Grab Uber

Grab or Uber or both.

Been thinking about ferrying total strangers from Point A to Point B and from Point C to Point D etc etc.... 

The idea has been planted in my grey cells for weeks now since my significant half mentioned it some time back and now seriously considering this route to supplement whatever income we make, though the numbers, especially my numbers are nothing to shout about, or rather to whisper about.

Is it worth it? Yes, considering that cost of living is ever rising and never falling....

Now, for the car to be used. It has to be less than 7 years but now the government wants the cars to be 5 years and below. It is for safety, they said. Hey, what about the wobbling and ready to fall apart taxis. Should they be subjected to these rules too? After all, it is about safety for the passengers. There should not be 2 different rules when it comes to safety, right?

New or used cars? That is the next question that comes to mind.

We went to a few dealers and distributors for Proton and Perodua where you can find the cheaper cars, if not the cheapest in Malaysia.

Proton Ertiga, Proton Exora, Perodua Myvi, Perodua Alza, Perodua Bezza. Now which one can serve the purpose for Grab and Uber as well as for our own use?

Tests after tests on the various models and my mind was not made up yet. It's a tough job, a brain wracking one, but someone had to do it. Obviously it had to be Yours Truly!

The last two models I considered boils down to Perodua Myvi and Perodua Alza. Now which one is suitable and practical? Myvi has a small boot which may not be suitable for those total strangers who have more luggage than we can stuff into the smallish boot. Alza is a 7-seater but will become a 5-seater with a "boot" big enough to carry those luggage.

That thought made me make another trip to the nearby Perodua centre to have the final look and feel to see which one was more practical for personal and e-hailing use. I asked the Sales Advisor for me to have another look at the Alza Advance model. It was red. Looks good. The leather seats felt good too and it came with all the bells and whistles too. The blackish purple one also looked nice.

While I was there asking about the Alza, a Singaporean overheard our conversation and quickly approached me, whispered to me, that he was selling his very new Alza Advance, also red in colour. Wow, what a coincidence! He whispered that we could discuss later as the Sales Advisor led me to take a look at the red Alza Advance at the back of the building. The SA explained all the good points of the model, blah blah blah..... while my mind was on what the Singaporean told me..... about his red Alza Advance.

After telling the SA that I would be discussing with my significant half, we parted ways. 

I approached the Singaporean, who was still hanging around for me, who later introduced himself as Barry. His wife was with him. He showed me the car and its condition. I asked him how much is he going to part with it. RM55k, 10k discount from the price of a new one. Hmm..... Then he told me we can discuss further, away from Perodua centre. I agreed.

We met up at a nearby place, at the roadside under the shades of the trees there, near to a petrol station and I had a closer look at the car again. He further explained the extras he had installed, which included extra key fob, curtain, alarm activated side mirror retraction, door visors etc etc which I estimated is worth an extra RM1.5k to 2k or even more. The car clocked about 1000k+ on the odometer and that was why he was at Perodua for its first service. The general car condition look fine except for some minor scratches at the ignition key area where he or his other half might have been struggling to locate and insert the key into the ignition switch in the dark.

"I will discuss with my significant half", said I. I will let you know later. We parted ways.

I started to whatsapp my significant half to discuss on this rare find and the price offered. It seems like a good deal but we are not going to pay as asked. We agreed to counter offer RM50k to start the real negotiation process.

We would meet later at the place and time to be agreed.

That is all for now.

Update 11th August 2017 - I managed to submit the car loan application to RHB Permas Jaya Mr. Ong, a super nice and helpful guy. The seller will also settle his part on the Car sale consent form and submission of his personal document. Everything going smoothly so far.