I want to go into taxi business, which of these two cars should I buy

I am a young man that wants to venture into the Uber business, kindly advise me regarding these two brands: the Belta 1300cc either 2WD or 4WD or the Vitz RS or the normal one. Comment on fuel efficiency, maintenance, cost and durability. I look forward to your response.

Dennis King’oo 

Hi Dennis,

Did I just see Vitz RS? Wow, your Uber clients will love you, especially those on the clock. The RS is a performance car, what we call a hot hatch, and in the right hands, will hand more established equipment their own tails on hardpack and macadam.

Unfortunately, Uber X is a slightly more comfortable Uber and not one that can outrun 90 percent of the vehicles used by the police service, while the Chap Chap in “Uber Chap Chap” is not exactly what it sounds like, so let’s just say the Vitz RS is overkill.

The pukka Vitz isn’t, though, and I daresay, is the one to go for here simply because of the one thing I have always criticised my readers for asking about: resale value. The difference with you is you are shopping for a car for commercial reasons, so returns are definitely on the priority list. 

Part of those returns include how much you can shed the vehicle for once you feel you have squeezed as much economic juice out of it as you planned or desired. 

The Belta, while cheaper to buy, will not hold its value as well as the Vitz due to the laws of demand and more demand.

You won’t need 4WD either. Yes, I know sometimes taxi drivers are cajoled, finagled and wrangled into picking or dropping passengers in locales where no sane human would ever consider living, but how often does this happen? 

Also, cancellation is a feature of this service, and like the D.A.R.E message for kids to resist drugs goes: Just Say No.

Get the Vitz, the regular one... or even the RS, you could have a little fun with it during your downtime if you are into that sort of thing. Just kidding, get the regular one.

Please don’t sell your Nissan X-Trail, keep it…

Dear Baraza,

I am a keen reader of your articles. I currently have a Nissan X-Trail YOM 2005 which has served me very well. I am however putting it up for sale since I am undertaking a project which will reduce my disposable income with a significant amount hence the need to save on fuel and also on maintenance. I am looking to buy the Mazda Axela 2013 or a Honda Insight 2013. Please advise which car to settle for or any other car/model which will help me achieve the objectives outlined above while still maintaining some level of comfort and space.

Best Regards,
Ngure

Hello Ngure,

Allow me to quickly skim over the Axela and the Insight, which I have talked about before (Mazda: nice to drive, nice to look at, no spares. Honda: may have transmission gremlins, difficult to diagnose, some come with too many spark plugs for no discernible reasons.) and go back to the Nissan X-Trail, and no, I have discussed the X-Trail before, sometimes to the chagrin of the mother company, but that is neither here nor there.

I want to discuss whether or not you should really sell the X-Trail. Upgrading is always costly, unless you are upgrading to a stolen vehicle in which case I will leave your case to be handled by the CID, but let’s say you are buying, not TWOCcing.

Kenyans buy number plates, which is why we have very many imports and the plate changes - once an annual event, this is now random and occur every few months. The tendency to buy number plates at the expense of other more important factors means selling a vehicle already used in Kenya at a pleasant price is an exercise in futility unless you give the car away.

So? This means to buy a 2013 saloon car means you have to top up whatever you get from selling the X-Trail, money you say is running short. This now brings me to a paper I once did concerning fuel economy and whether “downgrading” to a smaller vehicle, invariably newer, really adds up.

It doesn’t.

Do the math and see if the price difference between a KCZ/KDA saloon car and whatever plate your X-Trail has really covers whatever you are trying to save in consumption and maintenance, and keep in mind that newer vehicles are more complex, and while efficient fuel-wise, may be harder on the finances when repair times come around.

I once said a 40,000-dollar 2019 KIA once generated a $34,000 repair bill for things that did not look serious. A Prado J150 headlamp costs Sh150,000. You can see where I am going with this, right?

There is something that can be done even with the reduced revenue. Change some habits. The X-Trail is not really thirsty if you go easy on the throttle.

And while it may be a Nissan, it’s a crossover whose progenitor was a pretend-SUV, which means it has some degree of robustness built into it, which in turn means it’s sturdier than those flimsy saloons you are thinking about, so maintenance schedules are fewer and further between. 

Also, you mention comfort and space. The saloons may offer better comfort but they cannot match the crossover for space. Do you really want to change cars now that you know all this? I think not.

Step down your need for speed and step up the meticulousness with which you care for the X-Trail and you will see the savings you are looking for. Buying a newer car will cost you money, it won’t save you money.
Keep the X-Trail.

I earn a basic salary of Sh80,000, which car would suit my paycheck?

Hey Baraza, 

What kind of a car would you recommend for a youth living in Nairobi with a basic income of about Sh80,000?

Anything Japanese will do, but it starts from how much you have saved then work your way forward from there. In the spirit of do as I say but not as I do, and in the interest of full disclosure, I was already on my fourth car by the time my paycheck hit that mark and yes, it was a 2.0-liter twin-turbo Subaru Legacy BH5 GT-B E-Tune II Revision D, the famous El Turbo, a.k.a The Renbatō.

I am not asking you to go down that path: a turbocharged Subaru, nay, a turbocharged anything carries grief with it if your income has not entered the six figures unless you are something special with motor vehicles and have good connections (but do I say), but in keeping with the spirit of full disclosure, some years down the line I lost the twin-turbo EJ208 when a simple gasket change led to a botched surgery, a painful death and a replacement heart that exceeded my monthly income (then), but it was a replacement heart vastly superior to the previous installation: it was an EJ20G from an Impreza WRX Version 7 and it is bullet-proof to a fault and to all faults, shrugging off whatever I threw at it save for bad fuel that once led to a Check Engine Light and the embarrassing entry into something called Safe Mode.

I may have gone a bit off topic here, but back to reality: get a small or medium-sized Japanese car, preferably one with four cylinders, less than 2500cc, no turbo, go easy on the throttle and take good care of it, you’ll be fine.

(Disclaimer: buying, owning and maintaining a vehicle on a basic income of Sh80,000 is heavily reliant on several other extant factors such as the existence of bonuses and supplementary revenues over and above the basic income, where you live - rent, etc - and how many dependents you have. Ultimately, the decision to run a car on that salary lies with you.)

I have my eye on the Subaru Outback BS 2015 model, should I get it?

Hi Baraza JM, 

I read your recent article advising on not going for the new Forester. I sadly agree from what I have heard from various mechanics. I currently drive the Forester SG5 version and have had it for a decade (KBN), lovely car, great handling, but with age a couple of issues keep popping up, but overall I absolutely love it.

I intended to upgrade sometime in 2021 and had my eyes on the Subaru Outback BS - 2015 model. It’s a disaster for the pocket at the moment, however would you say the same of this compared to the Forester SJ model from a handling, reliability and performance factor? Or would you simply suggest I get off the Subaru bandwagon?

Thanks
John

Hello John,

Stay on the Subaru bandwagon. The Outback is a good car, but if we are talking the BS model versus the Forester SJ, then perhaps we need to go easy on the performance bent. These modern Subarus have lost the brutal charm of their predecessors and are now the milquetoast manifestation of corporate pandering to the gods of financial success. They’re made to make money, not to make a point.

That said, the Forester handles better. It is more compact and lighter compared to the Outback - the Forester line was born from the underpinnings of the Impreza, so you know you are off to a good start.
Reliability? They’re both modern Subarus so CVTs, electric power steering and SI-Drive are the niggling bits, but like the Subarus of old, they share a lot of the same stuff so, as I like to say, the difference is the same.

My Mitsubishi double cab needs engine replacement, would you advise me to replace it with a 4D56 second hand engine?

Thank you for the good work you do in advising motorists. I recently bought a Mitsubishi double cab pickup 4D40, 2.8 liter 4x4 engine from an auction. The vehicle needs engine replacement. Is it possible to replace it with a 4D56 second hand engine? Which is better, Turbo or Non Turbo?

James Kungu

Hi James,

Yes, it is possible to do the swap, but now you have a tough decision. Turbocharged means reliability is something you will leave to Toyota drivers, while non-turbo means you will have to readjust your schedules owing to the fact that 80km/h is something you will leave to drivers who don’t have posho mills under their bonnets.

I know I have generated some heat for my sentiments towards certain products, but it has happened so often for so long that I have become desensitised so I will say whatever I have to say anyway: the L200 double-cab is the runt of the family truck litter and is easily outclassed by almost everything else, including Far Eastern hardware from Indo-China.

Meanwhile, the 4D40, 4M40, 4D56 and whatever other diesel engines served duty in the Pajero and L200 were not exactly paragons of excellence, convincing when new, they quickly degenerated into smoky, sluggish failures, mockeries of their engineers’ efforts and disappointments of their former selves.

I will not say more lest I receive another sternly-worded admonition against my non-participation in mutual-mastication public relations exercises from people not responsible for my paycheck, but you get the picture.