Friday, November 09, 2007

WANTED : A used workhorse!

As my search for a good vehicle continues, I meander down the lane of buying a used car. I'm quite tired of hearing the pros of a new vehicle - but quite frankly unless you are buying anything less than a mercedes/ferrari/hayabusa or any other "lifestyle" vehicle - it simply doesn't matter how much cash you spend on it - you own a vehicle that everyone else owns, and the damn thing depreciates faster than a randy american chicks reputation after prom night.
So I've narrowed my search down to a diesel workhorse - a Palio from FIAT to be precise - simply because I want lower running costs, and of course a really low investment cost for the next 2-3 years. While the Getzes and Swifts are within my reach, I don't want to whittle away a few grands just for the fresh smell of a new car - I just need a cheap and safe mode of transport.
So if I can actually get one in the near future I'd be happy with it - or else I'll have to go throught the harrowing torture of buying and maintaining an expensive vehicle, which does the same thing that any used vehicle does at half its price. There are issues though - my knowledge of diesel engines to be precise are pretty much text-book bound - I know the working parts of them, their compression ratios, their rpm's, issues with fuel quality, and the pitfalls of a rattling engine during higher revs etc etc. And the fact that the Fiat Palio Diesel is a defunct vehicle in this country. But then how many cars can boast of a 1.9L engine, and a 13 kmph mileage on a liter of diesel? Thats almost twice the mileage to an equivalent petrol chugger. Impressive!
I'm not impressed with any other diesel power plants in the country. The fiestas are out of my reach for the moment - and are quite and overkill. I hope the search for this vehicle ends well, because quite frankly I've been quite appalled with the 2 vehicles I've seen today!

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