Subaru, Mark X and Premio: Which one is fuel-efficient?

Hello Baraza,

I love your column. I am always looking forward to it. I also read articles on your Motoring Press Agency (The car Buff’s Repository).

I am looking for a used car from Japan with a budget of between Sh1.5 million and Sh2 million. The car will be used for personal errands mostly in town, and few trips upcountry.

I am looking for stability, safety, comfort, reliability and manageable fuel cost. Help me make a decision on the following vehicles before I burn my fingers.

1. Subaru Legacy B4 BM9 – I like this car although I don’t know about Tiptronic and how it works. I hear it’s stable and safe to drive, but I assume it’s very thirsty. 

2. Mark X – It’s a nice and comfortable car, but I have heard people complain about fuel consumption, a V6 engine.

3. Allion/Premio – Looks nice although I might look like an Uber contractor as you always say.  

I am totally confused. Advise.

Hi Ambrose,

Stability, safety, comfort, reliability and manageable fuel costs, huh? Take the Premio and Allion out of the equation; they cannot hold a candle to the bigger cars in terms of safety and stability, though they may return the best fuel economy overall.

You may look like an Uber contractor as you say I said; or it will look like a hire car. This is never good for the slightly image-conscious hopefuls, which is what I guess Mark X buyers are; after all you do not want to resemble taxi service, no?

If you don’t know how the manual override in an automatic transmission (what you call Tiptronic) works, don’t panic. Just drive the car as a regular auto but while at it, take time to read the owner’s manual or visit one of my many social media sites and watch out for a number of instructional videos that I will be broadcasting online shortly.

They’re boring but informative, and they will clear the air on what to do when presented with a gear lever you have never seen before.

The Subaru and the Mark X will only be as thirsty as you make them; if anything, both these vehicles with two and a half litre mills under the hood will burn more or less the same amount of fuel while doing more or less the same amount of work at more or less the same rate in more or less the same style.

Speaking of style, the Mark X has always been the comely diametric opposite of Subaru’s potentially minging aesthetic miscues, but while some cars are more equal than others, such as this pair, they have always met at a midway point; what one cedes fanciness it gains in talent. Subaru’s symmetrical AWD more than compensates for its lack of cat-walking credentials.

You are unlikely to burn your fingers with any of these cars unless you go for a high strung turbo (which I strongly recommend if you want to do things properly with the Subaru but there will be consequences at wallet level) or a 3.5 litre Mark X.

These two will scamper between horizons impressively but not impressively enough for the penny-pincher who will not be amused at the attendant energy expenditure rate.

Anyway, you are shopping at second tier level, which is less about what you like and want and more about what you need and can afford and most importantly, can find.

If presented with options such as yours at that price range, it’s time to get smart. See the car you can get for a given amount: take into consideration mileages, physical conditions and spec levels on a car by car basis. Somewhere in the course of all this you will have your Eureka moment.

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Vitz no longer fits her status

Mwalimu JM,

Yes, I bestow upon you the title and hope it sticks... like a tick. It only seems appropriate. I’ll skip with the platitudes seeing they’re never in short supply, but if you’re so inclined to assume them, no arguments here. Onto business then.

I have a friend rapidly ascending the corporate ladder and her Vitz is apparently no longer appropriate. She’s looking to import an upgrade and getting a lot of ‘expert’ advice. This is where you come in.

I suggested that we write mwalimu JM, ask for three top contenders, and from that list, hopefully find a winner. Budget is Sh2 million. Mostly to be used for city driving... with the occasional trip to the homeland (roads that apparently make one seriously rethink the benefits of CDF and devolution altogether). Frequent abuse by matatus necessitates a “big” car... Vanguard, RAV4 have come up. Reliability is key.... Nothing personal against mechanics but way less is more. Class and comfort over speed and power, and as always... beauty over brains (we’re still on cars here).

Popular for resale (after five years) and preferably at or near the cost. I reluctantly include this last one, and only as a matter of agreement. The colour has to be wine red...  Mwalimu, I know, just indulge me and spare me the linguistic abuse.

What top three choices in order of preference would you recommend with what you have to work with?

JK

Mwanafunzi JK,

Fear not, there will be no abuse; linguistic or otherwise but you will have to forgive me for making light of your thought processes...

1. City driving: anything goes, literally. We will take this criterion as an introduction to motor vehicles generally.

However, vehicles with truncated extremities (short bonnet and boot; as van-like as possible) work better for accuracy in tight manoeuvres that typify the city motorist’s experience, while a small engine will be friendly to the pocket and unable to attain velocities substantial enough to attract the roving beam of a speed gun. This type of engine can be frustrating to use sometimes and rarely lasts long.

2. Occasional trip to the homeland: I will need a more accurate description than CDF disbursement and devolution benefits. Exactly how bad are these roads? Are they so gnarled as to make ground clearance a priority? Or are they so slippery that 4WD is a prerogative? Or both?

3. Frequent abuse by matatus: a Vanguard or a RAV4  is not a safeguard against this. Only a Range Rover is, and even these are quickly losing their scaremongering abilities in the face of increasingly arrogant and adventurous matatu drivers. Avoid these vehicles as much as possible if and when you can. I narrated right here, not too long ago, what happens when you cross swords with these lawless lowlifes in the wrong neighbourhood.

4. Reliability: well, your two Toyota examples seem like a step in the right direction...

5. Resale value: ... and the brand name commands passable residual value in itself even without a vehicle attached to it.

6. Class and comfort: these favour German, particularly Mercedes-Benz. A used GLK, perhaps? Or an ML? Speed and power tends to accompany class and/or comfort so we are looking at the same suspects (German, not RAV4s). I don’t understand what beauty over brains means unless you want to buy a pretty Italian car that will ruin your life summarily.

Listen, you already listed a Vanguard and a RAV4, so just get a wine-red Vanguard (or paint one, its colour was never a factory option). They are the same cars but the Vanguard is slightly bigger with more practicality so you may as well just pony up for it.

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Time for re-election in your automotive political space

Hi Baraza,

My car (Toyota NZE 2005 model using VVTI engine) has a rattling noise when starting in the morning, and the noise barely lasts for 15 seconds before the engine sounds normal.

Kindly advise what could be the issue, possible give a solution and suggest a good mechanic who can service the vehicle.

This sounds like a typical cold start on a high mileage engine.

You could try using thinner (lower viscosity) oil at your next service interval, or you could choose the hard way and open up the engine to re-tighten what’s loose and rattling, but I honestly think you have a vehicle that is starting to show its age.

It may be time to save yourself a headache and organise for a re-election in your automotive political space

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A used German car is not your friend in the long term

What are the pros and cons of buying a 2005 Audi Q7 3.0 TDI as a first car? What do I need to look for? 

Henry, advocate and legal researcher

Hello Mr legal researcher, sir

Pros of buying an Audi Q7 are largely centred around its raison d’être, which is as a status symbol for the new money types who don’t want the clichés that are Mercedes-Benz or BMW; but have also never heard of a Porsche Cayenne which is an Audi Q7 built in a more serious manner based on maths and science and not on the whims of wealthy European-root housewives hell-bent on winning their daily wars on materialistic one-upmanship.

You get the best interior in the world as well, with the Q7, but that’s about it. Don’t expect it to exceed any of its competitors in anything other than being a large Audi; which it also loses out on because its own A8 stablemate dominates it on that aspect as well.

Cons? Start with the overworked engine, which has to be wrung brutally for it to tote around the Prince of Whales with any amount of dignity. And the Prince of Whales is what the 2005 Q7 is, because, besides resembling the marine giant, it weighs like one and is just about the same size as well.

You are getting a German engine that falls into a rather narrow niche in that it is 1. diesel and 2. low capacity with high output.

As mentioned with the ML Mercedes last time, these engines are best sampled straight out of the factory; start fiddling with pre-owned hardware and you are asking to be a regular contributor to this column’s correspondence.

Remember Audi’s engines are complicated and parts are costly. I’m not sure you want to play in this game just yet. Allow me to be obtuse here but if you want to pitch in the major leagues, you first have to earn your stripes.

Leave the Q7 to those who can afford its subsequent frustrations; which means shoppers outside of the high mileage market who are more keen on making a statement than making logical decisions. A used German is not your friend in the long term.

Apart from a few engine niggles, mostly associated with sundry sensors (knock, cam, crank ) that will be naturally followed by the infamous Check Engine Light, check the suspension (air, no less) and brakes as well.

And I do mean check. Look for leaks or cracks in boots and hoses and watch out for a pulsating brake pedal which will not mean the ABS is working hard under duress but will mean your front brakes need work, sooner than immediately.

Ensure the timing chain and water pump have either been recently replaced or place these on your priority to-do list after purchase (on cars with 100,000km or more).

Then there is the horror of CAN-bus. One small electrical component goes offline and it takes the entire on-board constellation with it. And nothing will revive the electron flow apart from genuine original parts. The wiring in the Q7 is fine gauge so do not expect your local polytechnic dropout who has wired a few kiosks to be able to handle it. Bosch nervous networks may be efficient and reliable but they are complex and there is no interchangeability across brands, or even particular cars.

So you want a 2005 Audi Q7? 2005 was its first year of production which means Year Zero - this was the stage at which they made as many mistakes as German technicians could make, which were 1. not many in the first place (thankfully) and 2. extremely difficult for a normal human being to rectify if  German technicians did not spot them during quality control at the factory.

Good luck with your big Audi

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What does the law say about fancy bumpers?

Hi JM

May I first thank you for the ever enlightening and informative articles. Could you tell us on what the law says about bull bars that have now become a norm in our cars. I wanted to fix one on my Daihatsu but not until I get the information from you sir. Edward

Hi Edward,

The last time I checked, bull bars were illegal everywhere in general, and for PSVs in particular. Something about aiding, abetting, enabling or encouraging improper road conduct. I’m not sure if it still holds for private vehicles, but given their rarity, I dare say they are still verboten.

I will need to confirm this (as of the time of writing, none of my legal consultants had reverted on the subject and my traffic policeman friend flatly refused to comment on it. I suspect he, like me, is unsure of the constitutional stand on metal gates mounted at the front of one’s car).

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