airbags, anti-dazzle rear view mirror, dash camera, the android head unit.  The Executive model, which cost RM153k, comes with a lot more extra such as Active cornering light, 18" wheels, Xenon HID headlights, passenger power seat, panoramic roof.

A short drive of the Sonata shows that the rigidity improvement of it, though the engine is in no way to claim as powerful.  NVH is good, and the Android sound system lack refinement, which is a trade off.  As with its brother from Kia, the Sonata comes with 3 drive modes, which is Normal, Sport and Active Eco.  Forget about the rest, the Sport mode is what you would want to have the car permanently set it.  It drives much better with a remapped throttle, maximizing the power of the engine.

In summary, Hyundai has been losing to its own brother company, where Kia under the Naza stewardship, has perform much better.  The Sonata could win by a leap against the Optima, as it is new and fresh and comes with 5 Years/300,000km manufacturer warranty.  The powertrain warranty is even extended to 8 years, which is an industry first, though this is an insurance warranty which could carry a lot of terms and conditions which might not make sense after owning a Korean car for 5 years.  The maintenance cost by Hyundai Sime Darby could be expensive to keep the warranty running.  With low volume of sales, the Sonata will be fully imported from Korea.

French SUV...The Renault Koleos

If you wanted a continental SUV, the choice is limited, and here you have the 2.5-litre 2WD Renault Koleos, of which is not cheap, difficult to maintain, but bear the diamond logo which some niche owner would love to have.  The conservative Tan Chong should just bring back the Kangoo instead, so that the brand could gain some mass market visibility instead of the Koleos which only invite that few customers.  The Koleos is so difficult to even spot any on the road, as the OTR price of RM181k is not for everyone to swallow.  The Honda CRV is always the popular choice.   At 170hp/226Nm, the Koleos' power looks low for the high displacement engine, and the 2WD only option make it a crossover instead of a full SUV.  The Nissan-sourced CVT gearbox is as un-interesting for a French car.

The interior of the Koleos is very Renault, which is simple and boring.  The key card push start is annoying and difficult for the pocket.  The most interesting is the Bose audio system, and the 7" screen with TomTom navigation is a plus.  Safety equipment is always the strong selling point for any French automobile, where it is loaded with all round airbags, stability control, hill start assist, blind spot monitoring, etc.

Usually the French makes beautiful cars, and Renault Megane and Clio are as beautiful in their segments.  But the Koleos is lacking in the design department.  The overall Koleos is not up to what one would expect, similar to the Fluence we have here, which is 2 years outdated.  If you really want a continental SUV...search elsewhere...maybe Peugeot offering is much better, and the support availability in Malaysia is easier as well.  For Renault, it would be good if Tan Chong could remain focus with their Renault Sport product instead!

RON97 & RON95 is now @ RM2.46/litre & RM2.26/litre respectively

Oil price has been dropping and dropping, where the word "subsidy" has been eliminated from the Malaysia political term.  From Dec 1, 2014 onward, petrol prices will be based on a managed float, thus the manifesto dicapati!  What about car taxes?  Will it be lower?  Looks like not on the near term, could not dicapati!  Most manufacturers have lower down specifications or have CKD models or increase the local contents, to give the false impression that car prices has gone down.  But sadly, NO!  Want some discount now, good time to help clear some year end stock where most manufacturers are slashing few thousands off to get rid of 2014 vehicles now!