Was it my turn?

Mandate to put on seat belts for rear passengers? Since my wife's car can only accomodate 5 passengers, its about time to hunt for a bigger car. Btw, she was driving a Hyundai Matrix and it was already ageing. This car is definitely not to be driven fast! Going up hill is agonising. Its a highway cruiser though, comfy enough to overtake Kancils! :p Just joking, its neck to neck with big trucks when it comes to up hill revving.

It so happen during my wife's oversea assignment, I took the opportunity to roam around looking for a 7 seater to replace her ride. This would solve the growing family demand for space while travelling on the road. Mind ya, with kids eventhough they dont seem big physically, they can take a lot of spaces!

Off I go, looking at several major automotive makers like Honda, Toyota and Mazda. Being a Jap ride lover, my opinions are skewed towards Honda :) with the new RSZ kitted CBU Stream. The Stream however has only a new 1.8 iVTEC power plant, in which I reckon is quite underpowerd for a big family car. The white is nice. But my wifes preference is higher ride height, then we have also considered CRV. Wait, thats not a 7seater right?

As for Mazda, there was this CBU Mazda5. It has been built with cool features carefully designed mainly for family. The ride was good and comfy. With its 2.0L engine puffing away, it has good pull even for a heavy car with full load. We loved the white too.

For Toyota, there werent much choice as Wish was not as fancy in terms of design as Stream, but I heard its going to introduce a face lift soon. Furthermore, there was no test drive units.

Then, I suggest why not try to have a look at the contis since I heard there could be some special deals going on. That's where it gets interesting....

Its so happen that there was a nearest conti shop at VW showroom at Puchong.

We were looking at the nice Toureg, but a red 1.6L Beetle caught my wife's attention. We began to bring it out for a test ride. It is a cool iconic car with a fake flower (why?) sticking out at the dash beside the steering wheel. The handling was good with a tad underpower for the heavy body. The white is nice too with a sense of elegence!

Then came the Jetta, that comes with a 1.6L and a 2.0FSI power plant. All of us hopped in the 'test' car with 1.6 option and quickly started the engine....for a moment we thought wow, the engine sounds good with antracite grey leather that smells new! The striking blue and red combi meter cluster were nicely cluttered with nice silver trimmings adding touch of class. Not long after I quickly press the accelerator and went through some road humps tests. It has a very different feel in handling and suspension behaviour, very continental indeed unlike the Japs. Not forgetting it has ESP too, which is a combination of ABS, brake assist and traction control into one. Wow! This car is feature packed.

The good part is the cars will be discounted due to pre-registered. The difference is the car wil be registered to VW first, then the 'new' actual owner and all this is reflected in the car registration card. This is a common 'method' nowadays for big automobile companies to sell the car at a much lower price. The main purpose is to clear old stocks. The units are all new, some with very low milleage. After all it has a new smell to it!

Some shots using my iPhone's crappy camera!

My wife gave me the grin of satisfaction, witnessing my eagerness in getting the car. My kids behind us were having a cool time too. (Not forgetting they also liked the Beetle, hahah....)

Shall I?......