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Three Myths When Buying a New Car
Buying a new car, especially your first, is always an exciting experience. After all, it’s the start of a journey that will no doubt bring you numerous memories over time. However, the process can be clouded with conflicting input from various sources, not to mention the arduous task of finding that perfect car, yet alone negotiating it down to a fair price. But if there is something to be concerned about, it’s these three new car buying myths.
Negotiating the sticker price down gives you the best outcome
While a lower sticker price is nothing to sneeze at, it shouldn’t be the sole focus of your efforts to secure the best outcome. The price may have been inflated to begin with, thus making it look like you’re scoring a bargain from your negotiating efforts, or there may be additional costs elsewhere.
Some of these extra expenses include the cost of finance, which a dealer may even require you to take out through them in order to qualify for the ‘lower’ sticker price. In some instances this finance will be subject to a higher interest rate, other fees and charges to establish the loan, or even penalty fees should you wish to repay the car loan early. Especially in recent times, with new car sales down drastically, you have more scope than ever to get the bargain that works for you, not the dealer.
0% interest free loans mean the lowest total cost
Much like the above point about not focusing exclusively on a car with the lowest sticker price, you should also look carefully into any advertised promises of 0% interest free loans. This time, the dealer may be making a premium on the sticker price of the car, which could be inflated compared to other sellers so as to help them retain their margins.
If you read the fine print, you may also notice that the interest free period is for a certain time, after which you could be exposed to high costs that add up over the long-run. In either case, the total cost of the car could exceed that found elsewhere.
You won’t be able to pick up a great value deal at a dealership
While dealerships offer certain protections, many motorists have found it difficult to deal with pushy salespeople and struggle to come away with a bargain. However, even for those who struggle with the negotiation process, ex-demonstrator models that have low kilometres recorded are a great option – especially when the dealer gets anxious to clear the vehicle.
One of the emerging themes last year was a reduction in the number of ex-demo cars available, so be quick if you find one! Also, don’t fall for the myth that a rainy day will help you score a bargain from a ‘desperate’ dealer. Your best bet is at the end of the month, around Christmas, or at the end of the financial year. These periods are tried and tested for scoring a bargain.
How the Ute Has Risen to Prominence
Utes have become an integral part of Australian culture. No longer are they about getting from point A to point B, they’ve become ingrained in our day-to-day way of living, they’re dependable companions that now allow us to service our jobs and sustain a living.
Looking back to the ute’s origins
Utes aren’t just a modern-day development. In fact, they’ve been with us for almost 100 years, dating back to the 1930s. Of course, who would believe it, Australian culture has a large role to play in said development too. Right here in Australia, specifically Victoria, it is believed that the wife of a farmer wrote a letter that sparked the idea for a ute.
While cars at the time maintained a focus on practicality, they were also large enough to cater to other needs. Yet this individual had another idea. She was looking for something to drive to church on a Sunday, but also transport the pigs to the market. In many respects, this creation has sparked on all sorts of other work-related functions, with today’s utes largely used by tradies to carry goods and equipment to work. Not quite a market, but certainly a job nonetheless.
Performance utes
More than just functional vehicles, recent utes transformed into high-end performance cars. Many of them were fitted with enormous engines and turbochargers, enough to rival some of the slickest street cars going around. At the same time, they still balance practicality for workers to get the job done. In any case, these cars were as top-end as many luxury vehicles on the market.
The family ute
Of course, however, the demise of Holden, in many ways a breeder of the performance ute, has led to another transition back to the functional and practical days of the ute, led by the likes of the HiLux and Ranger. Still functional, still rugged and still equipped with great performance, these cars are now the most popular on the market.
They’re no longer quite the same performance utes as the HSV era, but they have all the attributes of a great all-round vehicle. They’ve also become suitable for the family, with plenty of room to take the kids, utes have shed their their former stereotypes and turned into the very utilitarian vehicle they were always intended to be.
A Legacy Of Luxury: Bentley Digital Design.
With a brand such as Bentley, and the history and heritage the brand has, embracing the digital age can be fraught with conflict. Just how does a design for something to go inside be compatible, will it suit the look and “feel” of a particular vehicle, will its intended purpose grow old gracefully or be out of date in a few years?
Design teams aim for a particular look and in the case of such a brand as Bentley, that look must tie in with what has come before. One key area is that of what the driver will look at every time they slide onto the sumptuously appointed seats of a Flying Spur. The dashboard dials and multimedia interfaces are an area that Graeme Smith and his team of Human Machine Interface (HMI) designers at Bentley have taken on with great success.
Utilising what is called a “mood board”, Smith and the team lay out the images of what will appear on the digital screen for the Flying Spur. The colors, the icons, that will be seen are reviewed in conjunction with the main designers at Crewe, the home of Bentley. Critical to the look, says Smith, is choosing to go 2D or use what is called skeuomorphic design. “A Bentley isn’t a smartphone; it’s going to be used and cherished for generations. So we chose a skeuomorphic approach that will age with the car. Look at pure digital instrument graphics from ten years ago – they’ve dated faster than the car they were part of.”
It’s a tricky ethos to deal with, he says, as going to a clean, ultra-modern, look, would be at odds with the history of Bentley, and by using skeumorphic design, they can be in the digital age and still convey the message that fits with the Bentley presentation. There is also a requirement, says Smith, to provide a family relationship between the vehicles yet provide a difference. For example, the speedometer and rev counter dials in the Flying Spur have bronze rings, a different hue to those in the Continental GT.
Then there’s the end purpose of the vehicle a design goes into. The dials in the Continental GT have a 3D look to the knurled appearance, echoing the look of that cars gear selector. the Flying Spur has the outer edges looking akin to a machined appearance, reflecting the Spur’s more luxury oriented drive, as opposed to the overtly sporting nature of the GT.
Road time is also considered, as in when the car is on the road and the driver’s interest is in simply driving. A reduction in potentially distracting information is provided, says Smith. In a form of digital detox, the driver can see dials that provide the sheer essentials; fuel gauge levels, the temperature of the engine, local time, the vehicle’s velocity, and the ambient outside temperature. Bentley refers to its own history here, by dimming the dials to the point only the needles are visible, and allowing a driver to consider the night time drives at Le Mans, or Woolf Barnato’s legendary night drive through France to beat the Blue Train.
However, the story doesn’t finish there. The final part of the journey in the digital design of the dials is where the Flying Spur will live its life. Will it be in the United States? How about Dubai? Will it be used to chauffeur a Sheikh in Saudi Arabia? The central screen is also part of this equation, meaning that the team must consider something like 600 different icons and over 1,500 varying menu screens. The different languages (up to 27!) and idioms for the markets are considered, plus the varying market specific services such as satellite radio, apps such as Android Auto (with final sign-ff to be granted by the owners of the systems themselves), even the three different audio systems from Naim, Bang and Olufsen, and the brand’s own bespoke setup.
It’s here that the HMI team divide the load. There are function owners, nine in total, that work with three graphic designers and focus on a specific area. This can be the climate control, audio settings, the interface that shows fuel consumption.To say Bentley says luxury, it says history, it says motorsport. It takes love and dedication to ensure that the history of Bentley is continued with eyes on the past, and eyes on the future. Graeme Smith and the Human Machine Interface team have those in mind and their eyes look forward with the past firmly in focus.
2020 Toyota Granvia VX: Private Fleet Car Review.
This Car Review Is About: A big box on wheels that has luxury inside. Toyota has taken the HiAce LCV that was updated in 2019, and given it a makeover on the inside, and a light tickle outside. In Granvia or Granvia VX specification, it can be fitted with either a six or eight seater configuration. We drove the VX with the six seats.
How Much Does It Cost?: Toyota’s website gives an area dependent costing. The Granvia in Ebony Pearl is circa $68,360, and with Crystal Pearl, Silver pearl, or Graphite is circa $68,990. Bump to VX spec and there’s $81,560 to $82,200.
Under The Bonnet Is: A 2.5L diesel, packing 130kW and a torque figure of 450Nm. That’s a peak available across a very narrow band of revs; 1,600rpm to 2,400rpm, to be precise. Powering the rear wheels via a six speed auto, economy is rated as 8.0L/100km on the combined cycle. Our final figure was 8.6L/100km. Given a dry mass of 2.6 tonnes, that’s an agreeable figure, and one that could be shaving a few bits here and there with a more modern eight or nine speed.
On The Outside It’s: A box on wheels and there’s no disguising that fact. There are 5,300mm of length, 1,990mm, and 1,940mm of height and width that come into play, and with around 1,750mm from the leading edge to the beginning of the flat roof…well…it’s a box on wheels.
Up front there is a broad grin of chrome that replaces yet follows the lines of what is seen on the HiAce. Four horizontal chrome strips replace the two on the donor vehicle. The rear has a similar styling and broader taillights. In profile the Granvia has centre and rear glass, no panels as seen on the HiAce, and each side has a powered sliding door. The rear door is manually operated. Initially this seemed like an oversight however given the layout for the six seats….but, still…..Wheels are multi-spoked alloys and have Bridgestone Duravis rubber at 235/60/17.
On The Inside It’s: A curious mix of luxury and the basic structure of the donor van. There is gorgeous wood paneling in the door trims, passenger dash, and on the top of a truly dowdy looking centre console section, with plastic of that really basic look and feel. Yet it sits between and ahead of a total of six leather seats, with heating all round, and powered recliners in the middle. The second and third row seats slide, and this again raises a query about the non powered rear door, as it could allow entry and exit from that third row.
The driver’s section has a seven inch touchscreen, piano black trim, and analogue dials in the VX. Again, it’s a missed opportunity where a LCD insert would have added just that little bit more of extra class. There are a few tabs for items such as the parking sensors and night light adjustment for the screen, and four that have no apparent use. The Drive selector is console mounted and there is manual shifting.
The side powered doors have roll up/down window shades, and to activate the sliding mechanism it’s a soft touch push/pull on the door handles inside and out. Or there’s remote opening and closing from the key fob. Safety is covered with very audible beeping as the doors open or close.
Convenience is looked after by having USB ports for the rear rows, a separate air-conditioning system with controls on the roof behind the front seats, and cup holders for each seat. Each rear row seat also has its own map-light.
On The Road It’s: Nice to drive up to freeway speeds. Above the legal limit it’s missing a key factor: confidence. There’s something about the way the Granvia VX is set up that has it feeling just fine until freeway velocities are called for. It’s simply doesn’t feel….right… it was the oddest sensation and one that couldn’t put our finger on. The speedo would indicate 110, 115, and it effectively then communicated “don’t go faster”. It was impossible to tell if it was a stability issue, the sensation of being seated at the height the driver is, the steering ratio that was fine at suburban velocities but not faster…..annoying? Mightily.
The steering is nicely weighted, and allows for easy three point turns. Navigating suburban roads, even with the near two metre width and 5.3 metre length, was also easy. helping matters was the relaxed attitude of the diesel, with that 450Nm peak torque barely above idle. The auto is typical Toyota with a swift and slick change, and holds gear for downhill runs. Manual changing makes no real difference in this part of the drive experience. 
The brakes are a touch grabby at times, meaning a gentler foot was required, and a softer press meant earlier braking. And here too a minor hiccup; retardation feedback wasn’t entirely forthcoming, with judgement of where the pedal needed to be pull the Granvia up not always corresponding to the rate the Granvia would pull up. Compounding the drive was the engine power reduction from the Active Yaw Control. This comes in when the Granvia VX would move across the road and cross white lines. This quickly became, in our eyes, a safety issue as the sudden power loss would slow the Granvia and gave rise to a potential impact from the rear. the other is that although thes eats would recline, in upright positions the rear view mirror was full of seats, not a clear rear glass.
What About Safety?: Safety is comprehensive. 9 airbags including both front seats, driver’s knee, front curtain shield x 2, rear curtain shield x 2, side airbag x 2. Blind Spot Alert, Lane Departure Alert, and Pre-collision alert with cyclist and pedestrian sensing make for a very good package.
What About Warranty And Service?: five years warranty and capped price servicing for the Granvia VX. Follow the service schedule and warranty goes out to seven years. Service intervals are six months or 10,000 kilometres with a cost (as of May, 2020) of $245.
At The End Of The Drive. It’s an absolutely ideal vehicle to be used as a courier of the well heeled from hotel to airport, from rock concert to hotel. The seats really are beautifully comfortable, and with a six seater configuration there’s room and flexibility aplenty. Around town it’s a doddle to drive. The downsides of the centre console and dash look and feel, plus the nervousness above 100kph hold the Granvia VX firmly in place as a suburban utility and a lovely one to be in. Check it out for yourself here.
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