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Post by Martin on Feb 7, 2024 8:31:23 GMT
Latest holiday hire car. I booked a City because we had one back in 2018 (this is a new model) and it was OK to drive but the main reason was it’s a small car (ideal for the islands) but with a huge boot. I think it’s bigger than a non hybrid 5 series, but because of the shape, you can get even more in. The 3 x cases plus 3 x hand luggage bags than meant I had to release the luggage cover in the Panamera, went in with ease. Unlike the last one, it isn’t the basic model so along with cloth instead of vinyl seats (a massive benefit in the heat), it also has a screen / CarPlay, climate control, keyless entry/start, reversing camera, alloy wheels, folding mirrors etc. It has a 1.5 litre 4 pot with 120hp but unfortunately it’s coupled to a CVT gearbox. This one has ‘gears’ and paddles. It feels painfully slow, but the highest speed limit on the island is 50mph so not a major issue….it only needs to out drag a moped. It’s OK to drive, comfy enough and has enough space for the 3 of us. What ruins it to drive is the steering wheel, for some reason they have fitted a ‘luxury’ cover which feels awful and makes the rim in a BMW M Sport feel slim…. Will have to get a picture. It’s a nice colour, really sparkles in the sun and it’s in pretty good shape for a hire car, 4 x pristine wheels is unheard of. The most astonishing thing is the price, it retails for £15,000 and road tax is £15 a year!   The valet has given it ‘pole position’ rather than moving it to the car park, but it’s going to be roasting in there so not sure it’s a good thing.  |
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Post by PetrolEd on Feb 7, 2024 9:29:22 GMT
Malaysia?
Nice colour, almost Mazda nice. I guess they don't do prestige motors in this country if the Honda is getting pole position at a fancy hotel.
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Post by Martin on Feb 7, 2024 9:51:57 GMT
Yes, Malaysia. Might be more about the room, although it’s not exactly parked by the door! They do have some nice cars, but they are eye watering expensive. The Porsche dealer in KL had a base engined Panamera for sale which was £215k. I’ve seen a couple of current Bentleys on the island and there’s a Brabus C class and a newish Cayman S at the hotel. A Cayman S starts at £120k before options.
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Post by Ben on Feb 7, 2024 12:50:11 GMT
Malaysia does have rather high import taxes for cars. So quite a lot of manufacturers get around it by setting up assembly plants in the country as locally-built complete knock down (CKD) cars are exempted from pretty significant taxation.
It's not just mainstream brands like Honda too. Premium carmakers like BMW, Mercedes-Benz and even Porsche (their only plant outside Europe) also have facilities in Malaysia.
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Post by ChrisM on Feb 7, 2024 18:40:12 GMT
Penang - down near the waterfront and close to Fort Cornwallis ? Memories.....
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Post by Martin on Feb 8, 2024 7:13:52 GMT
Penang - down near the waterfront and close to Fort Cornwallis ? Memories..... That’s it Chris. |
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Post by Martin on Feb 8, 2024 9:31:01 GMT
How about this for a bit of luxury….   It could do with spacers on the rear  |
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Feb 8, 2024 10:10:26 GMT
How about this for a bit of luxury…. It could do with spacers on the rear I'm straight down Halfords this afternoon. |
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Post by PG on Feb 8, 2024 13:18:18 GMT
Ooooh, classy steering wheel! And I see they did it to the door handles as well. I wonder if it's some local market thing to stop you burning yourself on a hot day? Or do Malaysians just like naf steering wheels?
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Post by Ben on Feb 8, 2024 14:00:26 GMT
How about this for a bit of luxury…. It could do with spacers on the rear That steering wheel has got to be an aftermarket item. There's no way it came with the car like that. |
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Post by Martin on Feb 8, 2024 14:11:45 GMT
I had figured that out Ben! It had a matching headrest cushion, which went straight into the doorbin.
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Post by Martin on Feb 8, 2024 14:13:10 GMT
Ooooh, classy steering wheel! And I see they did it to the door handles as well. I wonder if it's some local market thing to stop you burning yourself on a hot day? Or do Malaysians just like naf steering wheels? That’s the matching headrest cover which went straight into the door bin. I think it’s because it doesn’t have a leather steering wheel and it’s Sixt Malaysias idea of added luxury. |
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Post by bryan on Feb 9, 2024 6:46:17 GMT
Could the steering wheel cover not go in the door bin too?
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Feb 9, 2024 7:52:41 GMT
How about this for a bit of luxury…. It could do with spacers on the rear That steering wheel has got to be an aftermarket item. There's no way it came with the car like that. Stick an MSport logo on it and us BMW owners will be all over it. |
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Post by Martin on Feb 9, 2024 8:21:05 GMT
Could the steering wheel cover not go in the door bin too? I tried to gently remove it, but it wasn’t coming off unfortunately. I don’t think I’m missing out on any steering feel…. |
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Post by Big Blue on Feb 9, 2024 12:40:36 GMT
It could do with spacers on the rear I read that initially as “it could do with spats on rear”, which would be an equally valid observation. |
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Post by Boxer6 on Feb 9, 2024 16:33:44 GMT
That steering wheel has got to be an aftermarket item. There's no way it came with the car like that. Stick an MSport logo on it and us BMW owners will be all over it. Well, some of us might Bob.  If they live in the North-East perhaps? |
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Post by Martin on Feb 16, 2024 5:30:53 GMT
We only did 150km in 10 days, but that’s broadly what we expected. It cost £5 times to fill it back up, normal unleaded is only 34p a litre. That’s mid 30s mpg, not bad for the driving we did, but the trip computer is showing close to 50mpg over the last 1500 kms.
Did the job, all the luggage (3 cases + 3 hand luggage) went in the boot easily and it was comfy enough for the miles we did. Sixt were very good, met us at departures to save the walk from the multi-story and no issues on return.
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Post by alf on Feb 16, 2024 9:41:46 GMT
34p a litre? That's what it was in 1992 when I hard my first car!!!! Is this subsidised or just barely taxed? The hoops we go through to decarbonise here, and they can buy fuel for less than bottled water..............
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Post by Martin on Feb 16, 2024 9:45:22 GMT
34p a litre? That's what it was in 1992 when I hard my first car!!!! Is this subsidised or just barely taxed? The hoops we go through to decarbonise here, and they can buy fuel for less than bottled water.............. I hadn’t looked at any point when passing fuel stations so it was a big surprise to me too! This was a big Shell garage next to the airport, so I assume is as expensive as it gets. Full fat petrol is a high % increase, but still only 58p a litre. I looked into it and there isn’t any tax, quite the opposite….the government subsidises the cost of fuel, covering about a third of the cost. |
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Post by alf on Feb 16, 2024 11:32:49 GMT
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Post by Tim on Feb 16, 2024 11:33:49 GMT
34p a litre? That's what it was in 1992 when I hard my first car!!!! Is this subsidised or just barely taxed? The hoops we go through to decarbonise here, and they can buy fuel for less than bottled water.............. I hadn’t looked at any point when passing fuel stations so it was a big surprise to me too! This was a big Shell garage next to the airport, so I assume is as expensive as it gets. Full fat petrol is a high % increase, but still only 58p a litre. I looked into it and there isn’t any tax, quite the opposite….the government subsidises the cost of fuel, covering about a third of the cost. For reference I paid 2.23 Euros per litre at a Shell on the autobahn in Germany after Christmas |
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Post by PG on Feb 16, 2024 13:08:26 GMT
Yes, explicit subsidies below cost price do exist in some places as that article shows. But when you read that article you quickly see where they are going - as they compare the retail price with what they perceive to be the "full" cost - production, margin, tax, pollution etc. And then draw the conclusion that the fossil fuel industry is "subsidised" by $7 trillion a year. Well if you are going to use that sort of logic then any industry or activity is probably subsidised. I know, let's all just go and live in caves again. |
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Post by Ben on Feb 16, 2024 15:28:04 GMT
34p a litre? That's what it was in 1992 when I hard my first car!!!! Is this subsidised or just barely taxed? The hoops we go through to decarbonise here, and they can buy fuel for less than bottled water.............. I hadn’t looked at any point when passing fuel stations so it was a big surprise to me too! This was a big Shell garage next to the airport, so I assume is as expensive as it gets. Full fat petrol is a high % increase, but still only 58p a litre. I looked into it and there isn’t any tax, quite the opposite….the government subsidises the cost of fuel, covering about a third of the cost. Yep, Malaysia is an oil producing nation (home of Petronas) and regular fuel is subsidised for locally-registered vehicles. |
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Post by ChrisM on Feb 16, 2024 21:22:08 GMT
^
IIRC on the basis that the Malaysian government believe that people need to travel and they can afford to subsidise fuel; a fairly radical viewpoint compared to our own government who seem to want us all to go back to the stone age and not drive anywhere since driving causes pollution
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