My mechanic friend is Zimbabwean. His name is Simba. Naturally this means he has an affinity for all things Mercedes Benz. In Zim, your success is most evident when you drive a Benz. It is a law and pretty much indisputable, what remains is for the constitution to have it in writing. He considers himself a maestro in Germanic dealings, a head honcho who should be consulted if a topic involves mechanicals of any sort, especially motoring issues.
He is the only vehicle doctor with a degree for such an undertaking, in fact, he believes in his abilities so much that he once fixed a Mercedes Benz that was in Phakalane while he was in Broadhurst…by telephone. If you were to gouge out his eyes, Simba would have his other senses superimposed so much that he would be able to immediately tell you what’s ailing your vehicle just by the sound or feel using nothing but his tongue and sense of smell. But for such talent, your vehicle would have to be German. This of cause translates to meaning that the guy has little regard for Japanese or American cars.
It means the guy will grudgingly take a look under your Altezza, at the same time giving you a verbal beating, all the while extolling the goodness of buying German cars, as such avoiding this very situation of him tinkering with your glorified Toyota. He hates BMWs (which are German); he says they are weak cars for boys with pimples and oily faces whose only reason is to show off to barely legal teens and confused single mothers. He also hates Range Rovers, though I’m yet to garner exactly why.
As you can imagine, the fellow makes for very engaging conversations about cars. I have spent quite a few hours with him having heated debates about his outlandish definitions. I have journeyed with him as he attends clients’ cars in various villages and he drives a bright yellow Beetle that, according to him, has never seen service or gotten him stranded in the 5 odd years he has owned it. Why? Because it’s German. And so it was that he asked me what kind of cars do the readers of this newspaper drive? I had no idea.
I put it to him that most readers were people especially interested in business, therefore quite careful with their finances and likely to make robust purchases. He put it forward that yes, these are guys that are either making it or faking it. Those that are making it are likely to buy local high-end cars, which mean that those faking it will have to buy overseas exclusive used cars.
If you buy the same car in the international market, you will get a massive discount, especially in the UK or Japan where owners don’t keep cars for long and are taxed on their emissions.
Simba testifies that his garage has seen a flow of traffic consisting of both local and imports, impressing upon his clients that most of these cars are identical, save for a few Euro-Compliant specs that are meant for emissions control and can easily be swapped for local items. Naturally I asked if this then means that he approves of locals buying high end machinery that don’t have dealership support here and he had an unquestionable yes. He reasons that, look, if for example you want a Mercedes Benz C63 AMG locally, you’d have to shell out around P400, 000 for a pristine used example and about P300, 000 or less for a well-used bordering on abused example.
But if you buy the same car in the international market, you will get a massive discount, especially in the UK or Japan where owners don’t keep cars for long and are taxed on their emissions. An AMG is a high performance engine and as such emits more particles than a non-performance engine, meaning then it is taxed more overseas, meaning owners aren’t eager to keep such costly machines. They sell them off while they are still pristine but at a much lower price than the local counterparts.
A few sensors and filters will have to be changed for imports because of fuel differences. The mechanic claims that most buyers are not aware of this, which means that they are always baffled by the regularity of their imports needing service. He says this is caused by the fact that the fuel that cars burn overseas is much cleaner than local fuel, therefore the sensors get super spiky when they encounter our heat, unclean fuel and dust, therefore demanding much more frequent service. A simple swap will ensure such bugbears are taken care of.
That said, he reasons the international market is open for those that are willing to pay Corolla money for a mildly used Bentley, Mercedes, Range Rover, Audi or any exotic you are prepared to plump for. But one should do their research and be sure of local support. That failing, one can always service their priced exotica in South Africa because those guys have dealerships for such machines. In the end, no one is seen as making or faking it if the measure is of what you drive because an AMG is still an AMG whether you bought it at Naledi Motors or some overseas shop. He concludes that in any case, there is insurance, whether you have bought locally or elsewhere.