If the golden rule of property buying is location, location, location, then the golden rule for buying a car must be research, research, research. Cars are not cheap and if you don’t do the required homework — which, of course, includes finding out what you like and what you can afford — you may live to regret it.
The facelifted Honda Accord looks like a neater, sexier version of an over-the-top racing Nascar: it is broad, squat with a no-nonsense nose, dark 17-inch alloy wheels that fill the flared wheel arches and it sits quite close to the ground. By far the most impressive aspect of the upgraded Accord is that Honda is offering these cars with more features at a reduced price.
Winning the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists Car of the Year award is no mean feat, especially when you take into consideration the scores of new models that are launched every year in South Africa. Members of the guild normally whittle down the options (by vote) and the cars are then tested extensively by members.
It’s a pity that Dubya doesn’t have people in his employ who are nearly as efficient at invasions as the Dodge division of DaimlerChrysler. After 15 hours of flying, the South African contingent would have been forgiven for wondering just where on the planet we were for the international launch of the Dodge Caliber, writes Sukasha Singh.
I have never been nasty and respect others’ property. I have had a nasty individual key-walk my car from one end to the other.” From a second-hand Ford Grenada to two top-of-the-range BMWs, Schabir Shaik shares his motoring experiences with Sukasha Singh.
The Honda Jazz, which has scored top marks in the JD Powers and Associates customer satisfaction survey for two years in a row, now has a more powerful model in the range that is aimed at attracting a clientele looking for more performance … and it’s an amazing little vehicle.
"The all-new Mazda MX-5 is designed by those clever Japanese folk who make everything seem so simple. Given that Gauteng is permanently dogged by rain clouds, I wasn’t given much opportunity to drive with the top down, but when I could, taking the roof down and putting it back up was simple," writes Sukasha Singh.
"I like to get to where I am going without a fuss. I also enjoy power steering, air conditioning and a radio for news." Cape Town mayor Helen Zille once spent an entire month’s salary on a traffic offence. She speaks to Sukasha Singh about cars.
The Subaru Impreza WRX STi is an amazingly powerful vehicle. It’s nothing like the comfortable sedans we’ve become accustomed to, the sort of cars that deliver the performance, but are also focused on making the ride as cushy as possible. Nope, none of that namby-pamby thinking for this legendary beast.
Jeremy Clarkson and his crew at <i>Top Gear</i> hated the look of the new Chrysler PT Cruiser cabriolet so much that, after looking at a picture of the vehicle on screen, they winced, turned away and proclaimed it to be one of the ugliest vehicles they had ever seen. All three of them (Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond) were unusually unanimous in this judgement.