Buying a car for the first time? Here are the factors to consider

Hi JM,

Other than the two wheeler Black Mamba, I have never owned any other self-propelling machine (not even a wheelbarrow). At 27, I now feel I am ready to own a Subaru. Specifically the SJ5 non-Turbo that you’ve previously recommended.

The problem is, I am quite reserved and will be the first to own a car in my (extended) family. Too much information? No. The point is, I don’t know from who, where and how to buy it. How do I know I am buying a “good” unit? I have had the cash for three months and can’t seem to get a good car. Importation is an option. So is a yard.

PS - I am a man, I should be more embarrassed than your last week’s writer.

Kind regards,

AW

Hi AW,

There are several ways out of your predicament, the first being what you’ve just done: ASK. Now that you have asked, prepare for a slew of unhelpful answers:

1. I once did an epic piece on “How To Buy A Car” back in 2010. What I wrote then still holds now, but it boils down to this:

- Do your due diligence. Investigate the car, from the veracity of its mileage, to the ownership, to whether or not it is being looked for by the DCI.

- Do not be fooled by number plates. Kenyans have this silly mentality of buying a KD-something for some money, while overlooking a KC-something in the same or even better condition costing less money. Our obsession with number plates is a weakness we need to overcome. Don’t fall into this hole

- Do a test drive to listen for noises and watch out for handling characteristics that may not be the norm.

- Compare a lot. Compare prices across sellers and compare prices across models. Do not be in a rush and you will land yourself a good deal.

- Learn the red flags. They are many, for instance a fresh paint job could conceal a recent crash, someone asking for fuel money upfront to deliver the vehicle to you is clearly a conman, and a Corolla 100 with a KDE number plate has a history as shady as that of a retired pimp. There are many other red flags, too many to exhaust here, but they can be learnt by joining a forum such as mine (97,000 members strong and growing) or simply buying my books, now available online.

No, I wasn’t rude, that was me controlling my narrative…

Hallo Baraza,

I read your answer to a reader that did not subscribe to your opinion on Nissans. We all have different opinions but your response disappointed me. You were very rude in your response, which was so unprofessional from someone who commands respect from people who own cars or are planning to buy one. It was also unnecessary of you to be arrogant to the extent of you telling him of your achievements on motor journalism. It’s your personal achievement, so keep it to yourself.

I wish you could have just ignored all that he said and gone on straight to answering his question, by doing so, you would have been the bigger person in the equation but instead you ended up being petty and childish.

Monica

Hi Monica,

Rudeness is a matter of conjecture, so one man’s acerbic response is another man’s par for the course. That said, I extolled my achievements in the motoring industry because if I don’t, who will? How else will people know I am qualified to hold down this responsibility I have? I am proud of my achievements, not only do they enhance my sense of self-worth, I have a background and I want the community in that background to be proud of their son and understand that my birth was not a bad investment.

I could have ignored his jabs and gone straight to answering his question, but it is important for me to control my narrative. You see, I have been on this column for a good 11 years and many are the times I have been accused of being, or saying things that I do not recall at all, and no evidence exists to support these accusations. Sometimes these accusations reach crucial quarters who hold a large amount of influence over my professional engagements. I have a few examples I can list:

There once existed something called the “media rally”, which is a rally (the motorsport, not the political gathering) with the entry list of contenders exclusively comprising members of the fourth estate. I am in the media industry, and someone pegged me to participate since at the time my popularity was on the rise and I had created quite a furore with my witty and insightful content. Well, I never made it into the entry list. Why? Someone whispered in someone’s ear that “Baraza cannot drive a car with a manual transmission”. This, of course, is not true, in fact, of all the cars I’ve owned, only one has had an automatic transmission. And just like that, I lost an opportunity to prove my mettle in competitive driving.

Car manufacturers and dealerships: most of the higher-ups in these corporates don’t really have the time for my superfluous writing style, they are busy people. And I understand that. They therefore consult when certain decisions have to be made, decisions such as giving me a vehicle to test drive or flying me out of the country to give me a vehicle to test drive on foreign soil. Pretty mundane stuff for a motoring journalist, right up to the point where you are told you cannot get that opportunity because “you bashed our vehicle”. What vehicle they refer to remains unknown because these are words I have heard from the marketing departments of brands I have never mentioned in this column, so one wonders what exactly was written that offended them, or is the offense was failure to mention the brand in the first place.

These are the reasons I tell it as it is when someone attempts to discredit my professionalism. The latest allegation is that “Baraza hates Nissan”, which, again, is false. Why would I hate a brand? I don’t work for a rival brand - the Nation Media Group does not manufacture motor vehicles, in fact, their only involvement in the motoring industry is through me. Nissan was kind enough to install me into the business class seat of a passenger jet which dropped me somewhere in Hollywood where I spent a week or so hammering GTRs round a racetrack and plowing mud in a Patrol SUV, among many (very many) other Nissan vehicles. Why would I hate the brand?

I have to control my narrative, if I don’t, someone else will, and that someone could be having intentions that are not exactly honourable.

All about roof rails and why baby mirrors on SUVs are necessary

Hi Mr Baraza,

I’m a big fan and long-time reader and user of your content. I have two questions. Roof Rails on SUVs: Are they functional? Is there a way to safely use them for storage? What additional modifications are required? Will police stop me to inspect what I’m carrying? The baby mirror on SUVs that are located behind/above the front left headlights of SUVs imported from Japan: What are they for and why do the cars have them? Is there a way to safely remove them without damaging the car body? I think they make cars like a Land Cruiser or Range Rover look ugly.

Hello,

Always nice to hear from a big fan. Let’s get down to business, shall we?

Roof rails: Yes, they’re functional. They’re meant to be a convenient attachment point for lifestyling devices such as kayaks, bicycles, surfboards and rooftop boxes into which you can place more lifestyling devices such as tents and whatnot. You don’t need any more modifications beyond the actual hooks and attachments that serve as the interface between the roof rail and your lifestyling device. The police have a very unique and interesting way of interpreting the law, so their reaction when you bear down on them in your SUV, on your way to lifestyling a bit in some highly Instagrammable out-of-the-way location, with bikes, kayaks and boxes flapping in the wind above your car, can only be described as “unpredictable”.

Baby Mirror: these, as you describe, are usually mounted on the front nearside of the vehicle, either on the leading edge close to the bonnet or on the wing just slightly to the side of the leading edge. These are used for two purposes: They’re corner markers to show exactly how far your bonnet extends so that you don’t ding your bumper on a wall as you park.

They enable you to actually see the bumper itself and whatever low altitude obstacles lie ahead of it, obstacles too low to observe from the driver’s seat but not low enough to leave your vehicle unscathed should you drive over them. Depending on the mirror design, some also allow you to see the front nearside edge of the vehicle and the wheel attached there, for the same purpose of observing low altitude obstacles that could otherwise cause grief

These mirrors may not be pretty in your eyes, but they’re functional in most applications, however, if you don’t like them, you can always remove them. Yes, they’re detachable.

Is it true that the fluid applied in tyres to prevent punctures makes cars wobble?

Dear Mr Baraza,
Thanks so much for your kind and incisive advice to motorists. I read your advice to one Mr Njuguna on Wednesday September 15 2021 regarding his Toyota Harrier, which would constantly wobble when he applied brakes when doing 100km per hour. I had the same problem with my Pajero iO and a mechanic told me that many drivers complain of the same problem. One of the causes, according to him, is the use of a fluid that prevents punctures, one I had used on my two front wheels. He explained that most mechanics don’t know that one bottle of the fluid is supposed to cover all four wheels, so they put a full bottle per wheel, a factor that causes vibration at cruising speeds. Have you ehard about this?
Peter Kingori

Hi King’ori,
Yes, I have heard about this, but it is a bit odd since the foam (the fluid foams up to fill the inside of the tyre) repair kit comes with specific vehicles running specific tyres, it’s not a universal cure. You may be onto something here, and I hope our Harrier guy gets to read this.

Email your motoring questions to Baraza: [email protected]