Driving Cars 032818

Driving Cars (032818)

Having car in the Philippines denotes that you are not poor.  In a country that is predominantly poor (or officially classified as a third world country), a possession of one means that in an economic race – one’s station is in the middle and is largely considered as a middle class.

I only had my first car when I was already in my 40’s.  Though I already own a string of motorcycles (a White Honda Bravo, a Green Yamaha Mio, A Red Kawasaki Rouser, another Black Yamaha Mio and current Red Honda Beat), my first car is an AT Silver Toyota Vios.

I have a lot of history with this car, aside from being my first car, symbolically, this signals that I am not getting behind the economic race but more importantly, functionally – I get to ferry my entire family where they are needed.

This car was bought on credit and after paying off this car, this will not be for resale, in fact, I would purchase another car for my wife which in turn would be given in time to our youngest son.  The Toyota Vios would be given to my second son.  And in my retirement years, I would be buying a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV).  For the record, this is still to happen in the future, I still have to pay the first car for another year, but hopefully, this long-term plan would come to fruition.

To date, I have already driven 8 variety of cars, all automatic transmissions since I do not know how to drive a manual transmission.  Aside from the Toyota Vios, I have already driven a Toyota Yaris, a Toyota Wigo, a Honda City, a Hyundai Accent, a Mitsubishi Mirage, a Nissan X-Trail, a Mitsubishi Montero and very recently, a Toyota Fortuner.

My benchmark is my own Toyota Vios.  I judge and measure cars according to the standard set by my own car.  And I must confess, except for Toyota Fortuner, I held my Toyota Vios above the other enumerated vehicles.

Toyota Fortuner was above my Toyota Vios because it was really such a muscle car.  One’s manhood is literally elevated with this SUV.  Maybe my Toyota Vios was aging and maybe I was riding a brand-new SUV and the comparison is simply a no contest.  But my current attainable vehicle is a Toyota Fortuner. 

The feel, upgraded accessories, the elevation, the power, the size…based in my limited test driven cars, Toyota Fortuner is tops.  The king of the hill, the attainable dream ride.

Some might even argue that the Toyota Fortuner is a wrong choice for being a SUV, while the other were cars, my estimation however remains the same, my conclusions concrete (for now).