Owning a car is an achievement that many consider as a blessing from the kingdom come. It fulfills ambitions. A sign of a good life and wealth. Goals reached. But to the surprise of many, it becomes a deadly headache-generating nightmare faster than the time it took them to purchase one. You might be wondering why the Petrolunatic is oxymoronic; simple really: It's because of the fact that many people work so hard and smart in their lifetime, just to get these expensive machines or at least one of them in their parking lot without understanding the reality that swiftly tags alone called maintenance.
Currently, the Kenyan roads are full of new and second-hand cars; with massive numbers of units being brought in via our ports-no matter the model daily. What does this mean? It shows that Kenyans are purchasing cars every second; the number plates keep rolling out and exhausting the letters faster than ever before. A good thing really; but with the good comes the necessary evil. The evil that ranges from con-men, car theft, waste of money, poor car owners being lied to by greedy mechanics(especially first time owners. Ladies being more prone to fall victims to this) lack of spare parts or fake ones and much more as I am about to start elaborating.
A young man or lady gets a good job or lands a good deal that enables them to afford either a new or second-hand set of wheels. Most of the time, they make such moves that are so misinformed due to either peer pressure or just some silly competition-in that, they buy because a friend or even a rival bought one; my father calls it 'the unhealthy competition of envy'. Please, my fellow youths don't do that! Take your time to plan your life. Just because you landed, for example, some Ksh.700k by working online doesn't mean you can afford a Volkswagen yet. Yes, the cash is good enough to get you one but remember you have to fuel it, the parts don't come that cheap and sometimes are unavailable locally and you got to import.
You buy the second hand at about Ksh.650k, good; go out and celebrate. It runs awesomely for a week(remember you are remaining with about Ksh.50k or even less in your account now because you had to pay for that insurance and a set of new tyres) then you see some weird smoke exhausting; you realize you have to service the car after you get it out of the yard or showroom(mostly this happens to second-hands). Now you got to budget for service parts and depending on the car model sometimes they cost a good amount of money.
You use about Ksh.20k to service your engine (prices differ depending on the model-might be lower or way higher) see how that Ksh.700k is almost hitting the negative side of the Cartesian Plane? Ksh.30k is the balance remaining that you must now use to sort out the fuel and pay for other daily basic expenses. This will put you in a very compromising position financially. The car has what I call recurring demands. You solve a suspension issue another problem pops up sometimes instantly or after a while but still, one needs to have a steady source of financial flow to get these machines. Remember-Kenyans know this phrase, 'hujakaribishwa barabarani' hence one must make sure they got enough money for emergencies too; another driver rams into...let's say your tail light, for instance, the first day you drive it and your insurance can't cover it because it's a Third Party Only Policy that doesn't cater for such. Otherwise, you might end up bankrupt and suspend that vehicle on rocks.
Before you buy a car, consider this; readiness. Are you ready to take care of it? Is the money remaining in your account sufficient enough to maintain it? Is your source of income sustainable enough to avoid getting in debts just because you want your name on a logbook? Well, evaluate yourself and your financial limits before.
In the automotive sector, there are many fraud stars. Be careful. Ranging from port brokers to greedy and dishonest mechanics. I have met people who have been duped by car repair and service technicians just because they are either naive or due to a lack of knowledge pertaining to the matter at hand. They either get overcharged on spares and service fees or even get the new parts of their vehicle replaced with old faulty ones without their knowledge in the long run leading to frequent breakdowns and garage visits. We all know what that means-more money spent. Once you get a car, try as much as possible to find a mechanic or garage that is legit and straight forward to avoid such agony.
A friend once imported a Range Rover Vogue, came via the port as usual. Everything is done legally and all expenses and fees regarding imports and tax complied with. But there was a problem when he went to collect it-his expensive car was missing several parts like the starter was gone, the rims had been changed and his armrests became invisible. The car no longer looked like the one he had purchased. This happened because he took a bit too long to go get the car from the port making it a good target for thieves to strip it up. And so, when you import your machine make sure you know the exact time and date it will arrive at the port and be there to take it. Otherwise, some maniac will make it their source of income.
The Petrolunatic's advice to those who are trying to get one of these awesome rubber-rollers is: take your time and do your research well. Make sure you are comfortable financially to own one and don't do it under influence-you are the only one who knows what's best for you. Seek advice from the people you can confidently trust about the automotive sector to/and get connections to legit mechanics or garages to avoid conmen. This should save you a lot of money and from the pain of grounding your machine after you worked so hard to get one. Cars are supposed to make your life easy, and not hell. Be wise.
You buy the second hand at about Ksh.650k, good; go out and celebrate. It runs awesomely for a week(remember you are remaining with about Ksh.50k or even less in your account now because you had to pay for that insurance and a set of new tyres) then you see some weird smoke exhausting; you realize you have to service the car after you get it out of the yard or showroom(mostly this happens to second-hands). Now you got to budget for service parts and depending on the car model sometimes they cost a good amount of money.
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| https://www.facebook.com/alphapetrolunaticars/ |
Before you buy a car, consider this; readiness. Are you ready to take care of it? Is the money remaining in your account sufficient enough to maintain it? Is your source of income sustainable enough to avoid getting in debts just because you want your name on a logbook? Well, evaluate yourself and your financial limits before.
In the automotive sector, there are many fraud stars. Be careful. Ranging from port brokers to greedy and dishonest mechanics. I have met people who have been duped by car repair and service technicians just because they are either naive or due to a lack of knowledge pertaining to the matter at hand. They either get overcharged on spares and service fees or even get the new parts of their vehicle replaced with old faulty ones without their knowledge in the long run leading to frequent breakdowns and garage visits. We all know what that means-more money spent. Once you get a car, try as much as possible to find a mechanic or garage that is legit and straight forward to avoid such agony.
A friend once imported a Range Rover Vogue, came via the port as usual. Everything is done legally and all expenses and fees regarding imports and tax complied with. But there was a problem when he went to collect it-his expensive car was missing several parts like the starter was gone, the rims had been changed and his armrests became invisible. The car no longer looked like the one he had purchased. This happened because he took a bit too long to go get the car from the port making it a good target for thieves to strip it up. And so, when you import your machine make sure you know the exact time and date it will arrive at the port and be there to take it. Otherwise, some maniac will make it their source of income.
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| https://www.instagram.com/petrolunatic_auto/ |
The Petrolunatic's advice to those who are trying to get one of these awesome rubber-rollers is: take your time and do your research well. Make sure you are comfortable financially to own one and don't do it under influence-you are the only one who knows what's best for you. Seek advice from the people you can confidently trust about the automotive sector to/and get connections to legit mechanics or garages to avoid conmen. This should save you a lot of money and from the pain of grounding your machine after you worked so hard to get one. Cars are supposed to make your life easy, and not hell. Be wise.
