By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
As one said, Filipinos are not poor. Look at those brand new cars clogging Metro Manila’s streets, including the expressways during long weekends. One need not go that far. Baguio City is the same. Everybody has a car even in these times of high gas prices. Sure, there is no dearth of wealth in our midst. The problem is the inequitable distribution thereof. The majority are still poor.
The subject matter of this column however is what car to buy? Incidentally, I sent the other day a message to Ford Metro Baguio to send a sales rep to my office who was knowledgeable with their Raptor pickup truck, most especially on financing details and warranties. They said OK but they stood me up. I don’t know if that is how inefficient they are in attending to customers and prospective ones.
Not that I wanted to buy a Ford. Somebody wanted me to buy one for him.
The experience reminded me of what a mechanic who once worked in John Hay told me. An American officer in the base wanted a car as he was about to leave for Clark. A driver from the motor pool then brought a Ford. The officer said: Don’t give me a Ford. You know what Ford means? Fix or Repair Daily.
I don’t really care what Ford means as I cannot afford one.
Ford Metro Baguio has posted on Facebook the pictures of recent buyers of their pickup trucks. Many are Igorots just by their names. They, with their families or friends, proudly faced the camera holding an outsized Ford key replica with the face of their newly acquired pickups on the background. And there was a common denominator among them—they were in slippers or otherwise lousily dressed. But they had money. One of them was familiar to me being the son of a friend. I practically watched that kid grow. Now he was buying a brand new Ford pickup truck.
Lowlanders would have dressed to the nines for such occasion. But not us Igorots.
At any rate, I recently came across an article in the internet on what kind of car to buy. The author discussed the difference between what is a reliable and a durable car. A reliable car is one usually dependable for a certain period. Say 10 0r 15 years. Then they practically disappear from the road. Original parts disappear after such period so it is very difficult to keep them running. Besides, the “hardware” or the major parts are often destroyed by then.
The manufacturers of such cars programmed them that way so that you will buy again a brand new one. That might be a good business sense…. depending on how you look at ti.
The durable cars necessarily are also reliable but they last for decades and decades. Their major parts are built to last. These are expensive to buy and were designed with a mindset contrary to the values of this age of “throwaways.”
If you can, buy the durable ones. Even after so many decades you will be able to find parts for them through the internet. If the parts are not being produced by the original manufacturer, replicas might be being produced by some privateers in the more developed countries. If not, there would be second hand original parts in other countries you can buy through ebay.
A good example was the supposedly lowly Volkswagen Beetle. Since it was a very good car, millions are still maintaining them and there are many reproduction parts everywhere. And with about 24 million units produced since the late 1950s, the world is actually awash with their spare parts, second hand or first hand.
In my case, I am not interested to buy any of the cars on sale. As I said earlier, I cannot afford one and I have many vintage durable units that can last me for several lifetimes, including a Volkswagen. I just have to work on them and, sadly, have to spend for their restoration. There’s the rub. But the more important reason is I am waiting for the arrival of reasonably priced electric cars. It will just be a few years before they reach our shores. When we would be able to just charge and go. No pollution, no expensive maintenance like change oil, etc. In short, no bullshit.
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