Sure, import the Mustang, but be ready for the scrutiny

Baraza,

Thank you for you concerted effort to keep us educated about cars. I am a petrolhead based in Dubai. When I first wrote you an email, I drove a Subaru, non-turbo (boring) but I upgraded to a 2016 Ford Shelby GT350 Mustang.

I intend to bring the car back home with me, but since it is left hand drive, I have a dealer willing to trade in with a RHD 2016 Shelby GT350R though I will be required to top up the exchange with a few coins.

The car is just an amazing piece of engineering, it has the looks and handles so great. I will leave the car with my wife (She is quite informed about rides), for some time, as am not yet done toiling in the Arabian Desert.

I am particularly worried about ground clearance - our normal route is from Nairobi-Nyahururu, Nanyuki-Meru and back to Nairobi via Embu, mostly once a month. We are a small family of three, and mostly, it will only be my wife and son, and they are not into luggage, so space is okay.

Kindly educate me about what I’m getting myself into by bringing the machine into Kenyan roads in terms of:

1. Issues arising from ground clearance in respect to our Kenyan roads.

2. Availability of quick service/diagnostic facilities.

3. Reliable garages that can service a Ford. 

Richie Rich

Greetings, Richie Rich

And you must be rich if you are slinging a Shelby GT350. That is one hell of a machine.
You are right, the car looks like the knees of the bee and the handling is distinctly un-American, which is synonymous with “excellent”.

It doesn't sound half bad either, with that supercharged Coyote V8 nestling under the bulging hood. Unfortunately for you, that is the where the goodness ends. You are also right, by importing that vehicle - or something similar - you are setting yourself up for some nonsense up in here.

First up will be the attention. You may thrive in it for a while, but as every aspiring celebrity quickly finds out, the attention gets tiresome very fast, and it is unrelenting.

Be prepared for requests for pictures and test drives as well as numerous challenges from random strangers to try and prove that American cars are rubbish (they're not). Get ready to live the life of a politician once you bring that car in. So now,

1. Ground clearance: you are clear on this for the most part, until you try to drive towards, or from Embu town. Bumps are comically referred to as sleeping policemen in the United Kingdom of Great England-land and British Wales, Also Ireland Maybe And Sometimes Scotland, but the ones along the Embu-Sagana stretch must have been especially corrupt because they are fat like you cannot believe. This will be a problem for the Shelby, more so with its front lip/splitter. If the lip is carbon-fiber.... the thought does not bear thinking.

2. Availability of quick service/diagnostic facilities: you may have access to diagnostics, that's no problem. You can even get your own kit consisting of a Bluetooth dongle and phone app which should cover most of your OBD II needs, but when time comes to start opening the car up, you may run into problems.

The Mustang is familiar to most of us through Hollywood and YouTube videos involving pedestrians being run over by that car, but if we are talking repairs and maintenance, precious few of us will know what to do with a supercharged Coyote V8 and its attendant hardware.

CMC Motors, nowadays called Al Futtaim, once tried selling the Mustang here but they failed to do their market research properly. They were selling an overpriced vehicle - Sh10 million for a bog standard car - in an almost nonexistent niche - the two-door coupé market - and anyone could have told them what would happen next.

Actually I did. Some time back DT Dobie tried selling the E Klasse coupé and I told them it's a lovely car but it won't sell because Kenyans are not into that kind of thing and the few who are prefer to do their own importation, thank you.

DT Dobie listened and saved themselves from unwillingly hoarding inventory due to lack of sales. It seems CMC does not read my articles because they went ahead and peddled a Mustang here, which garnered a lot of social media likes but no sales to speak of. Sorry guys. You really should read this column more often.

3. What does all this have to do with you? Before a dealer sells a car, they take their staff for training on that particular make and model, so it is fair to assume that CM-Futtaim did so as well. This means this staff should know their way around a Mustang, more or less.

Whether or not the training actually happened is pure conjecture, and whether or not the trained staff is still working for Al-CMC is unknown. Muddy waters, they call it.

But you are Richie Rich, aren't you? And the GT350 is an enthusiast's car. Bring it over and avoid driving in or around Embu, you'll be fine, mostly.

You can always lease an X-Trail for that monthly drive to the slopes. Maintenance and fuel economy will be nightmares, but we have people driving Maseratis and Lamborghinis and Rolls-Royces around here.

I can only assume they weep at night when their cars act up but put a game face on when in public, and you too can live this life of uncertainty with a GT350.

If and when you import it, get in touch with us. We’d like to drive it and maybe make a video. That’s the in thing nowadays...

(Update: turns out the GT350 uses the 5.2-liter Voodoo V8, which is a development of the modular Coyote V8.)

Check whether your Demio 2012 Skyactiv still has a catalytic converter

Dear Baraza,

Thank you very much for your informative column, which I always look forward to. I own a Demio 2012 Skyactiv. Recently, the CEL popped up and diagnosis gave an error code P0421, warm up catalyst below threshold (bank1).

I have visited the garage several times and various solutions suggested, such as replacing the O2 sensor and cleaning the whole exhaust system, which have all proved futile while costing a tidy sum of money.

Are you familiar with this error code? What can fix this issue? What are the dangers of driving a car in this state?
Waithera

Hello Waithera,
Yes, I am familiar with this error code, and the mechanics you engaged were not wrong, sometimes this code is dealt with by replacing the oxygen sensors or cleaning the exhaust system. There is one more step they are avoiding, and I think I know why.

The last resort in trying to clear up the P0421 code is to replace the catalytic converter, and the mechanics may be avoiding this because that particular item does not exist on your car. It may have been stolen at some point, and this may actually be the source of the error code.

Catalytic converters are hot cakes because they are expensive, in turn because they contain a lot of precious and rare metals inside them.

Someone, maybe the mechanics themselves, may have TWOCced the cat (Taken Without Owner’s Consent) and once the electronics management system detects no signal from the cat, it will give an error warning.

Confirm whether or not the catalytic converter is present on your car, if it isn’t, replace it.

Why is my Mazda Demio consuming more fuel than it should?

Hey Baraza,
Thanks for your weekly informative column on matters motoring. I have a Demio 2006, that really looks neat. It does 12 km/l in the city. However from various articles, I gather the 1390cc submachine is supposed to do 16km/l on city roads and 18km/l on highways. Kindly let me know what I could be doing wrong since I would want my car to operate the way it’s supposed to.
Regards Alex

Hi Alex,

The only thing you are doing wrong is assuming that human beings live in what we call “test conditions”.

Saying a Demio “can attain 16km/l in the city and 18km/l on the highway” does not mean it should be doing those figures, circumstances vary and they can easily swing the consumption figure in either direction by a significant margin.

These circumstances include driving style, traffic and vehicle weight. The fact that you Demio is 14 years old is also a contributory factor to the consumption figure being below ideal.

Stop worrying. 12km/l in the city is a figure many of us dream about, let alone attain.

How often should I change the oil filter?

Hi Baraza,
After how long should one change the oil filter? I usually do so with every service, but I recently read that it should be changed after 40,000 miles (64,000 km). This is the replica of the said paragraph:
Check the oil
The service reminder monitor installed in most new cars indicates whether the car’s oil needs changing. The oil keeps the car running smoothly and is one of the most important components of a well-maintained car.

By pulling out the dipstick, you can also see where the oil level is and determine if it is in need of a change. Note the colour of the oil on the dipstick. If it is black, you should take your car in for an oil change. It is recommended that you change your oil filter roughly every 40,000 miles. This should be done every two or three years on average. Also ensure that you are using the right oil.
Regards,
Mwaniki

Hi Mwaniki,
That article is misleading. Every time you take a bath you change your clothes as well, right? Or at least try to. Same thing with servicing: change both the oil and the filters. If you don’t change the filters, they become clogged and you will start to experience oil pressure problems. 40,000 miles is 64,000km which seems a bit overambitious for an oil filter replacement if you ask me. Continue changing the filter along with the oil itself during every service interval, and ignore the article saying otherwise.