eC's Chillout Lounge

Went around shopping for a car this afternoon with Jake.

Public transport does not work for Eliss as it took her more than 2hrs to reach the office the other day.

My plan was pretty straight forward. I need a car, fast.

1) Look for a Honda Jazz Vti
2) Must be red
3) Must be automatic
4) Nothing more that $15k

The temperature must must have been 30d or something, both of us got tanned just by shopping the yards.

Saw a few Jazz, but were not satisfactory. They were either in a bad condition, or have too much mileage on them.



Short listed a white Civic hatch, which looked similar to this model above.

Went for a test drive, which went really well. Smooth engine and pretty spacious inside.

I like it, but just feel that this car lack some "wow" factor. I didn't feel excited about this car.

Towards the middle of the day, I was getting distracted by all the other cars within my budget.

Then I got really distracted by a very pretty Nissan Skyline. My heart skipped a bit.

It was a big coupe, I walked round the car admiring the glossy paint work. I stooped down a little and touch the famous 4 round brake lights at the back, and traced my finger on the spoiler.

"Can I go for a test drive?" I asked the guy at the dealership.

"Are you interested in buying? I don't want to waste your time and mine," he replied in a typical used car yard salesman manner.

"What sort of discount do you give," I asked.

"What sort of money you wanna pay?"

If you haven't bought a car before, let me share with you a few bargaining tips from my stint as an ex car sales person.

1) Play hardball, don't give them your budget. Let him tell you his.
2) Don't let him pressure you for a commitment.
3) Do your homework, if you know somewhere is cheaper, show him the proof (eg newspaper).
4) Empower him to give you discounts (eg I'm sure you can do better than this, you are the boss!)
5) Squeeze more out of the deal before commitment (eg full tank petrol, floor mats, tints)

I was getting uncomfortable with him pressuring me and I just walked off to think it through.

I discussed with Jake about the pros and cons over some fries ar Meccas.

It would cost a bomb to own one in Singapore, and I have not driven a sports car before. This would be an experience of a life time.

What the heck! I went back and bought the car!



Presenting my Nissan Skyline R33 (S2) GTS25T.







Check out those blinkers! Love it! Love it!