⌛ I been out shopping for an SUV...Short story

ok, I gotta share this with you all....

Went to a known place today that a few foreigners here have bought their Pajeros from.

On we go....I try to start it and while it's cranking it won't actually start. I said the to the girl "maybe it's outta gas" to which she says no they just drove it yesterday and put gas in it. Good sign! So, after a few more tries it still won't start. The service guys there at the shop said that it's probably a dead battery (even though it's cranking over??). They said the battery has probably gone dead as it's been sitting for a week. (umm, thought it was driven and gas added yesterday?) So, they try 2 more batteries and it finally starts.

Now I get to play with the electronics. Windows wired backwards, left control powers the right window and vice versa. Aircon is blowing good and cold and despite idling for 10 minutes the temp guage is still sitting on dead cold. When i rev it a bit and let the foot off, its puffing black smoke.

So none of this really shocked me as the other foreigners pretty much had warned me how this all works. :-)

Now I decide let's take it for a test drive. The girl handling sales has to call the boss to ask for permission to drive it. Apparently permission was granted because now they can put a license plate on it so we can drive it. I think that's a good idea! hahah With the princess sitting in the front seat she was EXCITED at the prospect actually having a vehicle with aircon. Her anticipation was mounting....

Car running, licence plate on, gas guage showing dead empty (but so is the temp guage) and we are ready to roll! Off the lot I go and didn't get 1 kilometer when the transmission disengaged and while the engine revved up, no power at all. Then the transmission kicked back in, quite unexpectedly. It operated on and off long enough to get us back to the car lot, 2 mins away. But, on the way back the windshield wipers came on all by themselves and snapped off one of the wiper blades which now laid out on the road.

The guy on the test drive with us was out on the road collecting the bits and bobs when the transmission light came on and began flashing. Then the RPM's were bouncing on the guage from 0-2500, temp guage began working and the guy wanted to get this car back to the lot! Hardly a surprise. I looked over at the princess and she had a look of horror on her face.

In short, I'm in the market to buy an SUV.....can someone help???

 

LOL...my advice...don't buy from any of the local dealers...stories like yours (although usually not on the test drive) abound!

Do you have something particular you are hunting? Pajero? 3 or 5 door? Approximate age desired? I know a few sources from buying in the past.

 

cheers for that :-)

Pajero 5 door
Toyota Hilux
Nissan Navarra
Mitsubishi Strada maybe

etc...

Hoping for auto trans and a diesel engine. While I'm not expecting perfection for what I'm going to pay, I would like one well maintained.

I been told also that Ken's trading opposite the airport might have a couple??

Thanks,
Mark

 

Looks like you went to an interactive horror movie i.s.o. to a car dealer .
How on earth otherwise you could experience all these unexpected 'surprises' in only some minutes ?
Would like to hear behind a glass of beer who the hell did give you such a 'performance' so I can inform my car looking friends where the real action is :D.
I bought my car (Strada 4x4) at a dealer in Iloilo 4 years ago and still 'missed' the surprises you got in only some minutes.
I surely want to know that magnificent dealer's name (by PM or behind a beer).

Sorry for my jokes. Luckily you did not pay yet (or did you ? )

 

I know of a nice Honda crv gas engine P750,000 I think

 

Let's meet up some time for a glass. :-) No, i didn't buy a thing today. My optimism was knocked back into reality. hahah

I'm a big guy and 6'4" tall. I haven't sat in a strada yet to guage head and leg room. But, I like the looks of them. Rhoody posted one for sale last month and I missed out looking at that one. I was traveling at the time and was too late...

 

thanks for that. Pass on a gas engine. Really looking diesel.

CRV's are crowded for me. I'm a big dude and would look like a marshmallow in a keyhole. hahah Did a road trip through cambodia about 5 months ago in one. Good running car.

 

OK, whenever I am transportable again and without medication (still recovering from my motorbike 'experience' )
A Strada with an open roof maybe better for you . We only differ nearly 1 feet in length (5.5 feet 'tall').
Cheers and tell us about the next surprises !
Try the Toyota dealer (Hilux ?)

 

that's not bad...only a foot! :-)

I've been in Toyota Bacolod and sat in the Hilux. Comfy and at 890K it's not a bad deal brand new. 3 years/100K warranty. BUT, they don't offer any automatic transmissions until you get to their top end 4X4 model which was nearly 1.3mil??

 

Try the Mitsubushi dealer by the airport. We have had no problems with them . Got a brand new Adventure for our cousins last year for 780k. We got a used one from them 4 years ago,and haven't had problems at all.

Starting next month a lot of sugar planters will be trading in their cars for new models. The sugar milling season is just starting and the sugar price is high and means a lot of planters will be buying new cars. This will be true here and in Bacolod.