A city of 16 million people and a whole lot of cars: a lot of noise is often made about being able to drive in the state of New York. I’m sure a lot of people who have that opinion will change their minds just after driving for five minutes in Lagos. Here you have to worry about bad driving, bad roads, Armed robbers with AK47 riffles, area boys etc etc. I dare say if you can drive in Lagos, you can drive anywhere in the world.
Lagos, a city where most people do not go to driving schools, they learn on the job. A city where right of way at a round about is almost never obeyed. A city, where traffic officials do not even know the contents of the High way code. A City where when changing lanes on the freeway, the right of way belongs to the bigger vehicle, the more daring driver or the guy in a uniform. A city where not understanding traffic rules is deemed cool. Lagos, a city where the bigger vehicle always wins!!!!
So we go on, what is the ideal vehicle in a city where the size of what you drive matters? It’s clear a bigger vehicle intimidates the next guy. However, this presents a draw back of its own because almost always the city is locked down in traffic and as Lagos drivers are known for their impatience, Lane change is the order of the day. Any small space, even the side walk is not spared. Going against traffic used to be the order of the day before the introduction of LASTMA (I hate those guys)! A problem now arises when driving around in a very big car. The smaller, nimbler cars, Kia Picanto, Nissan sunny, VW Golf, out- maneuver the SUV’s. A slight variation to this rule is would be the Bus drivers (especially the Vanagon drivers, officially known as the Volkswagen Transporter) that’s a topic for another day though!
It goes without saying that the ideal car for Lagos has to able to 1. Maneuver in traffic, 2. Be medium sized, 3. Withstand mad traffic, 4. Go off-road* yes, driving on paved roads is very much similar to off-road driving in Lagos, 5. Have good ground clearance, be able to get unto sidewalks and wade through water, and finally have outstanding MPG values. .
Starting with the process of elimination, large SUV’s are good, they intimidate other drivers but are not easily maneuverable. Smaller cars are maneuverable but they don’t intimidate other drivers. So the answer lies in a combination of car like and SUV like features. No other segment better personifies this than the Cross over utility vehicle segment (CUV). Some models come with all wheel drive, though not real auxiliary gears and do very well on sandy roads. A prominent member, arguably the founding member, the Toyota RAV4 posses’ car like and SUV like features in near perfect combinations. High ground clearance, medium sized and relatively priced. A 1998 model is just around 1.4 million naira about the price of a Baby boy (Honda Accord). A classic example of their utilitarian prowess can be seen on the Oniru Bye Pass in V.I, you’re stuck in the sand while trying to beat traffic in your baby boy, and a RAV4 breezes past with ease while you ponder how you’ll pay money to the ‘Boy’s already lurking and hovering like vultures who’ll push your car out from the sand you’re stuck in, I’ll bet it’d make you wonder why you didn’t buy the RAV4 since they’re almost identical in pricing?
So for a city with mad traffic, de-ranged bus drivers and potholes large enough to be seen from outer space( like the Palm beaches in Dubai), the ideal vehicle is a Toyota Rav4( any of the 3 generations will do). Though I will recommend a BMW X3, a Mercedes GLK or an Audi Q3 just because I love German Engineered cars.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
I dread that car!
Reliability! Defined as the quality of bring dependable or reliable. Reliable itself is defined as being worthy of trust.
Trust a word which must’ve been un-synonymous with at least ‘one’ car you’ve own, your dad’s own or you’ve known someone whose own 1 in the not too distant past. A car that has the “Penchant” to misbehave just when you need it the most. A fitting synonym would be “embarrassment”. Just like gravity, that pulls all matter to earth, these cars pull embarrassment to you. They have no shame, no fear, at any time, they can choose to disappoint.
Tales of such story(s) are plenty from my past, Yes even as much as my Dad, my brother and I fixed the cars in the house by ourselves, they still knew 1 thing more than anything else; choose the right time to “embarrass” you. My Dad’s BMW 520 was so good at it. I remember one very clear instance, this full optioned kokolet I had just met through a friend. I went to her hostel to see her, and after forming ’PAPA’s it was time to leave. I got in the car, kicked the engine, it rolled but never started. I had to beg the guys that lived close by to help me push the car into the kokolet’s compound (In a very sandy, sandy place). I came back the next day after she had gone to school and towed the car away. It cost me 7500(It was a faulty fuel pump that just suddenly went bad and I was a corp. member at the time).
My brother was not so lucky either, he once went to check on a shortie that was in his class, he drove my Dad’s Regular Benz (200) there. He was in 100L at the time and after getting to her hostel, it was time to leave, as women are always known to always show off. She called more than half the hostel to see my brother as he left. And as the trend seems to go, the car refused to start (now let me add, both cars are automatics(520+Regular)so pushing it to start was not an option). In Retrospect, most times these cars choose to be bad were times that women were involved! How strange!
To put things in clear perspective, I’m in no way saying that, neither the BMW 520 nor the Benz were bad cars, the BMW up until we sold it off still clocked 180km/H, EFFORTLESSLY, without any rattles, no vibration, and no un-necessary feedback from the steering wheels etc. On a day it performed, it outclassed even a baby boy! But this was a car manufactured in 1978! Yes the 1st generation 5 series. My friends nicknamed it “LORD LUGARD”. They say it was so old that Lord Lugard rode in it during the Amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914! If you know anything about BMers it’s the fact that they are like women; they need immediate, precise and capable attention. At the time, I could not afford to maintain it and as such , it chose to let me know that I was not caring. As any woman would!
Today, such stories as your car”messing” up are not too common. The reason being as a senior colleague ‘Debo’ told me that the cars people buy is much newer. Averagely around 8yrs. That’s one of the few things to have come out of the FG of late that I consider good. That and the fact that the banks are stronger and as such can empower people to buy newer cars. Even today’s mechanics are better equipped to handle these cars, and do not immediately blame every ‘start’ related problem on relays like they once did.
The Japanese cars ‘seem’ to have won the perception battle; the battle that their cars are dependable and reliable. Please do not get irritated at this point; I believe that Germans make the best cars in the world. I also believe that all other car manufacturers do not exist. Even when I chose to go for the ‘reliable’ car, I opted for a golf. I can’t be seen owning or driving a Japanese!
Trust a word which must’ve been un-synonymous with at least ‘one’ car you’ve own, your dad’s own or you’ve known someone whose own 1 in the not too distant past. A car that has the “Penchant” to misbehave just when you need it the most. A fitting synonym would be “embarrassment”. Just like gravity, that pulls all matter to earth, these cars pull embarrassment to you. They have no shame, no fear, at any time, they can choose to disappoint.
Tales of such story(s) are plenty from my past, Yes even as much as my Dad, my brother and I fixed the cars in the house by ourselves, they still knew 1 thing more than anything else; choose the right time to “embarrass” you. My Dad’s BMW 520 was so good at it. I remember one very clear instance, this full optioned kokolet I had just met through a friend. I went to her hostel to see her, and after forming ’PAPA’s it was time to leave. I got in the car, kicked the engine, it rolled but never started. I had to beg the guys that lived close by to help me push the car into the kokolet’s compound (In a very sandy, sandy place). I came back the next day after she had gone to school and towed the car away. It cost me 7500(It was a faulty fuel pump that just suddenly went bad and I was a corp. member at the time).
My brother was not so lucky either, he once went to check on a shortie that was in his class, he drove my Dad’s Regular Benz (200) there. He was in 100L at the time and after getting to her hostel, it was time to leave, as women are always known to always show off. She called more than half the hostel to see my brother as he left. And as the trend seems to go, the car refused to start (now let me add, both cars are automatics(520+Regular)so pushing it to start was not an option). In Retrospect, most times these cars choose to be bad were times that women were involved! How strange!
To put things in clear perspective, I’m in no way saying that, neither the BMW 520 nor the Benz were bad cars, the BMW up until we sold it off still clocked 180km/H, EFFORTLESSLY, without any rattles, no vibration, and no un-necessary feedback from the steering wheels etc. On a day it performed, it outclassed even a baby boy! But this was a car manufactured in 1978! Yes the 1st generation 5 series. My friends nicknamed it “LORD LUGARD”. They say it was so old that Lord Lugard rode in it during the Amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914! If you know anything about BMers it’s the fact that they are like women; they need immediate, precise and capable attention. At the time, I could not afford to maintain it and as such , it chose to let me know that I was not caring. As any woman would!
Today, such stories as your car”messing” up are not too common. The reason being as a senior colleague ‘Debo’ told me that the cars people buy is much newer. Averagely around 8yrs. That’s one of the few things to have come out of the FG of late that I consider good. That and the fact that the banks are stronger and as such can empower people to buy newer cars. Even today’s mechanics are better equipped to handle these cars, and do not immediately blame every ‘start’ related problem on relays like they once did.
The Japanese cars ‘seem’ to have won the perception battle; the battle that their cars are dependable and reliable. Please do not get irritated at this point; I believe that Germans make the best cars in the world. I also believe that all other car manufacturers do not exist. Even when I chose to go for the ‘reliable’ car, I opted for a golf. I can’t be seen owning or driving a Japanese!
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