Suzuki Liana VURV

Suzuki Liana has been around the block for some time now.

Have you noticed that it is not as common as you’d expect a 1.3 Suzuki car to be? I mean, you still see the Baleno plying the roads more often than the Liana. I think it is safe to say that the Suzuki Liana is not exactly a runaway success. The Engine is the same as the Baleno’s (in terms of engine capacity and responsiveness at least), so why aren’t more people buying the Liana? First, of course, is the damn shape. The car seems to be, you know, packed a little too tight from the sides, as if someone squashed it ever-so slightly. And then there is the cost.

Price of Suzuki Liana VURV

The New Suzuki Liana VURV will set you back at least 1,184,500 / -. And that’s just for the Petrol version.

A petrol version?

Yes, it seems that a factory-fitted CNG kit now deserves to be called a “CNG Version”, although it runs just fine on petrol too.

So, Suzuki Liana VURV - petrol version is priced at 1,184,500.

The Suzuki VURV – CNG version is priced at 1,255,500

What about Transmission? Obviously, there is no A/T in this one. Ever. Suzuki and Automatic Transmissions just don’t do well together it seems. When was the last time you saw a Suzuki car with an automatic transmission? Exactly, me neither.

Why You Should Consider Buying The Suzuki Liana

Suzuki is one of my most favorite car companies. Not because they make cheap cars for the ‘rest of us’, and not because their cars usually are the ‘last option’ on anyone’s list of possible cars to buy. No. I like Suzuki cars because of their engines. I don’t know, but a 1.3 Baleno has always, and I mean ALWAYS outperformed a Honda City or even the Toyota Corolla Xli. Always.

And does anyone here remember what the Suzuki Baleno 1.6 used to do to the VTi (Honda) and GLi (Toyota)? Wherever you see the now-rare Baleno 1.6, just offer a small Thanks to Your Lord for showing you such a wonderful car!

So yeah, the Suzuki engines feel more powerful, they drive better and you have a sense of responsiveness that the other two companies just don’t seem to give you. And no one can beat their parts-availability and the Suzuki’s ruggedness.

The only thing BAD in the Suzuki Liana, really, is the shape of the car; I’ve seen better backside of buses! For some people, that is reason enough to not buy the car.

Expect the Rolls Royce 1965 at the Car Rally

One of the better things coming out of the Lahore Chambers of Commerce is the decision to organize the Lahore Shopping Festival.

It has a lot of things covered it seems. And there is something for car lovers as well.

The Lahore Shopping Festival will start from the 4rd of April 2011, and will go on for about one week, ending on the 10th of April 2011.

Here’s what you can expect:

• A Polo Tournament at the 125-year-old Lahore Polo Club
• A Qirat competition on April 5th. The winner of the competition will be awarded PKR 100,000 and an Umra ticket (cool, no?)
• A Classic Car Rally on April 6th, starting from Siddique Trade Center to Liberty Chowk. Around 50 cars dating from 1920 to 1965 will take part.
• Young Entrepreneurs’ Business Plan competition will be held at 90 The Mall on the same day i.e. April 6th. (Wonder what the first prize for this competition would be!?!)
• A Musical Evening at Raiwand Road
• A Peace Walk on April 7th, from Lahore Chambers of Commerce to Alhamra Hall (Mall Road), at 10:30 AM.
• A Photography Competition would be held at the Tollinton Market Hall.
• Lahore Wrestling Competition will be held at the Punjab Wrestling Stadium on April 8th.
• On the same day (April 8th), a two-day Punjab Expo would start at the remarkably built Lahore Expo Center, where trader and manufacturers would showcase their products at discounted rates.
• Also on the same day (April 8th), a rally of heavy bikes would be organized, from Lahore Chambers of Commerce and Industry offices to the Lahore Expo Center.
• A Fashion Show will be help on April 8th at 8:00 PM at The Royal Palm.
• A Conference on Investment Opportunities will be held at the Lahore Expo Auditorium on April 9th.  A must-attend for would-be entrepreneurs and businessmen.
• A Cycle Race from the LCCI offices to the Lahore Expo Center would be help on April 10th.

OK, so I don’t know about you, but a lot of things are happening here; Cars, bikes, cycles, business opportunities and even wrestling and fashion shows! Don’t know about you, but it sure presents ample opportunity for many of us to be entertained, get educated and stay interested!

Car Advice Pakistan

A lot has been happening in the Pakistani auto market. This post is not about that.

This post is about the future direction of CarAdvice.pk as a blog and as a magazine site for Car enthusiasts from all over Pakistan.

A new wave of inspiration and some plans have convinced me that we can inshAllah take CarAdvice a lot further and put out some great content that is not helpful but also entertaining.

I am planning video reviews for a number of cars. InshAllah you will soon see the Honda Civic reviewed inside out…

I am also hoping that you would continue with your support and feedback and interaction – the interaction in the form of comments on this website is what makes all of this useful.

Thank you for your interest and interaction – this is what makes this website useful for all of us. JazaakAllah and thank you again!

I have been writing a few posts/article over at Life ETC, and while writing on setting goals and helping people out, I realized that the CarAdvice blog is a great way to do just that. I know, when you think of ‘helping someone out’, no one is really thinking of helping people out in deciding which vehicle to buy or how to maintain their cars. But I also realized how confident I felt when I bought my first firearm after reading authentic reviews on forums like PakGuns – I was and am very thankful to people who take the time out to give valuable advice based on experience and good-ol hard work. I want the same for CarAdvice. And I hope that you keep advising me on how to do that even better.

Thank you and God bless,

This is Momekh, signing off.

Import of 5 year old cars to Pakistan is now allowed...

I have imported a Honda Accord CF3 directly from Japan. This was in 2007. It was a great car, and is the best one I have owned (I have not owned many high-end cars, not yet at least! ) … I have other goals for life etc for the time being.

The reason CarAdvice.pk have had a few posts on the import of cars to Pakistan is because of the recent politically-driven bill of allowing import of 5 year old cars into Pakistan. And what do you know, the government has finally re-considered and have now allowed the import of 5 year old cars into Pakistan.

Now, the ‘automobile industry’ of Pakistan, as expected does not like this:

The Pakistan Automobile Manufacturers Association (PAMA) and Pakistan Association of Auto Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM), the assemblers of cars and the auto parts vendors, have expressed dismay over the government decision to allow import of up to five-year-old cars that would retard the gradual growth the auto sector was witnessing after two years of turmoil.

I have mentioned why this decision is GOOD for the consumer here.

But, as mentioned in The News (a daily newspaper), there is a rationale behind the recent decision to allow the import of 5-year-old cars:

The cabinet has finally taken a good decision to allow the import of five-year-old cars. The lack of competition in the market, owing to its small size and absence of economies of scale, make the car assemblers make money at the cost of ordinary people by increasing prices whenever the Japanese yen rises or the rupee falls. Ideally, we should have a developed car industry but it can not develop in a country with a small market size. To put it in perspective, China produced more than 13 million cars in 2009, Japan almost eight million and the USA around six million, compared to a little over 100,000 in Pakistan.

It would be foolish to expect the car assemblers in Pakistan not to raise prices when the yen rises or the Rupee falls further, because most of the car components for assembly are imported from Japan. However, if the size of the car market increases, there would be greater need for spare parts and Pakistan can make good-quality car parts, which could also be exported. Later on, if the numbers of cars sold in the country passes a certain threshold; we can also make good-quality cars. Until then the focus should be on increasing the market size and bringing cars within the reach of the ordinary people.

Source

So, do you guys think that this is a good decision? I know I am happy because I don’t want to pay 2.0 million rupees for a 1.8 sedan when I can pay less for a four-by-four. Let’s hear your comments people!!!

Toyota Hilux Turbo in Pakistan

For those who are not aware, the Toyota Hilux is very much a living legend.

From Top Gear to Newsweek, the critics have always held great respect for the rough and tough 4×4. Not only that, the  Toyota Hilux is well known for its part in the wars of our world! Yes, much like the revered AK-47 when it comes to weapons, the Toyota Hilux is considered the AK-47 of vehicles.

The Toyota Hilux in Pakistan

We have had the Vigo, the imported variety of the Hilux, plying our roads for some time now. It is by all means, a desirable vehicle. And no one has to tell you that they are talking about the Hilux and when they say ‘Double Cabin’.

But there is one problem; more often than not, you’d see the ‘lords of our country’ stuffing their guards into the Hilux. It is, for most intents and purposes, considered a ‘guard car’, but that is not to be considered a bad thing! The Hilux gets a kick out of this reputation as well; guards get the toughest car, no?

My anecdotal review

One fine day, I got to ride in a Land Cruiser, a Pardo and the double cabin Hilux. All three 4×4′s, on the same day. As expected, the Cruiser took full marks on pretty much everything (it is not the best car in the world for nothing!), but to my surprise, I just couldn’t place the Prado above the Double Cabin. The Hilux was more comfortable, even in the supposedly cramped back seat (it is not cramped, you only imagine it to be!)

What’s new in the New Hilux?

The same that you’d expect from a monopolistic, zero-competition industry; not much. The ‘new’ Hilux is claimed to have a new ‘Turbo’ engine, whatever that means, and the website does not tell you much about what ‘new engine’ got placed.

There are two ‘trims’ to the Hilux; Hilux Standard and Hilux Turbo.

So, what is the difference in the engines of the Standard and the Turbo? If you dare to read the specifications, you will clearly see the difference in the Standard and Turbo engines.

And what exactly does TURBO mean?

Why are you not surprised that both the engines have EXACTLY the same specifications?

Toyota, especially with the Corolla, have given us the same 2.0 Diesel engine for ages, whereas the diesel technology on Toyota cars has leaped forward in other parts of the world. I request the Toyota guys reading this, to please give us a break!

Give me 4 Lacs, I will give you AC

If you ever get a chance to see the Toyota Indus website, you’d see that they have tried to present even the smallest of things as ‘features’ of this ‘new’ Hilux. They even go ahead and mention things like “premium” fabric on the inside of doors as a freakin’ feature. Are you kidding me? And they mention that the new Hilux have ‘bottle holders’. What the hell?

But then again, the ‘Standard’ version of the ‘new’ Turbo Hilux does not have Air Conditioning, or the ‘premium’ fabric gracing the inside of the door. So you better end up paying 400,000 more for the Turbo version! Wait till people pimp their Standard versions over at the Montgomery Road, and get it to “look” exactly like the Turbo version for quarter of the price difference.

And there is no option of automatic transmission in either of the two trims. That is just sad.

The Price We Pay

The standard comes to 2,349,000 Pakistani Rupees.

The Turbo costs 2,749,000 Pakistani Rupees.

There is the touchscreen DVD and other ‘little things’ that make up the price difference. You also get the A/C in the Turbo version. So rejoice!

Will you buy this car?

I will buy this vehicle because it ‘looks’ good, and even the ‘old’ engine tech of Toyota has stood the test of time. I will not buy this car if I have the slightest of chance of getting an imported vehicle.

I only want to get one thing clear; the Pakistani market is constantly given a bad deal, or rather a deal that is just good enough. As mentioned previously on Car Advice, if you really want to see if ‘our cars’ would stand up against ANY competition, let us import cars at a lower duty. Then no one, and I mean, NO ONE, would pay what we have to pay.

Specifications (the boring part)

The Pakistan Automobile Manufacturers Association  (PAMA) has a spokesman, surprise surprise, who says that the import of 5 year old cars would make Pakistan…wait for it...a dumping ground for the global market. They would throw away their 5 year old Accords, Mercedes and Audis into Pakistan, what a shame!

In a recent article I read somewhere in the back pages of The News (Lahore section), the association has expressed dismay that the facility for allow 5 year old cars would retard the gradual growth the Pakistani auto sector has witnessed. Yes, the growth was because the import of cars was not allowed. That, my friends, is called a monopoly. Also note, that to revive economies, governments do sometimes ban imports, as they should. My only problem is that given the chance, this PAMA did not capitalize on the opportunity to give us, the consumers, better cars. They simply started increasing prices, along with ‘owns’, till their pockets exploded. They had a long-enough chance to correct this, but greed is greed is greed.

For example, in 2007, you could get a 2002 Honda Accord for less than the price of a new Honda City. Yes, a face-turning luxury sedan, all 1.8 liters of it, for less than the price of a brand new 1.3 liter engine car. The Accord was 5 years old, but you couldn’t tell it from the drive, or the look. The concept of 5 year old cars being ‘clunkers’ don’t apply if you are careful in your car selection. The cars they make now can easily face 5 years of normal ware and tare.

By the way, the only imported car that has done truly well in Pakistan is the Toyota Vitz. You know why? Because Indus Motors (God bless their souls) made car parts of the Vitz available in market. That is what needs to be done for other ‘economy’ cars, as well as a select luxury sedans, and this should give enough competition to our auto industry to get their act together.

Car Racing at Bahria Town is not something new

On Sunday, 5th December 2010, 5 spectators died when a racing car skidded off from the road and onto the nearby spectators.This happened in Bahria Town, Rawalpindi/Islamabad.

Bahria Town is pretty known to hold these car races. Make no mistake, these car races were exactly that; cars that will race with each other, and there never was any type of organization, security, precautions or ANYTHING.

The saddest bit is that the races were ‘organized’ enough to find and get sponsors for the events, but no one had the slightest of idea to put some rudimentary safety precautions (such as tire stacks on the side of road etc).
This accident, like most unfortunate accidents, could have been prevented.

To top it all off, Commissioner Rawalpindi, Zahid Saeed said that the race was illegally organised. But according to this item at the Express Tribune, there is more confusion to it than simply calling it ‘not allowed’. But as far as I am concerned, if a police official is calling it illegal, it probably was.

The Lessons

• One shouldn’t jump the gun and call the sport of car racing out right illegal.
• Proper arrangements MUST be made to ensure safety, of not only the spectators, but of the drivers themselves (roll bars should be made a mandatory feature of any car wanting to race)
• No one should EVER be allowed to stand NEXT to the race track itself!

Car racing is a neglected sport in Pakistan. It shouldn’t be. But sad incidents like these makes your blood boil, as the grieving families are left with no one but everyone to blame. God guide and protect us all.

Pictures from the race

A friend, Moaaz Burki, was present at the race. He was witness to the ‘last race’ and has taken some pictures.

[Show as slideshow]

As you know, I am a thing or two to say about the import restrictions on cars and how that has given birth to a mafia of big industrial players. They control the prices and cars like a Toyota Corolla cost as much as 2.0 million rupees! Unbelievable. But that is not all, import restriction on tractors and trucks and buses is also in effect, giving chance to companies like Messi Ferguson to give tractor deliveries with a 3 month wait period.

The ever-grinning Auto Industry of Pakistan just might get a scare.

Let’s hope that someone with a conscious is handling this. God bless us all.

But I guess Remy beat me to it as he has found a lot of Saudis in Audis.

Just watch.

Lyrics to Saudis in Audis

Saudis in Audis…

Saudis in Audis…
Saudis in Audis..

We just need to ‘spot’ it more.

For one reason or the other, Audis are seen more frequently on the roads in Pakistan.

I have seen a black Audi TT travelling, within the speed limits, on Multan Road. Nice.

Recently, while visiting the opening of Tabaq restaurant on M M Alam Road (Lahore), I spotted a very cool looking Audi Q 7.

Audi’s website for Pakistan actually takes you to the international Audi website, which is lame!

It would be helpful indeed if we are able to at least browse the prices for Audi as available in Pakistan, then maybe you can lease an Audi instead of a Reborn. Heh.

Wallpaper (Audi TT – Life’s not fair)