NISSAN ALL-NEW GLOBAL VAN - NV200 VANETTE

When I was younger, so much younger than today, I wanted Nissan's Vanette so much. Then the desire for that van faded. Proof that I really wanted to score a van, I eventually got the Toyota Innova van-wagon (pun intended). For Nissan fans, and van would be buyers... Nissan has this NV200 that carries the rich heritage of the Vanette. Hope that the new Nissan All-new Global Van will land in the Philippine shores someday soon. With 7 to 8 seating capacity, a wagon form, a claim for sedan like comfort & targeted for modern business use and a bigger family vehicle, looks like its a direct competitor of Toyota Innova to me. Ayus na din para kumonti ang Innova sa daan.

Nissan Motor Co.,Ltd.(NML) today announced the start of the pre-launch sales for the all-new NV200 van in Japan. Following its global debut at the 79th International Geneva Motor Show in March, Japan will be the first market to launch this next generation global van starting mid-May.

The compact NV200 Vanette will be offered in two configurations - the Van DX light commercial van and the Wagon 16S people carrier.

The NV200 Vanette* has been designed to meet the demands of a wide-range of customers for a functional and versatile vehicle that delivers great value-for-money.

The compact van combines intelligent layout and packaging to deliver a class-leading 4.1 cubic of loading space. The wagon is a seven-seater people carrier offering a more spacious interior with car-like comfort and features.

Powered by the 1.6L HR16DE petrol engine, the van also offers excellent driving performance without compromising fuel efficiency, for a low total cost of ownership.

From here.

Lakas-tama, Busina

Yesterday, I went to my fave car accessory dealer. I finally had extra dough to put the much needed parking backing sensor. Surprise surprise, mura lang pala ang rear side sensor.

The one I got is branded "Black Panther" Oooooohhhh. Pretty sleek name! And to add, packaging says... "STATE OF THE ART COLLISION AVOIDANCE SYSTEM." Yeah boy, priced at P2000 and state of the art! State of the art from the state of China.



I reserved P3500 yesterday for the sensor, so may change pang P1500. I just used it for an added horn. A BOSCH EC6 Compact Plus horn (from Turkey) giving off a truck-like horn that's really loud. Pang-asar lang sa makukulit na pedestrian at PUJs.

It costs only P1200 (including the switch & relay). The horn is an add-on, I did not remove the stock horn. I can set what horn to use via the switch.

My Ferrari

You Want MPV Space? Get the Innova.

Being involved with Leoque Furnitures, time to time, I am loading our Innova with wood furnitures. And this week we loaded 3 table consoles and transported/delivered the goods, err, woods.

How we were able to dump 3 table consoles and then some? We removed the rear seats. The middle seats are foldable going towards the front.

And look at the space we got...




True to the promise, the Innova can be used for business & hauling and will still look fine for malling, city driving, etc.

Don't Trust The Park Boy

Our innova named "ilova" suffered the first shit, er, hit of its early life. I was parking at a busy street near Dapitan-UST and guided by this parkboy. Before backing to park. I needed to move forward just a little to park the innova well. But a taxi was in the way. Steering to the left, the park boy said it had clearance. Bad mistake... I listened followed a park boy who really doesn't care but to get his P20 bucks. I hit the taxi. Good thing, the taxi I hit is old and full of dents and hits itself, and the taxi driver seemed to be in a rush. He got out of his car and said some expletives towards the park boy then he went away after that short fumes. But still, our car took the hit and paid P1500 to fix the scratch. Driving Lesson No. 1,204: DO NOT TRUST THE PARK BOY.

Innova Mirror Guard, err, Delayer

After some angelic soul/s took the side mirrors of our "ilova," we considered getting a set from "Evangelista Motorway" for surplus mirror set. But, I was afraid I'll get my own stolen mirrors from where I'll be buying. I live near Evangelista St., surely the thief just sent/sold my mirrors out there. And, being ilova only 3 weeks old, it doesn't deserve surplus parts muna. So we bought from Toyota Manila Bay. Price is P1734 a piece for original Toyota Innova mirrors. Total replacement cost for the stolen mirrors is P3468.00.

Since I'll be parking on same predicament as it was when when the mirrors were stolen, I ordered a mirror grill or guard. Quoted price was P2350.00. I was actually ordering the grill or removable metal housing for the mirror. I was surprised, when I was to pick up the mirror guard, it is not as expected. The thing is of different make, protection and usage.

This mirror guard kinda lines the mirror housing for it to be secured. As planned, the installaer says, the thief can extricate the mirror no more. The guard is just adhesively (3m) fastened to the mirror housing body then a sealant is applied. It sure looks UGLY but I need to have this.

Second, this mirror guard makes the mirror visibility smaller by a guess 10% to 15%.

Third, this thing aint 100% theft proof. In fact, I don't call this a "guard," actually I call this the "delayer!" A thief can still use a flat screw driver to have this lining guard un-installed and use the same flat screw driver to get the mirror again. But again, no choice, already ordered and "ilova"needed some kind of protection. This mirror guard is P2350.00 from Toyota dealer.

What would really be nice is that grill mirror guard. Sadly, Toyota doesn't supply this, it can be had from customized metal/steel fabricators welder.

Finally, Innova E isn't preloaded with keyless entry and the token alarm. I had the set installed the other day as well. Around P4000 for the labor and installation. It's the Taiwan brand that I had them installed. The US alarm keyless entry set is P7500.00. Almost double so to Taiwan I went.

In the Philippines, got to shell out P9000.00 just to get new and protect the mirrors. Haypota!

Good Effin Morning Says My Secu

see, no mirror

Tangina talaga mga tao oh, ke bago bago ng Innova tinira na agad ang side mirrors. Gazillion sighs.

To make it worse, the sekyu rang up the intercom at around 4.30am to tell me the news eh 2am na ko nakatulog. I finished the DELAYED TELECAST of TnT and Air21.



Blame time:

Una, ala talaga 'pinas eh, the society is somewhat hate to say it, rotten. Wherever and whatever and whenever it is, sa government offices, private practice, sa copland, kanya kanya gulangan. (Kaya nga nakagawa ako ng entry na anatomy of hulidap. Ayun napost sa streetcred to where it's fits.)

Pangalawa, sa Toyota agent, she promised the free car cover, still no delivery of cover right now. My older car during its parking tenure, we usually put the cover on, then wrapped a chain sa side mirror and padlocked it. If it has cover, kahit cloth pa yan, may one level of protection eh.

Tatlo, ako for not allotting some bucks for the installation of the alarm. It needs to be equipped with that. Innova E comes with no keyless entry and alarm.

Apat, the sekyu. Pero mildly lang. I can't blame him too much, he can not possibly do roving 24hours. (At eto pa, 2x during our 4.30 pm phone chat, he offers that he'll just pay the mirrors.)

Lima, the developer of this building. Any condo has to have a CCTV. Kahit 4 channel CCTV lang. Deterence yun, malaman lang ng mangsisikwat ng side mirror na may surveillance e he'll have second thoughts.

A NOTE TO WOULD BE UNIT BUYERS OF ANY CONDO: DO NOT BUY A UNIT IF IT HAS NO CCTV. ( To contractors/developers, go to www.ecbuyph.com to get a DVR or CCTV.)

A phone call to Toyota dealer and the insurance is coming. Ill ask if the warranty can kick in in this situation. I'll canvas too for a new set of mirrors, alarms and a fuckin lockable side mirror grill.

Car Sold, Buy New Innova & the Poo-lis

Oooops I did it again.

Last last last week, I was able to sell my car via the internet. I posted on 3 sites (Multiply, Sulit & eBay.ph). Literally, within minutes, I was able to get inquiries. And just 3 days later, the car is sold.

Talk about the power of the internet.

Eraserheads have this song “SUPER PROXY,” and the classic eheads tune talks about the internet. “Ito ang kailangan mo, idial ang telepono.” (Still dial-up modem back in the mid 90s). Really true, internet, we really need. Well, no need to dial the phone now considering much of the internet pop are going DSL & highspeed internet.

For the record, the buyer who bought my car is Sulit.com.ph referred. Last Friday, he paid and I cried. Nahh.

3 years ago, I was able to sell our old car to and you guessed it, via internet as well. It was via BUYNSELLPLUS.com.

More than ever (12 years or so after Eraserheads penned the song), indeed, internet is now a SUPER PROXY. No need for an agent, no need 3rd party car dealer, no nothing.

And so the search for a replacement started 2 weeks ago.

Because I am doing all sorts of rackets & business, I wanted SUV, VAN, AUV, etc.

Finally, it was between Crosswind versus Toyota Innova. At the end of the day, we decided to get the Innova. Among other reasons... we like Gas, Toyota parts are abound, the Toyota Dealer (manila bay) is near our loc for future check-ups, Innova has a lot of variants (gas or diesel and J, E, G & V models), you can easily and cheaply dress up an Innova, from what I read - Innova has good mileage per liter, its relatively fast

to celebrate the approval of the loan and the delivery only after 2 days of application, we got nips and nuts

We got the Innova E Model. Ammort is around P9500 a month for 5 years. That's after a 50% DP amounting to more/less P450 grand.

Standard free mat (cheap looking ones), free tint, free rust proofing are bundled. Car cover is not included but our good Toyota Agent was kind enough to give us another free car cover from her own pocket. Nevermind that the one she's giving us is only less P1000 variety. That can not possibly water proof. It's what I call the starter cover.

Also, another discount we got is on the insurance. The insurance, rather than paying over P30000, we paid around P20,000.00. Instead of giving us further discount on the unit itself, she deducted it from the insurance.

I have driven the Toyota Innova E right now for about a 250km. It's way too early, but as of now, I am loving driving it. Very quiet engine jut like driving a sedan. Three times I used is to haul some items and boxes, the seats at the back are easy to fold.

Only, it's stuck at our parkplace for now. No plate still. You can only drive a new one for 5 to 7 days. Am waiting for a new dummy invoice. You know, it still has no LTO plate number. It's the S.I. you present to the SHARKS. These SHARKS are some members of the force, the thickfaced dudes masquerading as officers. Hey, not all of them are SHARKS and PIGS and CROCS. There are lots of good ones left. But the bad ones, they're far too many. I have encountered to many traffic crocs not to feel this way towards these traffic enforcers.

Just two days ago, a Police Car patrol inadvertently stopped in front of us and flagged us for NO PLATE. This happened during lunch time and you know what these guys are looking for around this time of day. Lunch money baby!

Anyways, being just 20 meters away from our condo, I said to the Poo-lis, ok, I'll pull over there, pointing at my designated park location. Ok, he said and off the went away. Nice! If the intention really is to check if I had the paper, why not go ahead and check me. Kala ng mga loko di ako nakatira area.

In fact, where I reside and having windows directly looking over one Makati busy avenue, I see these Yellow Boys doing their thing day in & day out. Their favorite customers are the motorcycles and delivery vans. I see the dirty job they do and the on the spot license redemption they do.

One time, as I was crossing the street at noon, one of the Yellow Boys said, "tang ina wala pa ko nahuhuli gutom na ko"

Puhlease Pulis, act like one.

Baby, Drive Makes Me Crazy

Just last month, I paid P24200 for replacement my car's stabilizer link, drive shaft and steering boot, all brake pads, all caliper repair kits, caliper piston, etc. Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, that amount aint joke. Last week, I had the underneath bolts and nuts all retightened, costing me another grand. And today, it's at shop, the rack bar set (steering system) is to be replaced setting me back another P7000.00. Man oh man, another double digit cost repair and replacement in 2 months, I could actually put this car on sale and look the other way.