My experience in Buying a Used Car in the Philippines

I have have dreamed of having a car. Well, a house first rather than a car but definitely I want one. I do not know how to come up with the money just to buy one but I know the time will come that I can come up with the money.

Well, how time flies. My father passed away and I have to leave the comfort of the university to get a higher paying job. So after 7 months of job seeking I landed one job. Not that high paying but still much better than the pay that I received in the academe.

One of  the nice things that happened was the plan to send us abroad. This means that I will be earning extra money. I have to think of my dreams this time. Who wouldn't. So we went abroad for five months. I ate only food that we can buy at the Dollar Store. This is beside the Hagen Dazs ice cream that I buy since they are so expensive in the Philippines. It cost in the US only USD3 a far cry from the PhP450 here in RP. I bought also two laptops at BestBuy which I planned to sell once I arrive here. Both are Toshibas. They are very reliable machines

After 5 months and PhP300k richer, I think I can now afford a car. But what type or brand? Would it be a Toyota or a Honda? I first want to own a Nissan since they are a bit cheaper but there are so many people that do like Nissan only because of the cold aircon but nothing more. Kilometer per liter consumption of Nissan according to many is so much lower compared to other brands.

Toyota? Well, there are so many editions to choose from and what I liked is the 99 edition lovelife body. However, I have problems riding in this vehicle at the backseat. They have cramped spaces at the back. I cannot be comfortable in that car even with my 5 ft 8 in frame. So I would like to see how it feels to be in a Honda car.

Honda is a bit expensive here in the Philippines since they really catered the creme de la creme of the Philippine society. Again with a couple of hundred Gs in my purse, I have to choose wisely. There are so many websites now that offer selling used cars in RP. Everybody in RP will benefit if they visit sites like tsikot, adpost, and buyandsellph. I visit this sites just to be informed of these latest used cars that are for sale. I checked this sites together with buying all those Buy and Sell magazines and Carfinder.

My search came to an end when I saw in Adpost an ad for Honda Civic 1997 VTEC up for sale within my budget. I encashed what was left of my dollars and together with a friend rode a jeepney to Pasig City. We walked several meters after getting down from the Church of Pasig to get to the Used Car Store. I saw two Honda cars. One is an Automatic transmission and the other one uses Manual transmission. I liked the manual one but I do not know how to drive one. I learned to drive when I was abroad and they often use ATs there. So I settled for the blue AT. I went around the car thrice to look for defects. I checked the paint, sat at the front seat to get a feel in driving it, sat at the backseat to see how the seat reacts, went to the front passenger's seat and flip the visors. I popped the hood and checked the engine. The seller then turned the key. We listened for the engine roar itself to life. We tried the the window washer if it works. Everything is functioning properly. I liked the car. The bit of a problem is that the ending plate number is 2, which means I cannot drive this to the city every Mondays. Well, I thought, a car is a car. My palms are aching to handle the steering wheel.

I asked the seller if I can take the car already. He told me that it is best if we go for a spin for a test drive. I let him drive. We went to the nearest gas station, bought 15liters of gasoline and then returned to the shop. He asked me how I am going to pay it. I told him that I am going to pay cash if he would be the one to take care of the paperworks for me. He was shocked. Because I am wearing only a t-shirt, pair of shorts and pair of slippers at that time. I told him I have the money on hand right there. So we went inside the car and there he counted the money. After payment, he made photocopies of the car register and together with the receipt, I could take the car home. I just need to go back there at the shop to get the transfer of ownership after three working days.

I set off and went home to the province to surprise my mom. I arrived and they did not know that I have a car. It was the following morning that they were asking who owns the car in front of our house. I went outside the house and  then to the surprise of my mom I inserted the key on the door and opened it. I can see the smile on her face. She was beaming really proud. And I am really proud of myself of having made such strides in my life.

I took off that day and went to the city. I need the car to be checked by a mechanic. I do not know squat on cars. Searching the forums of tsikot, I came across the shop of Speedyfix. What was the problem with the shop is the address. It is not that easy to find the address on the forums. Accidentally, I found the shop by traversing the Shaw Blvd of Mandaluyong Sity. I went inside and asked the chief mechanic to take a look at the car even the undechassis. He took the car to the lifter and raised the car a few feet high. Using a light he examined all the rubber bushings underneath. He went to see the tie rods also. He checked everything from spark plugs, transmission fluid, radiator water supply and all other consumables. His inspection resulted in additional Php50k fees in replacements and consumables. Well, I already forecasted that I will spend as much for improvements on the car. As always, it is better to be safe than sorry.  Better to replace now while in the shop rather than on the streets.

After one whole day in Speedyfix, my car is new underneath. I went to a nearby carwash shop and made my car gleam. Finally, I can take my car anywhere worry free.

The Notebook

When we get to the office as an employee, we are always looking for ways to be efficient in our tasks. I am one of those persons that like to be reminded of the activities being asked by my superiors. I for one does not have a good memory. I need something to write on. Even when i was studying i knew that a good notebook or writing material should be on hand. Of course you need also a pen.

When I was in school, I even liked covering my notebooks. I just don't know why. Maybe it is because my parents are both teachers and they like to see us exert an effort to be good at school including protecting the books. My books should be well covered and properly at that. The edges should be right angles.

During that time, the notebook that I use is the big one. I read a book when I was in High School that the best notebook should be the one where once if you glance on the page you could easily understand everything. Not much of deciphering using a Rosetta Stone should be made. It is good to have such a large notebook but here in the our country the cost of large notebooks are really out of the budget. Merit notebooks cost a pretty penny. Similar to other brands like Cambridge or Mead. The cost is so expensive that you don't want to write on it, let alone touch it. Or if you have the courage of writing unto it, make sure that to avoid erasures because erasing wastes so much space. 

Since I came from a simple family, what me and my sisters do is buy those inexpensive ones. The ones that has actors/actresses as covers. So this might be the reason I want to cover my notebooks.
 
But there are times, that I switched to other notebook sizes. Because having only one type becomes kind'a boring. But then again efficiency is more important than looks. So I always returned to the big notebooks. I even used the lesson plan type that educators/teachers use.

This preference changed, when I went to work. This big notebook proves to be a burden. Especially if the company issues you a laptop. I tried a planner because most planners have small size. It even has dates and you can put any entry on it. However, planners are bulky and honestly, we need to have some seminar on how to effectively use the planner. Planners have division for entries for daily, weekly and monthly. But we need to think what do we need to seperate instantly. Sometimes this makes planners very difficult to use. C'mon if you have an entry in the planner you have to be very good in using it to think that you have to write it immediately in any of theses sections. And also what should be the size of the planner. There are so many sizes to choose from. If you go to the different bokktores you will find out what I am talking about especially during yuletide season. Planners are great gifts. Although all the planners that I receive I just give to my sisters.

If a company issues you a laptop why not use it instead. Well not everything can be typed in a laptop as fast as it can be written in a piece of paper. You cannot simply sketch something in the laptop and then put labels on them. It is not like doing it using simply a notebook.  

So what is the ideal size? Is there really an ideal size? What I can recommend is to use a notebook that can fit on the pocket of your jeans. A small steno notebook will do. I bought something similar to that that works best for me. I simply made some additions to strengthen the back cover. I put a simple plastic as some sort of reinforcement. This protect the cover from being damaged by wet surfaces. Believe it or not we always forget that the table we are writing was wet. the technique  How to write on this is to consider writing on one page So you do not have to turn the pages often. This makes it very to scroll when backtracking your notes.  I suggest also to use a thin one rather a thicker one. Since we put this into the back pocket of our jeans, it is very easy toget ruined especially at the springs. We do not expect for this to last for one year. What is important is for it to last while we have something to write into it.

Because that is the essence of the notebook. We write into it.