The Outback will serve your needs, solve your problems

Hi Baraza,

I’m preparing to buy my first car and excited about it. I can comfortably pay Sh700,000, although I can push myself to Sh1 million. However, I am torn between several options. 

My first love will always be the Mercedes C200 Kompressor. However, I would be stretching myself too far to get a locally owned one that I probably would also struggle too much to maintain. That being said, I need a compromise point. The factors I’m considering are:

1. Acceleration and speed. A car that accelerates well for overtaking and can maintain 140kph up the Naivasha- Nairobi escarpment. Hopefully, a forced induction. 

2. Braking and stability; I need to keep safe. 

2. Not too expensive to maintain (think not Mercedes expenses).

So, given what I want and my budget, I’d probably get a locally owned car.

Now to the options I’d like to consider, though I’m open to suggestions: First is an Outback or a turbo-charged Forester. Then there is the Golf. My compromise car is a Sylphy 2L, hopefully an Axis auto tech mod. Those ones look nice.

What would you recommend?

Prince

Hello, Sir,

1. Maintaining 140km/h while stomping up an escarpment is a strange selling point to look for in a car. It is not only highly specific, but also largely irrelevant: if you are feeling competitive, register for one of the country’s myriad motorsports challenges.

I happen to be a director of one.

Forced induction engines are a dime a dozen…. Well, not literally, but there are plenty of them around. Supercharged cars are fewer than turbocharged variants, but if you look around you are sure to bump into one.

Now that you want to do insane speeds with your bonnet pointing at the sky, methinks you need something that weighs less than two tonnes and has at least 200hp, or more.

The 2.0 litre Sylphy you consider a compromise car will not hack that task, let it go. If you want a Golf, go for the GTI or the twin-charged TSI. The Outback will only do it with a big enough engine, since it is a big car. Six cylinders are the way to go here.

2. You can keep safe by first not doing 140km/h uphill on an escarpment overlooking a notorious blackspot. I’ve not done comprehensive braking tests comparatively on these cars, but I do know the Nissan with drum brakes at the back will not match up to the Subaru or the Volkswagen with discs all round.

3. Cheap to maintain: Nissan. It could be the Subaru, whose parts are costlier versus the Nissan’s, but Subarus are hardy vehicles which will not need fixes as often as the eggshell Nissan, but Kenyans tend to be confused by this kind of multidimensional thinking and prefer you just let them know which car has cheaper parts, in which case it is the Nissan.

My recommendation? Buy the Outback. Not only will it serve all your needs (some of which are openly nefarious) but it will solve problems you didn’t even know you had. I’m thinking of practicality.

Get the Demio, but the Nissan Note will make a better taxi

Dear Baraza,

I am a big fan of your articles. I have been reading your column every chance I get since I was 12. I am also an great admirer of your mastery of the Queen’s language.

Down to business, I just turned 20 and after numerous hustles, I have been able to come up with what I believe is enough money to buy my first car. My budget is between Sh350,000 and  Sh450,000. I am well aware that with my tight budget I am bound to get a car that has been around. Therefore, I do not expect miracles.

A little research narrows my scope to your trusty Demio, the Suzuki Alto, the Vitz, the Nissan Note and the Mitsubishi Colt.

I plan on using it around the city as well as light Uber duty as a side hustle. Please shed light on their reliability, fuel consumption and re-sale value.

Also, if there are any other worthy contenders I have left out, feel free to add them to the fold. Any other parameters worth considering will also be highly appreciated.

If you feel that my budget is too tight to avoid a beat-down, bottom-tier, troublesome car, feel free to suggest that I should wait a little longer until I can afford the likes of a decent VW Golf GTI , which I idolise and plan to own one day.

Thank you in advance for mentoring the new generation of Kenyan motorists, like me . Being a bit of a writer myself, who knows, maybe I will succeed you one day.

VKS

The Demio... get the Demio, if not for objective reasons, then for subjective ones. I had one, and I’d buy it again if I come across it on sale in as good a condition as I sold it.

I’ll repeat: during the two years I owned it, all I had to do was service it, that’s it - apart from that one time I dinged the front bumper and had to patch it up, but you get my point.

Pain-free motoring in a snazzy package, complete with factory body kit, alloy rims and two radios does not come any clearer than a little Mazda Demio,

 (*Full disclosure: the two radios were not a factory option but an aftermarket adjustment, because reasons. Don’t ask too many questions)

I won’t claim it is more reliable or economical than the Vitz;  it most probably is not, anyway, and the Vitz will trounce it on resale value because of a badge-worshipping Kenyan middle class and the power of reputation - but if you are in it, you are in it to win it. The Vitz will not offer such sensual tactile feedback as the Demio does, unless it’s the Vitz RS, which is a whole other discussion. And at your age, sensual tactility (or is it tactile sensuality) is a big plus; I know, I was at that age once upon a time, several governments ago.

(*In related news, if any of you readers out there has a Vitz RS and is willing to submit it for a review, I will not say no.)

Staying subjective, buying the Vitz will get you disparaged by people poorer than you for being unmanly or not a real car. It happens a lot; bus conductors will tell you to buy something more substantial, failing to observe the irony in who is saying what to who. It is amusing but it also gets old and becomes irritating real quick.

The Colt in Ralliart spec is bought by your agemates who are working their way towards an STi Subaru, or by newly employed women who have a “side hustle” such as a small boutique in an outlying Nairobi “suburb” and need a handy carry-all. I told you the reasons I’ll give will be subjective, and to be honest, being subjective sucks. That pedestal-dwelling, high horse, extremely judgmental stance is just not working for me, but let me soldier on; I’m a Kenyan so I will judge others based on the little I see.

The Nissan Note will make you look like an Uber driv... Wait a minute. You did say you want a car to double up as an Uber taxi as well, yes? In that case scratch the Demio and the Vitz. Sorry, but these two, despite being the most fun of your list of nominees, are a bit too small to succeed in a stint as a cab. I’ve seen a lot of tiny white Suzukis running around under an Uber derivative but I’m not too sure what the deal is there. Maybe they accept Demios, maybe they don’t. Also, they look like brand new cars and Sh450,000 grand will not get you a new car in any form or guise. So, yea… no.

You could save up for a Golf GTI but that is entirely up to you. Do you want to? Also, does Uber accept performance cars as taxis?

All these questions boil down to one thing: priorities. What are your priorities in the car you want to buy? If you want to enjoy the drive, save up for the Golf, or buy the Mazda right now. If you intend to recoup most of your initial outlay during resale, you can never fail with a Toyota – the Vitz.

If the Uber business is top on your list, think of the Note or the Colt.

There aren’t really many more parameters beyond that that you can consider, given the segment you are shopping from.

Most of these small cars are acquired for their handiness and fuel economy, and the consumption is broadly similar across the board (Full disclosure: the smaller the engine, the better the economy, if you really want to split hairs. You did say the vehicle is for city use only, yes?)

Good luck on your writing and I hope one day you prove to be a worthy successor and heir to the throne that is custody of this great column.

The Subaru is faster, more economical and can bear heavier loads than the Golf

Dear Baraza,

Thank you for the very informative column.

I am turning 27 in July 2018 and, given the hard work I have put in for the last four years and my obsession for driving my own car, its prudent that I gift myself a car, sorry, a machine!

After doing my research I have settled on either a GTi  Golf Variant 1.4 litres 2013 or a turbo-charged Subaru Forester 2013. Considering horse power, fuel consumption and space. Kindly advise between the two; which one I should I go for, considering a budget of Sh1 million (import) and the fact that I love speed.

Also what is the difference between the Golf Variant 1.4 litres and the Golf Variant 2.0 litres?

Among the sporty Golfs, which one would you advise me to buy if we go all German, holding price constant at one million.

James

I have a friend who went through your dilemma, starting with the Forester and ending with the twin-charged 1.4 Variant he is currently driving.

I can see it in his eyes: he misses the Subaru —badly — and I can’t really blame him. It was bigger, louder, faster, more practical and had the not-insignificant bonus of ground clearance and AWD.

The Variant... not so much. Now that the rains have started, I’d like to see him try and drive into his other compound — which is, incidentally within spitting from mine —with the Volkswagen; which has no clearance and is FWD.

The difference here I that  you refer to a 2013 Subaru, which is an SH model while my friend’s car was the previous SG, but my point still holds.

But you can’t really just disparage the Golf wagon and walk away. It oozes class in oodles and oodles.

It is smooth, refined, comfortable and the throttle response is immediate, as is power delivery. Boosted Subarus have a tendency to lag a little both in throttle response and when the turbo joins proceedings under harried and hurried progress.

The Variant is also quite a looker; not outwardly pretty like some other Euro-wagons try to be, but conservatively handsome in a timeless, Germanic fashion.

It is a good buy, provided you stick to the smooth and unsullied and don’t occasionally have to drive through a gulley to reach your farmhouse. These rains will be the end of us, and Tyrone, I can’t wait to see how your Variant will fare outside my house, haha!

Anyway, enough about me and my friends. The two cars: Golf versus Forester.

Power: The 1.4 litre Golf is good for about 120 – 160hp, depending on tune. Avoid the TSI and you are looking at roughly 80hp… only. The Subaru does a lot more, at 225.

Fuel Consumption: Don’t expect to save too much fuel with a bigger crossover compared to a low-slung wagon with half the engine (and half the power), but thrash the Golf and it will thrash your wallet in equal and opposite measure.

Space: The answer is not immediately obvious if you think about it. The Golf has a marginally longer boot, though not as tall as the Forester’s.

It also is a longer vehicle, which means with the back seat laid flat, you get acres of usable space, definitely more than the Subaru. The Subaru will hold taller and heavier objects. What is your preference?

The difference between the 1.4 Variant and the 2.0 litre is most obviously 600cc of capacity and as much as 100hp, which is a lot.

If you want a sporty Golf, go the distance and get a GTI. 

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