Are Sri Lankan Car Buyers Too Conservative?

[GearHead]

The BMW 3 series is a top ten seller in Europe. It's the sports saloon/coupe/convertible in many minds. Are you saying that there are millions and millions of playboys in Europe?

mate do you mind telling us about the countries where the BMW 3 series is considered as a play boy's car ...if you mentioned the M3 then it would have been a lot nicer..

Edited December 6, 2007 by GearHead

[Supra_Natural]

mate do you mind telling us about the countries where the BMW 3 series is considered as a play boy's car ...if you mentioned the M3 then it would have been a lot nicer..

errm, who are you replying to? because GTam basically asked the same question that you asked with the post you just quoted.... some other nut is the guy who brought in the playboy angle...

[Supra_Natural]

I don't know if its Grand punto or not but its a 2006 model Punto. It had a 1.2L engine.

One of my friends has a 1998 punto which breaks down every other day. He mostly travel in the AA's Ford Transit:-))

Machan check fifth gear and parkers.co.uk for car reviews. They are quite good too.

Cheers

And for u GTAM keep on reading ur little fairy tales and live in ur own imaginary world. I don't have time for u mate.. Both Don and Me live in the UK and we talk from first hand experience. its up to the public to decide.

you REALLY need to attempt to be a bit more polite with people who have views different to yours..... I'll let Gtam speak for himself with regard to your arguments, but IMO I think you need to take a look at the way Don puts things.... even in a disagreement, he respects the other party's views and gives good justification...... once again Don, Hats off to you....

Jwest, you're of course entitled to your own viewpoint, but at the end of the day this isnt about the UK, (btw my knowledge of what its like there is limited to what i've read and heard) the question is whether buyers in sril Lanka are too conservative and im with GTam on this one, they certainly are....

[GearHead]

errm, who are you replying to? because GTam basically asked the same question that you asked with the post you just quoted.... some other nut is the guy who brought in the playboy angle...

may be you got it wrong mate...i am somewhat asking the same question that Jwest asked from GTam...there's no way in hell that the BMW falls into the prestige category mate...may be paly boy was the wrong word.

and bro for your info, that guy isnt a nut man he knows what he is talking about....trust me..ill tell you about it later...

[Supra_Natural]

may be you got it wrong mate...i am somewhat asking the same question that Jwest asked from GTam...there's no way in hell that the BMW falls into the prestige category mate...may be paly boy was the wrong word.

and bro for your info, that guy isnt a nut man he knows what he is talking about....trust me..ill tell you about it later...

well he certainly makes certain statements reminiscent of one..... and FYI, BMW IS a premium Brand with accompanying pricing...... the fact that it is more common than a Ford Mondeo on the roads of Europe makes no difference to the fact, "Perception" of the brand is still as being "prestige"...... BMW have always been masters at the art of marketing....

[JwesT]

you REALLY need to attempt to be a bit more polite with people who have views different to yours..... I'll let Gtam speak for himself with regard to your arguments, but IMO I think you need to take a look at the way Don puts things.... even in a disagreement, he respects the other party's views and gives good justification...... once again Don, Hats off to you....

Jwest, you're of course entitled to your own viewpoint, but at the end of the day this isnt about the UK, (btw my knowledge of what its like there is limited to what i've read and heard) the question is whether buyers in sril Lanka are too conservative and im with GTam on this one, they certainly are....

Man go back and read what i said!! I said MOST of the expensive sports cars are driven by "playboy"s. By which i mean ferraris, lambos, etc Not the BMW 3 series. I never ever mentioned BMW 3 as a prestige vehicle.

I would categorise Anything above M3 as prestige though.

Yes I was on about the topic. My point was that when u compare average car buyers from any country they all consider three basic things. 1) Maintainace Cost 2) Reliability 3) Depreciation of the vehicle. Its not just we sri lankans being too conservative. Thats the order of the day now. Owning a car is expensive where ever u live. In SL we had to pay huge amount of tax when we buy a car, in developed countries u pay tax, insurance and huge amounts of money on maintainace.

And about the replying thingy towards GTAm, Yes I admit I went bit over the line; but some of the things he said really pissed me off. If u read his posts properly u would knw what i mean. u have to give him the same advice mate. Guy has to earn his respect. If he doesn't show no respect he won't get nothing from me..

Edited December 6, 2007 by JwesT

[Bugatti]

Its all plastic dashboard feels so cheap. even the gauges, seats everything looks soo cheap. The gear lever is so cheaply built i felt as if it might come off if i used excessive force. Its just like the gear lever of the alto. The drive is also not something to admire ! I hate every minute I was in that. I had it for one whole day and did about 100 odd miles. Absolute rubbish mate trust me. I promised myself not to drive any fiat again in my life.

The corsa on the other hand is blody well built. Interior was much better with wood finished (plastic). CD/mp3 player. Very comfortable seats. I didn't even feel like driving a small car. Very good at high speeds as well. I used to hate vauxhall cars until i drove that. Man its unbelievably well buit for a vauxhall. The brand is not very popular amongst the people due to high depreciation of the earlier vauxhalls. But this model is nothing like the earlier versions.

Was it the 2007 Punto u drove...??? or the older version..?

I've been in the 2007 Punto and it has a very classy interior...

[GTAm]

GTAm, after reading your comments, maybe the issue that is of most relevant to the discussion here is what is Conservative.

Is conservative not willing to change ? is it inheriting car buying trends from the previous generation or is it the reasons for which a car is purchased.

Not willing to change is a sign of being conservative. My dictionary says "tending or inclined to conserve what is established"

[leonardo]

ok so i havn't ever been to europe so i don't know how the car market is there.

but i have been to many parts of asia, and australia and dubai, and we are conservative in comparision. in australia they go around in holdens and commadores but you also get plenty of sports cars and european cars. funnily enough its the sri lankans living there who go for the toyota corollas and camrys so much so that they are referred to as "curry cars!" by aussies! so it seems like we take this conservative mentality when it comes to cars with us wherever we go! and you do see plenty of stunning cars whenever you go to dubai, singapore, malaysia and HK.

and XXX you can count the number of X5's, cayenne's and range rovers we have in sl with one hand! and this topic simply is about sri lankan car buyers being too conservative. i would say yes, compared to lots of places. and yes, IMHO most sri lankans do have bad taste in fashion too, but that's another story!

[GTAm]

In reality GTAm your analysis could be looked at from a different perspective. You say premium has become the new ordinary, but it could be looked at in reverse as well. As I mentioned before, there is a trend amongst so called ordinary manufacturers to offer premium features in their cars. Also the premium manufacturers have been coming up with new models to appeal to a mainstream audience. Indeed its the manufacturers who have changed strategy not the people who buy them as you suggest.

Ordinary manufacturers try, yes. But premium became premium not by simply having a swanky interior, but that's another long debate. Manufacturers have changed their strategy yes. But they don't do it blindly. They would not simply come up with a new product and force it down a consumer's throat. They do research spending millions of $$$ to identify trends in buyer's needs, wants and behaviour. Then they invest in new models. If there is no need there won't be a product (in most cases anyway). That's the simple theory of Marketing.

[JwesT]

Was it the 2007 Punto u drove...??? or the older version..?

I've been in the 2007 Punto and it has a very classy interior...

I double checked the model for u. Its a Grand Punto 1.2L manual. Thats the one I drove. Its 06 Registration so its 2006 model.

This is exact quote from fifthegear car reviews. I don't know whats cool about that styling

Cheers

We like:

1) Cool styling

2) High equipment levels

3) Low prices

We don't like:

1) Build quality

2) Body roll at speed

3) Some flimsy trim

Best and worst:

Most fun: 130bhp 1.9 turbodiesel

Most sensible: 75bhp 1.3 Multijet

Worst: 1.2 petrol

http://fifthgear.five.tv/jsp/5gmain.jsp?ln...on=Fiat%20Punto

[GTAm]

The point I was simply trying to make was I do not think Sri Lankan buyers are more or less conservative than purchasers anywhere else. I base this purely on the assumption what defines conservatism or liberal here is the reasons which influences car purchase. I do not think it is fair to rely on brands for a conclusion simply because its affected by external factors.

For example in Africa you find a lot of Mercedes Benz cars, and is that an indicator there that car buyers are driven by premium brands.

In Iran you and countries in that part of the world, you will see the roads are full of Peugeot's, does that mean Peugeot is the best car for Iran ?

In reality Mercedes Benzes are very easy to keep and maintain in many countries in Africa simply because of the large numbers, and Peugeot's manufactures cars in Iran, and since the country is under international sanctions owning and maintaining Peugeot's are easy and cheap.

So I think before coming to any conclusions about car buying trends in any country one must also look at these external factors.

You are right GTAm, people always want as much as possible for their money. If people have the opportunity to own and maintain what you refer to as a premium car within what they can afford sensibly I am sure that is exactly what most people will do. But that is because it is within their grasp. It does not mean the buyer is conservative or liberal. And most people I know see a difference between their need to get from A-B cheaply and efficiently vs driving pleasure. This is not a Sri Lankan trend.

Yes and you are perfectly entitled to your view that Sri Lankans are not conservative as I am to mine that they are! And yes I totally agree that external factors do dictate purchase decisions too.

Your example of Africa and Mercedes...... I really don't think it can hold here. Are you talking of new cars? Or a handful of old 123s, 115s and 126s? These could have been junked in other countries and ended up there. Besides I would imagine the car to pepulation ratio across Africa could be very very small. Most people can't afford even a bike. So it is hardly a representative sample of that population.

As for Peugeot in Iran, yes Peugeot has had an assembly plant in Iran for decades. That's why they are so popular. But we are talking about Sri Lanka.

Yes it makes life easy when a wide choice is within your grasp. But as the original post for this topic states. Both a Corolla and a BMW are within ppls grasp. And the question is why ppl will pay more for the Corolla, when the BMW is a more desirable car.

[GTAm]

There will always be bread and butter motoring and premium motoring, it is quite possible premium manufacturers would try to invade the bread and butter market, but brands do not decide the market, people do.

I mean there are a lot of Japanese cars in SL, and people buy them because it makes sense to do so. The relative popularity of those vehicles, their suitability to our road conditions, the free availability of spares, and used body parts etc has made these cars the choice of many in SL. Also our stupid tax structure makes European vehicles very expensive due to their higher RRP, though in reality these cars suffer the highest depreciation and become within the grasp of most middle class individuals within 3-5 years. These are trends not initiated by the car buying public but dictated on them by public policy.

So I do not think the Sri Lankans are not so different from the Brits, or anybody else in the world in making their choices in cars. I think its simply a combination of factors which are beyond their control which has contributed to the car buying trends in Sri Lanka.

Having said that I think brands like Toyota Honda and Nissan are successful in European markets as well, their average customer in different markets might be different (for example a lot of Civics are driven by pensioners in the UK !!) but the fact that they retain their value very well is testament to their popularity. So what does that say about other automotive markets ?.

I am yet to drive the new Grande Punto, but my criticism of the previous model is not quite shared by the general motor buying public, as that car was a best seller as well. Incidentally I am not the greatest fan of the 206 either, as its very difficult to get in to a comfortable driving position in that car, though in fact it was the best selling car in that segment, but if you count in fleet purchases the Ford Fiesta leads that segment.

First this is not a Japan vs Europe war. Who says ALL Jap cars are sensible and ALL European cars are flamboyant? There are extremely impractical Japanese cars that cost an arm and a leg to when it comes to maintenence and running costs. These are well documented elsewhere on this forum.

I really don't know if there will always be bread and butter or premium motoring. We really don't know what future trends will turn out to be. But we can only make educated guesses.

Yes lots of ppl buy Japanese cars (but now the trend is Indian) because they their perception is and in reality is likely that...as you rightly point out it's sensible to do so. Being sensible is close or similar to being conservative. Being adventurous is the opposite.

Also our tax system does not differentiate between European and Japanese cars. They are affected in the same way. But you are right, having lots of used spares make maintenece of a Jap car that much easier. And so the conservative individuals will all buy those cars. And that's the majority of our car buying public. But an adventurous or better informed individual will want to stand out and so he'll want something different.

Hey I totally agree about the 206 driving position. I could never ever get a perfect one. And yes the Ford Fiesta is the biggest selling supermini in UK. I believe Ford has the largest dealership network and many UK buyers think that the all Fords are UK built which they are not. I think the Fiesta comes from Spain!?

[GTAm]

Whether u believe me or not I don't give a shit. thats the truth. vauxhall has high depreciation. Any one from UK will confirm that.

Language language man. This is an open discussion where ppl are meant to express their views. There's no need for you to lose your hair and use bad words.

Vauxhall's depreciation maybe high agreed. But you said that the brand which has been no. 2 in UK for years and years was not popular!!!!??? That's a strange statement.

[GTAm]

I don't know if its Grand punto or not but its a 2006 model Punto. It had a 1.2L engine.

One of my friends has a 1998 punto which breaks down every other day. He mostly travel in the AA's Ford Transit:-))

Machan check fifth gear and parkers.co.uk for car reviews. They are quite good too.

Cheers

And for u GTAM keep on reading ur little fairy tales and live in ur own imaginary world. I don't have time for u mate.. Both Don and Me live in the UK and we talk from first hand experience. its up to the public to decide.

Aha so you have compared an old Punto with a new Corsa !? A bit unfair mate. The old Punto upto 2006 was a facelift of the 90's mk 1 Punto. The Corsa and the Grande Punto (which was launched in 06) share a lot of components under the skin and the Vaux/Opel even uses Fiat JTd engines in the Corsa.

And you're talking about a friends' 98 Punto breaking down. Well I'm not surprised. It's an old car and it could be that it's spent its life by Euro standars.

U say u don't have time for me but you keep responding..............in anger !

[JwesT]

Language language man. This is an open discussion where ppl are meant to express their views. There's no need for you to lose your hair and use bad words.

Vauxhall's depreciation maybe high agreed. But you said that the brand which has been no. 2 in UK for years and years was not popular!!!!??? That's a strange statement.

Sorry about the language mate I just got bit crossed yday after reading ur posts mate.

Its like me telling u how to run ur business provided that I know nothing about it. u get what im saying? Im stuck in this country's system and I know what it is like living here. Its not as easy as it sounds mate trust me on that. U have to struggle to come to a certain level and from then onwards life is a bit smooth. but getting there is hard.

Yes the word 'popular' is not right. I agree. What I'm saying is Vauxhall's depreciation is too much that unless u sell the car within a couple of years u loose about 60% of the money u spend on it. Which doesn't sound good to me

No hard feeling mate. Hope everything is cool!

Cheers

[GTAm]

How many jobs did u do in the UK to tell me its nothing to pay back the student's loan?? or Is it also from that ittle fairy tale ur mom used to read for ur bedtime?

Quite a number of people don't go to universities after their ALs because of the loan thing.. Paying back loan ain't no joke mate.

A student can afford a BMW 325I.. r u kidding me?? man u better start reading some other books from today onwards bcus those stuff u read ain't no good.. BMW 318I itself is in 12 -13 insurance category which means for a 22 year old its gonna be about £2000 premium per year regardless of the value of the car. And tax gonna be close to £200 per year. U don't know shit what u on about mate.

U r telling me what its like to live here now huh?? U gotta be joking man!! I really don't have time for this shit man. I just laugh when I read ur posts.. keep em coming, atleast I have something to read and laugh after I come home from work..

And about the comparison with alto, actually its a disrespect for the alto bcus its more reliable than the blody punto!! :-)

I did not work in the UK. But looking at the economic data of the United Kingdom which is one of the largest economies in the world any intelligent human can work out that people do not have a hard time as they would in a country such as Sri Lanka.

I did study in Australia though and I can tell you students over there are spoiled for choice compared to students in SL. Australia's economy is much smaller than the UK mind you. I would have loved to have that loan facility that the Aussie students have.

Quite a lot of students may not want to go to Uni but they have many more options and fall back safety nets in a developed country as oppsoed to an under developed one. Here in SL even if you want to go to Uni you can't as places are limited. Btw why are you in the UK? Studying?

If you would care to open you eyes a bit more you'll see I refered to an old 325i. It's really silly if you were thinking of a new one. I'm sure if you consider the low purchase of an older car could set off the additional cost of insurance. Maybe you're a conservative bloke, and I have no problem with that. But there are adventurous folk out there. maybe not in your uni, maybe not in your neighbourhood. Maybe you don't keep company with them.

[GTAm]

may be you got it wrong mate...i am somewhat asking the same question that Jwest asked from GTam...there's no way in hell that the BMW falls into the prestige category mate...may be paly boy was the wrong word.

and bro for your info, that guy isnt a nut man he knows what he is talking about....trust me..ill tell you about it later...

Oh so are you saying that BMW is a non premium brand? Why don't you check prices spec for spec against a non premium brand like Ford and see how much extra ppl have to pay? Why do people pay that premium?

[GTAm]

Man go back and read what i said!! I said MOST of the expensive sports cars are driven by "playboy"s. By which i mean ferraris, lambos, etc Not the BMW 3 series. I never ever mentioned BMW 3 as a prestige vehicle.

I would categorise Anything above M3 as prestige though.

Yes I was on about the topic. My point was that when u compare average car buyers from any country they all consider three basic things. 1) Maintainace Cost 2) Reliability 3) Depreciation of the vehicle. Its not just we sri lankans being too conservative. Thats the order of the day now. Owning a car is expensive where ever u live. In SL we had to pay huge amount of tax when we buy a car, in developed countries u pay tax, insurance and huge amounts of money on maintainace.

And about the replying thingy towards GTAm, Yes I admit I went bit over the line; but some of the things he said really pissed me off. If u read his posts properly u would knw what i mean. u have to give him the same advice mate. Guy has to earn his respect. If he doesn't show no respect he won't get nothing from me..

I think we are going completely off the topic here. How can you bring in Ferraris and Lambos here? They are built in very small numbers for the very rich.

You can't say things like "any country" mate without proper facts. The fact that you have listed those 3 factors as the top 3 criteria shows that you believe all car buyers in all counties are conservative. Those are the most conservatite criteria when choosing a car.

There are millions for whom performance, looks and handling with the the foremost criteria. And there are so many factors that will detemine this.

Also how can you say owning a car is expensive where ever you are? You hacve to take into account an income to expense ratio to determine that. You talk about "huge amounts of money". Do you realize that it might be huge only to you and me? Or the few people you associate?

Idon't think you can get the big picture by generalizing things only by listening to the few people you know.

[JwesT]

I did not work in the UK. But looking at the economic data of the United Kingdom which is one of the largest economies in the world any intelligent human can work out that people do not have a hard time as they would in a country such as Sri Lanka.

I did study in Australia though and I can tell you students over there are spoiled for choice compared to students in SL. Australia's economy is much smaller than the UK mind you. I would have loved to have that loan facility that the Aussie students have.

Quite a lot of students may not want to go to Uni but they have many more options and fall back safety nets in a developed country as oppsoed to an under developed one. Here in SL even if you want to go to Uni you can't as places are limited. Btw why are you in the UK? Studying?

If you would care to open you eyes a bit more you'll see I refered to an old 325i. It's really silly if you were thinking of a new one. I'm sure if you consider the low purchase of an older car could set off the additional cost of insurance. Maybe you're a conservative bloke, and I have no problem with that. But there are adventurous folk out there. maybe not in your uni, maybe not in your neighbourhood. Maybe you don't keep company with them.

It doesn't matter if its new or old mate all the cars are categorized. I quote a rough figure for a 1994 318IS price of about £1200. insurance is in excess of £2000 per year. I could say I was in a quite a good university here The only student I knew who owned a sports car was a son of a pakistani minister. guy had a ferrari. of course u know where he get his money from Apart from that no one else could afford anything above a ford fiesta. Many guys used to ride bikes. I was with many british students mainly bcus I was the only colored dude in my batch And none of my batchmates had sports cars mate.

Machan what u r saying is maybe possible in Aus but I know for a matter of fact its impossible over here. U can buy cars very cheap but the insurance, maintainance, tax is a absolute bitch. For example I had to replace my heater fan resistor the other day and it was £120 with labour and vat. Do u get the picture now?? Maybe The Don can elaborate bit more on what I mentioned here.

Edited December 6, 2007 by JwesT

[The Don]

JWest GTAm and everybody else,

I think we've had a good constructive debate on this matter, and have drawn up examples from the UK as well,

We are all entitled to our opinions and I think we've all had the opportunity to express them, but I think at some point we should draw a line where we agree to disagree if no compromises can be found and leave space for others to contribute as well. There is nothing to be gained from having a 3 way arguments.

JWest and I both speak from personal experience going through the UK higher education system, and I must say it has becoming more and more difficult for local students as well as international students. Few are able to afford the lifestyles of the nature and afford enviable automobiles. This is just fact. There are always exceptions to the rule but lets not speak about them.

Something we did not speak about but is relevant is the rise of the super mini, which is a trend we are slowly starting to see in a lot of developed countries as cities become congested, and parking space becomes an issue, and road tax is tied to emissions. That is also an influencing factor in car purchases, and I am sure when such laws are introduced to SL and enforced it might be another issue buyers will consider.

Also the rising fuel prices have set a trend towards more fuel efficient vehicles. I think if not for high taxation colombo would be full of diesels even if diesel was sold at the same price as petrol.

And with regards to taxation affecting purchase, what I meant to say is our tax system taxes cars based on their original value and apply the same depreciation rate to all cars. The fact is some cars depreciate faster than others. As I mentioned before executive saloons lose 60-70% of their value in the first 3 years, which would make them quite affordable (relatively speaking). But thanks to their original MRP value, they would attract higher tax if imported to Sri Lanka. I was referring to the Sri Lankan trend of purchasing recon cars, and why not many European or premium brands have attracted the buyers attention.

For example I do believe a lot more people will own and drive BMW's if they were available at cheaper prices recon (tax system changed to reflect actual depriciation in the original country of purchase, but this is a VERY complicated system to implement and thus would probably will never happen ) , as the higher numbers on the road will make them cheaper to maintain, and I do not think anybody disputes they are bloody good cars, and a lot of us secretly dream of owning one.

[xXx]

This topic is getting interesting by the minute so thought of poking my head and stir things up a bit.

IMO yes Sri Lankans are bit conservative BUT there are very good reasons for it. I’ve pointed few out in my earlier posts so I’m not going to list them again.

My good man Don I doubt people will buy European cars even if the price tag is low. A good example is the second generation Range Rover. We discussed about this in another thread and everyone agreed even though it looks brilliant due to its high maintenance and reliability issues it is not a viable option to have as a daily runner.

As I’ve said before it really is useless to compare the lifestyle of a developed country with a developing nation. But I do believe life is some what atleast by a fraction is easier for them compared to us. There are rules and regulations to ensure that everyone has a decent standard of living. Both interest rate and inflation is very low and people have a fair share of access to debt markets. Current credit crunch was triggered due to this fact. And they also live large. No matter what your income westerners make sure to go on atleast one holiday per year. They would rather live a life like that off their credit cards and over drafts than cutting down expenses.

I do believe student loans are a piss take. There no set deadline for the repayment plus it depends on the income. I find it quite hard to believe that some student opt out of going to uni solely because of the student loan. Actually if you are from a less fortunate family you don’t have to pay back the loan at all.

JWest…. Where can I start. First of all I think it’s an insult to call every one who owns a super car in UK as playboys. For majority having such a car is a symbol of their success and hard work. It’s another ‘piece’ for the trophy cabinet. One of the traders I work with is so confident that he’ll get a thumping bonus this year he has already started hunting for an Aston.

I also find it very hard to believe that there were no ‘coloured’ individuals in you batch. Unless you went to a community collage up north or you did a mickey mouse course like PGA golf management or American studies.

Last but not least until you climb to a certain level in carrier ladder life is hard for everyone regardless where you are.

And Leo I know there are only had full of fancy SUV’s in SL. My point is people who can afford such a luxury go to extreme lengths to stand out of the crowd.

[The Don]

Well XXX, as you yourself said Range Rovers have a problem of high maintenance costs. This is not something which is shared by European cars in general. We have to speak relatively of course. And when I speak of price tag I include the associative cost of ownership including cost of regular maintenance etc. European cars are relatively more expensive to maintain due to having to take them to specialists and higher spare part costs owing to scarcity. If there were more examples around some of these problems will get resolved automatically.

And as for University students, well yes you are right, there is no question due to a better and stronger social security people including students are relatively better off than say the ordinary student from an ordinary family. But I work for a University and I think I can speak better than most of issues of student debt. But that issue is really beyond the topic under discussion.

And you are absolutely right, until you get to a certain position in your career, its hard for anybody anywhere in the world.

[JwesT]

This topic is getting interesting by the minute so thought of poking my head and stir things up a bit.

IMO yes Sri Lankans are bit conservative BUT there are very good reasons for it. I’ve pointed few out in my earlier posts so I’m not going to list them again.

My good man Don I doubt people will buy European cars even if the price tag is low. A good example is the second generation Range Rover. We discussed about this in another thread and everyone agreed even though it looks brilliant due to its high maintenance and reliability issues it is not a viable option to have as a daily runner.

As I’ve said before it really is useless to compare the lifestyle of a developed country with a developing nation. But I do believe life is some what atleast by a fraction is easier for them compared to us. There are rules and regulations to ensure that everyone has a decent standard of living. Both interest rate and inflation is very low and people have a fair share of access to debt markets. Current credit crunch was triggered due to this fact. And they also live large. No matter what your income westerners make sure to go on atleast one holiday per year. They would rather live a life like that off their credit cards and over drafts than cutting down expenses.

I do believe student loans are a piss take. There no set deadline for the repayment plus it depends on the income. I find it quite hard to believe that some student opt out of going to uni solely because of the student loan. Actually if you are from a less fortunate family you don’t have to pay back the loan at all.

JWest…. Where can I start. First of all I think it’s an insult to call every one who owns a super car in UK as playboys. For majority having such a car is a symbol of their success and hard work. It’s another ‘piece’ for the trophy cabinet. One of the traders I work with is so confident that he’ll get a thumping bonus this year he has already started hunting for an Aston.

I also find it very hard to believe that there were no ‘coloured’ individuals in you batch. Unless you went to a community collage up north or you did a mickey mouse course like PGA golf management or American studies.

Last but not least until you climb to a certain level in carrier ladder life is hard for everyone regardless where you are.

And Leo I know there are only had full of fancy SUV’s in SL. My point is people who can afford such a luxury go to extreme lengths to stand out of the crowd.

Yes there are many students who don't go to uni because of the loan. maybe u haven't met many, but I have come across quite a few...

For ur information, I went to the university ranked 1 in whole of the UK by The Guardian for my field of study which is Mechanical Engineering. I don't know much about mickey mouse courses mate, maybe u could explain a bit..... Have u studied that? As about believing me, I don't really care u believe me or not, I couldn't care less.

Edited December 6, 2007 by JwesT

[Parak]

I totally disagree with this comment. Don’t you think the definition of the word 'cool' vary from person to person? You may look cooler inside a B4 but a 40 year old may look as if he's in a middle of a midlife crisis.

IMO SL people do try their best to express themselves with car they own. Who’s been buying every single model D*MO bring down, little green men from mars?????? Popularity of 'dinky' SUV is another great example.

If depreciation and high maintenance cost is not an issue i'm sure everyone will love to own a European brand. At the end of the day this is a developing nation and it does make sense for majority of the people to pursue the value for money proposition.

Bulshit

I have a Kiwi friend there have been using BMWs and always updated the with BMWs. This young boke(student) bought a Toyota MR2 (second hand) that was the first japanease car they ever bought. After that their family fleet gradually changed into Japanese car.

Another example is a SriLankan living in Aussi bought a BMW X5 brand new because he wanted a Prestige Badge. Then he bought Mitsubusi Pajero as a second vehicle because he needed a car with 7 seats. Now he very rarly drive X5 because he does not like the feeling. Pajero is half the price of X5

I am writing this because in SriLanka it is better to get a common model that suits to the SriLankan poket and roads. But if you want to show off get a prestige brand and related costs in repairing it