Daddy Lim’s New Toy

Daddy Lim’s toys are never cheap. This one neither. 

God has blessed our family, that we managed to afford a car very early in our family life. At that time, car price was nothing like now. That start is very important bcos the subsequent cars’ cash upfront payment is offset with the old car trade in value, enabling a manageable car loan. I am not sure how our kids are able to afford a car in the future. It is ok, it is their problem. Hoho. 

Our last Audi is a 2nd hand car bcos brand new Audi is too expensive but the man wanted to try driving one. Thankfully, we are blessed with one that didn’t give us any problems in the last 3 years. It was our 1st sedan car. We always have SUVs in the past bcos we have big people in the family and it is easier to get into and out of a SUV. Daddy Lim wanted to try a sedan. It seems ok in the beginning. Maybe it is an age thing; the getting in and out seems to get more difficult as the days progressed. 

We had recently paid off the car loan. This seems to be the indication for car changing. Maybe we should take a 10 year loan for the next car. While a car is only a transport for me, Daddy Lim took the research very seriously. It took him a while to finally decide that it would be an EV. We spent several weekends doing car window shopping and test drives. Then waiting for the COE to come down but it never did.

Now that Zaky is almost the legal age to get a driving licence, he is very invested in what new car we are buying too. I hear him discussing with Daddy Lim and even tagged along for test drives.

New car collection used to be a family affair. Now, it is just a car collection. Poor Daddy Lim went down alone yday. 

I thought he looked like he won a car in some grand lucky draw. Hoho. 

He then picked up the kids for dinner.

The kids were very impressed with the high tech car, they were testing out the different app and even karaoke singing. Lol. I was busy working when they came home and didn’t join them in exploring the new car. 

This morning, Daddy Lim offer to send me to the MRT. I took the offer bcos it would be so sad if other people started taking the new car before me. The car is really quite cool, it come with seats that blows out air somemore So fanciful. 

Daddy Lim is obviously still trying to get used to the new car. When nearing the MRT, he said that other people were not allowing him to cut in and drop me off. Huh? What? Hahahaha. 

I hope he likes the car for a long time. He is afterall the biggest user. Then he would be happy when we ask him to send us around. Hoho.

Mummy Lim

Vroom Vroom...

Over the weekend, I drove Foxy twice. My maiden drive was largely bcos I was excitedly to test drive her. Then Daddy Lim said that I should drive more and forcefully "encourage" me to drive another time. Haha. I told him that I will write a "car review" after that. Steady lah.

It had been a long time since I last driven Sixty. I never got down to fulfilling one of my 2017 new year resolutions, which is to drive confidently. I guessed it had to start driving frequently and it wasn't something that comes intuitively with Sixty. She was way too big for me, particularly on her sides. It took me a long time to finally feel confident that I am driving her in the middle of the lane without having to glance nervously and constantly at the side mirrors.

Foxy is very different. For the very 1st, the driver seat can be raised very high and I can suddenly see the whole length of the bonnet. For a long time while driving Sixty, I had been relying on my lousy and not trustworthy sense of estimation. I must be lucky to not bump anything. Being able to see the bonnet also make me realise how long the car is. Maybe Sixty was just as long but now I can see and it took a while to get used to it. 

The steering wheel is soooo light! With Sixty, I get a workout every time I tried to manuveour the car in the carpark. Tell me about parking; it was like steering an elephant into a tiny lot  Zzzzz.. Now, it is so easy! The car turns easily and did I tell you how much I love the back camera in assisting my parking? Not that I can now park professionally, the last few times I had a crooked car in the lot but at least I have less fear of backing into another car/ structure, which was exactly what I did with Sixty in the early days. 

As for the downs, the 1st must be the lower power. I told Daddy Lim that the acceleration is less sensitive and he insisted that it was bcos I wasn't in the right driving mode. Seriously, I didn't feel any difference with a different mode. Maybe I am the insenstive one and not the car. Lol. 

We didn't have an entertainment system in the car now. We explored doing so and eventually decided on tablets instead and sharing Daddy Lim's data plan. Then, the kids seem to live fine and we didn't kick start the tablet plan. Zaky had been the one that is super reliant on the entertainment system and now that he has no distractions, there are a lot more sibling bickering in the car. I hope that it is something that will go away in time or maybe Daddy Lim and I will up our tolerance for their nonsense.

Foxy is definitely less safe. Yday, when we were nearing our destination, itchy finger Zaky actually unlocked his door and opened the door while the car was still moving! He panicked at his deed and so did we. We did stop safely to close the door properly. I am not sure if it is the lack of safety feature or that Zaky is now exploring and touching everything bcos he is too free without distractions. He used to be frozen at the screen whenever we boarded the car.

My last complaint has to do with the boot door. It is opening and closing so very slooooowwwwly. I am fine with the boot space, which is smaller (but ample) bcos the passengers get more leg space. But the boot door is a pain. There are many times where we needed to jump off the car, lugged our stuff from the boot and Daddy Lim drives off. Now, we have to painfully wait for the door to open and close.

Overall, I like Foxy. The pains that I have listed are all small pains that we can live with (ok, maybe not the blickering kids). On the other hand, I found driving Foxy so much more easier. I think that is what matters. Hehe.

Mummy Lim

Goodbye Sixty, Hello Foxy

Our 1st car was a blue Honda Jazz. I remembered that I smashed one of Jazzy's side mirrors. Haha. I don't think my driving skills had improved much since. Daddy Lim was constantly unsatisfied with her performance and modifying her; bigger rim, more horse power... I feel no difference. She become too small when Zaky came along.

Daddy Lim wanted to move on to a continental car and we bought our 1st SUV - VW Tiguan. I had wanted to drive Tiggy for a long time only to be let down by her unreliability. In the 4 years that we had her, she had to be towed on 2 occasions. We had enough of her tantrums and Daddy Lim started car shopping.

That was the time when the COE soared incredibly high. We must be feeling rich and stupid bcos we ended up buying Volvo CX60 that cost us an arm. Daddy Lim sweared that it is one of the safest car brands around. He was right; Sixty was heavy and steady on the road. I do feel very safe. Given that we were one arm short, I kept reminding Daddy Lim that we really had to drive her for 10 years.

While Daddy Lim was spot on Sixty's safety features, he forgot to check how reliable she would be. Zzzz.. Sixty came with a 3-year warranty. Right before the warranty expired, her gear box failed. Phew, thank God bcos the gear box is super expensive. Right after the warranty ended, we needed minor repairs only to realise that continental cars are blood suckers. She leeched us for that minor repair, making us constantly keeping our fingers crossed that she would be healthy.

A while back, she crossed her 4th bday and threw a tantrum. Her engine started shaking noisily at low speed. Sob, why like that? We spent $1.5k on servicing, hoping to eliminate the issue. The noise was softer but came back full scale a week later. Our money flee away.

It wasn't good; we were constantly worried that she would one day gave up and died on the road. My wild imagination imaging her exploding while we were in her. Choi! With the big money that we threw into her COE, it only made sense to cut depreciation losses and changed a car. Daddy Lim is heartless; when it comes to changing new car, he totally shows no longing for the current car. Lol.

We took a few weeks to car shop. I had lost faith in expensive cars; expensive doesn't translated to good. I set the budget and Daddy Lim got to choose whichever car. Ok, I did say that I wanted only SUV. Haha.

After many researches (Daddy Lim only; I don't care) and many test drives, we set our eyes on the Subaru Forester. We are back to reliable and simple Japanese car. It took a while for the car to be delivered. Meanwhile, we prayed for the noisy Sixty to survive for another few weeks.

Finally, after a long wait, Foxy was ready for collection last evening. It was an one-man mission by Daddy Lim bcos I had to be home for a night call.

I reminded Daddy Lim to take picture. Bye Sixty.

Hello Foxy!

This is Foxy in the carpark this morning.

She has a new car smell. Hmmmm...
Her interior.

I drove her away the car park this evening and the steering wheel is so light! By the way, I love the camera for parking. For seasoned driver like Daddy Lim, the camera probably didn't help at all but I found it so good! Woohoo!

I shall blog again when I start driving her properly. Lalalala.

Mummy Lim

Some Things Can't Be Rushed

Like handing over an existing car in exchange for a new car.

We were the last customer and the kids were also restless and tired. We just wanted everything to be done as soon as possible yet there were so much to be done. Daddy Lim was busy listening and trying to under how to operate the new car. I bet he only remembers 10% of what was told. While he was at the paperwork, I offload whatever visible things in Tiggy to Sixty.

While on the way home, we realised that Lil Isaac took off his sandals at the playground and he was barefooted in the new car. Hmmm.. His tiger was also missing. We also left the season car park label on the old car windscreen and also the GPS in the old car.

Tomorrow, Daddy Lim will have to go down to the car showroom again to make right what went wrong. Lol.

Mummy Lim

Goodbye Tiggy, Hello Sixty

Our new car is finally here. It is time to turn in the old car for the new one. Strangely, it feels kind of sad to day goodbye to Tiggy and we did the usual photo taking stuff.

We were supposed to collect the new car (sixty bcos it is xc60) at 7pm. We were at USS in the afternoon and ran late bcos the kids didnt want to leave and kept asking for a last ride. It was almost 7pm when we left Resort World. We didnt even have time for dinner and had to eat the pasta that mummy tabao in Tiggy. That was our last meal in Tiggy and for once, Daddy Lim didnt mind us making a mess. Lol.

Our new car was waiting for us in the showroom, all nicely covered up. 

The car collection was like some kind of ceremony. 

So, tadah! Our new sixty. 

The whole process took us over an hour. The kids played in the playground, explored the car, started watching their DVD in the new car until they grew bored. I am just so glad that I bought and fed them dinner. 

Daddy Lim must be really happy now and mummy finally have back her front passenger seat bcos the TV is at the hind of the passenger head rest. Muahahaha.

Mummy Lim

Another Bigger and Much More Expensive One

It is that time again. If I remembered correctly, Jazzy lasted us about 3 years. However, she went through several cosmetic surgeries along the way to please her boss. Still, she was regarded as “not good” and “not big” enough. Poor Jazzy.

Then we have Tiggy, which is a much bigger, taller and powerful. We are afterall not the usual, small and normal family. We are really lucky to buy Tiggy right before the COE went crazy. In comparison to the car prices now, Tiggy is considered as a very good buy. She is big, tall and sturdy. I supposed Daddy Lim like Tiggy pretty much and she is able to keep him happy for a good while, almost 4 years. Throughout these 4 years, Daddy Lim didn't force Tiggy under the knife, he was generally very please with her performance. 

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and she’s a little tempemental for our liking. Unlike Jazzy who never gave us problems, also bcos she was a very simple car, Tiggy was towed 2x and some of her electronic functions (non-critical) have failed but we have learnt to live with it. Sometimes, especially when we are on road trips to Malaysia, I secretly feared that Tiggy will decide to throw a tantrum on us.

I like Tiggy. I like her height and her big strong doors. I like how she kept Daddy Lim happy. My only concern was her reliability. However, like most women, a car is a car. It is a mode of transportation that brings us from point A to B. It doesn't matter that Tiggy has aged over the years, so long as it can continue to serve her purpose of transporting us, I am contented. This is especially in the midst of crazy COE prices. Unfortunately, Daddy Lim doesn't share my views.

Daddy Lim had been complaining about Tiggy recently. I can tell that he is getting unhappy with her. Every now and then, he will tell me about some sexy car and I will wake him up from his dreams with the nightmarish COE prices. It is sad, but it is crazy to throw such good $$ away with the new 50% down-payment and 5-year loan repayment ruling. Silently, I am hoping that Tiggy will last us for as long as possible.

Then the COE structure has to be tweaked at this time and the newspaper started carrying big advertisements on car sales. In my perspective, the cars are still expensive after the s-called price slash, especially the ones that Daddy Lim are eyeing. Car is also a status symbol, a bragging right. To the men, their car can only grow bigger and more expensive. After much bugging, we went car shopping over the weekend. Daddy Lim was clearly disappointed when I had to say “no” to that car that he so wanted after much calculation and consideration. We could afford it but it just didn't make sense to do so. We left the show room without buying the car even though I was indeed wowed by the safety and advance features of the car. My logical mind tells me that that $$ can be put to better use.

I predicted that I will give in at the end of the day. I always. He always gets to buy what he wants at the end of the day, maybe delayed but he always get it. Lol. So, he flew down to make a booking fee for the car on Monday evening. He promised that he would drive the car for the next 10 years and will not give me funny ideas. He also promised not to buy big ticket item and saved all the coming bonuses. Most importantly, he also agreed that he would try to quit smoking by his bday.

So, we will have a new car soon. An even bigger, more powerful and expensive one. The kids will continue to eat in the car.Muahahahaha.

Mummy Lim

Goodbye Jazzie, Halow Tiguan

Daddy Lim has been off cigarettes for the longest time in his life! 3 cheers for Daddy Lim! As promised, he has bought for himself a new car, the Tiguan. Daddy Lim picked slate grey but changed his mind a week later, worrying that slate grey will turn out looking like champagne. But too bad, it was too late to change the colour. So, Daddy Lim spent the remaining time worrying and hoping that slate grey doesnt look too bad. Hmmm, did you say that women are fickle-minded? -.o"

We are finally collecting Tiguan today. Again, we tried to tired out princess to ensure that we have a smooth car collection. According to Daddy Lim, there are alot to check and learn. In fact, he drew out this list of things to check and ask but was too gan cheong and actually left the list in the office. Haha.

So, we made our last journey in Jazzie to Leng Kih Road. We took some last pix of Jazzie. It still look just as handsome/ pretty as Day 1. Jazzie was our pride then. Jazzie even appeared in our wedding photos and was our bridal car wor.

But heartless Daddy Lim only cares about his Tiguan now. Pui! Boohoo. Bcos Tiguan is bigger, stronger and more chio. The slate grey turns out a lot much better than what Daddy Lim had expected. Not at all champagne lookalike. I can see Daddy Lim go "phew" at the instant that he saw Tiguan. Hoho.

Anyway, while Daddy Lim was busy learning about Tiguan, I was busy snapping blog materials.

The whole car view.

The interior - front.
And the back, where I and Lil Shauna will spend more of our time in.

And the boot. Big... Oh, not for short people, bcos the door goes sky high.
Our virgin ride was pretty comfortable. I kept asking Daddy Lim if he was alright as this is probably one of the few times that he has driven an auto car.

Daddy Lim has set some rules for Lil Shauna.

1. No shoes on the new leather seat;
2. No dropping of food in the new car;
3. No spilling of drink in the new car;
4. No wiping of dirty/ sweating/ saliva-filled hands anyway;
5. No "eating" of leather seat; and
6. No leaving of finger/ hand prints on the windows.

But Lil Shauna wins, once she was bored, she asked for her shoes and was up jumping and bouncing in the back seat in her squeaky shoes. Then she mis-cue while eating bread and dropped crumbs and a big raisin on the seat. Then she happily stuck her fingers into her mouth while still chewing on her bread. So you can imagine what happen to her finger when it came out of her mouth and you know where that finger will go. Hohoho. Champion.

Mummy Lim