As I mentioned last week my Auto Loan was pre-approved and I could start looking for the “NEW RIDE” Denny the car salesman was sitting at Mitsubishi Car World on the Subic Freeport as I came through the door, I was the same the type of customer I dreamed about when I was selling Dodge cars in Saint Petersburg Florida in 1991. The customer’s name was Paul and he was in the mood to buy.
Denny stealthily approached eyeing the Kano up and down and wondering how much of an ass he would be to deal with. Denny was pleasantly surprised when the Kano asked some simple questions about what he could avail of in this showroom.
He showed me the 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage which comes in three flavors The Hatch Back which upon studying, both Mayang and I both shook our head as a no thank you. The disappointment on Denny’s face was clear, until I asked about a sedan which is the style I prefer. Denny was positively beaming and promptly directed us to the 2014 Mirage “G4” series.
I stopped on the way and stated that Mayang would drive nothing but a car with automatic drive. Denny smiled and said; “Oh yes Sir Paul” Now for the shocker, the Mitsubishi G4 he steered us to was the same size if not larger than my New Old Honda but roomier and a bigger trunk, how did they do that?
Now for the biggest surprise they have two models First the G4 GLS which comes with Touch Screen GPS, a keyless entry system (Denny showed me how they both worked and I understood absolutely nothing) and it also came with fancy rims other that that the G4 GLX had the same engine A/C power windows and everything else. But came with a door lock clicker and you actually had to use a key to start the car, can anyone imagine that? And a CD player that also was equipped with USB, and the cheapest plastic hubcaps that I have ever seen.
So if I purchase the G4 GLX I save $2,000.00 dollars and lose out on the 3 Fancy Dancy options. Hmmm I can live with that, I can take some of the two thousand I’ve just saved and buy a set of custom rims that I really want. That works for me.
“Denny you did a great job, and I thank you for your time and courtesy and I will come back and talk with you more” I said. I did this as his supervisor was lurking in the background wondering what had gone wrong.
I left and drove to the Ford Dealership (I told Denny that I was going there) but Ford wanted to charge $4,000.00 more for their Fiesta and we departed post haste, now for the dreaded trip to Pampanga which I didn’t really want to do, where all the other dealerships were, in order for us to continue our quest. When Mayang puts her hand on my arm and said; “Honey Ko I really like the Mirage G4 GLX” the Quest ended, let’s go to lunch.
On the way I stopped at Car World and asked the supervisor if I could speak to Denny my salesman. Oh sir I can help you, to which I responded; “Thank you, but Denny please”. When Denny arrived I simply said; Denny when my check arrives next week, I will come back and buy the car you just showed me.” At lunch Denny called Mayang and asked why I had done that, I simply responded; “To make you look good in front of your boss.”
Now I will try and explain the actual paying for a new car in the Philippines and it’s like we want to sell you a car, but we are going to drive you up a wall as you try to pay for it. I promise the saga will end next week.
A Phone call from the Navy Federal Credit Union; “Sir you live in the Philippines.” I had thought that my mailing address would have been the giveaway on that information. We cannot pre-approve a car loan there. You must purchase the car and send us the Invoice and you will be approved at 1.74% interest. Well okay if that’s the way it must be.
Back to Mitsubishi Car World to see Denny and buy the car handing him a PNP 200,000.00 down payment. “Denny write it up I’m buying the car. From the look on the kids face it must have been his first sale. With Invoice in hand and faxing it to Washington, I was informed six minutes later that the car is mine. We did that, now we wait a day for the promissory note to be faxed back, sign it and drive home.
Oh no, it was a case where one person in Washington was not talking to the other person in Washington and no person was talking to me, so for five days the fax never came with the promissory note. Why, because they by law may not send it to a dealership, only to me the guy that has no fax machine. Days have gone by, Mitsubishi must think I’m a dead beat, but I did give them PNP 200,000.00 as a down payment.
By the way, at Car World everything was professional and hiccup free, the Americans were the ones without the ducks in a row. Mr. Magat, Denny’s boss intervened and suggested the NFCU e-mail the Promissory Note to me. One hour later I had it, signed it scanned it and e-mailed it back. The following morning the money was in my account.
We’re not done yet, how do you get $ 10,000.00 from the US to the RP quickly? Wire Transfer, I don’t have a dollar account and no dollars to open one, use the dealerships account, not in this life time. So I went on line and transferred it to my checking account pulled out my debit card and said swipe this. That very minute the peso rate was sitting at 44.74 to the dollars, and the young lady said that it will cost me PNP 10,000.00 in bank charges to do it that way. I looked at the Mitsubishi general manager and asked; “Sir does your bank work for you or do you work for them? Why are you allowing them to stop you from selling a car today?
I will pay a fee of PNP 5,000.00 (As the peso rate was working in my favor) and he made the bank accept that offer and was quite proud of his new found power.
I now own a new Mitsubishi Mirage G4 GLX, and being wise beyond my years, Mayang and I are sitting there with two cars to bring home that day. I looked at my Mahal and said; “Please drive the new car as I want to drive my New Ole Honda one last time!” Believe me folks that were the right thing to say, my Pogi Points are now overflowing their account. Remember it’s the little things that really matter.
Oh and don’t forget to take your new car to church on Sunday to have it blessed, the best PNP 500.00 you’ll ever spend, but don’t cancel your Auto insurance. Then I’m off to San Fernando to buy those new rims and get rid of those funky plastic hubcaps!
(Now the fun really begins) Stay tuned, next week, same channel same time. On how to sell your car in the Land of Enchantment in so many not so easy lessons…
Hi Paul
We just bought new Mirage as well. Great little car!
Malcolm;
It’s been two weeks and so far I’m impressed, 1.02 liter 3 cylinder engine that refuses to burn any gas and it has the same speed as my (Dearly Departed) New Ole Honda had. So yes we agree it’s a great little car.
So, what happened to the Honda, Paul? I don’t remember reading a story about what happened to it before or after you bought the Mitsubishi. Did you get new rims or hubcaps for the new car to replace the funky plastic hubcaps?
John;
The story of the New Old Honda is reserved for next week, Check the picture above for new mag wheels. That BTW is my Honda parked in front of Subic Car World still lookin’ good!
Paul,
I am going to miss all the stories of the “new old car”. I feel I have been along on many rides with you in that car.
I am glad you scored major pogi poins by letting Mayang drive the “new new car” home!
Steve;
I glance out the window at my wife’s Gemstone Mica (In man speak that’s Grey) Mitsubishi and miss the bright red Honda that sat there for all those years. But I’ll say it again, damn, new cars smell really good!
Paul, the new car smell will last until someone starts eating manggang hilaw and bagoong alamang in it.
John;
I’m one of the last three smokers on earth, bit still won’t smoke in a car. As for food, my family knows from 20 years back that none is consumed within any car we’ve owned. You may carry it in the trunk for future use. This goes back to Puerto Rico when a friend gave me a lift home and his car was infested with cockroaches from the fast-food containers that littered the rear seat. Oh I never rode in his car again either (LOL).
Hey Paul,
Awesome story. When I bought my 2006 Toyota Corolla Altis (in San Fernando, Pampanga), I paid somewhere between 850,000 and a million pesos (including 3 years full coverage insurance and 3 years registration). I paid it in cash. It took forever for them to count the money, 1000 peso bill at a time.
Dang, that sounds like the movie, Scarface! Did you take all that cash to the dealership in a duffle bag, too?
Haha, no. Just a couple of big paper sacks. We went there by rental van, just so no onlooker could get any ideas.
RT;
That is a good way as any I’ve heard to tote money.
John;
I can’t say how RT carried his money but my PNP 200,000.00 was in a plastic grocery bag from the market. No one questioned it at all. (LOL)
RT Cunningham;
You would think they would own a cash counting machine, but if they did they would recount it anyway to make sure.
Hey Paul, do you have to haggle on the price there, or is it a set price only?
If the Philippines is mapped by GPS, it seems it sure would be nice to have, but only as a portable unit, not the one like they offered you that was built in. The built-in would most likely quit working or be way outdated long before the car is worn out.
Bill;
I saw no advantage to the GPS, as outside of Manila the coverage is spotty at best. Now this comes from 7 people who live outside of Mega Manila with GPS’s installed who have relayed that information to me. Besides my wife tells me when to turn, I won’t allow a machine to usurp her duty.
Bill you pay a fixed price.
Paul – We are going to be in this boat very shortly and I’m on the fence about buying new at a dealership and going through family to find something used. In any case, I’ve always been concerned about being hit up with kano pricing and had assumed I’d be getting a friend or family member to buy the car then sell back to us.
Maybe I’m over-thinking it all?
Also (admitted newbie here), is it true that the banks won’t give you any bills larger than 1000 pesos?
John;
In over 35 years I’ve never seen or heard of any bill over 1,000.00 Pesos.
New car they can’t raise the price, on used cars you might want an agent (Family Member) to be the face of the deal. But I step in at the end and yell surprise “Blue Eyes” and wrap it up. If they try to alter the deal I show them the cash that they just said goodbye too.
Thanks Paul – I never heard so much about blue eyes until I came here. Too funny!
John;
Asia has a fascination with eyes of color, 90% of the world has brown eyes so I guess that’s why. I was born in the ten percent group.
Now then Paul, a smart man like you, I would have thought, would have negotiated a deal on the smart mag alloys on the model you want from the dealer, saving other trips to buy wheels etc from elsewhere and create more smb drinking time.
Anyway, I am glad you like the car. Gosh, it’s a move into the future eh. I have not had a car into the door of which you have to stick a key to unlock it since 1993, but I still like having an igniton key to fire her up.
Good Luck with this one, and don’t sell the old one to anyone you know, because, as you know, it’s days of being a fine reliable motor will come to a rapid end if you do.
Jim;
If you sell your old car to someone you know, you’ll own that car for life.
The factory Mag’s were outrageously priced, and polished aluminum to boot. The new ones match the car and I bought them in the Philippines (Priced Right), and after they were mounted I took the car to “My Guy” Kuya Greg to have them properly balanced and checked to see if they were true.
Putting the key into the little slot is something I refuse to give up at this late stage of the game.
Paul
We have also bought a GLX in Subic . Can you tell me a good place to purchase mag wheels?
DM
HM Auto Styling and Car Acc.
4 Caron West Bajac-Bajac Olongapo City
Ask Henry (Bolanos) the owner, he has some in stock and can get others. He has put a lot of items on my G4 and his crew does a fine job.
He is on the left coming from the Victory Liner Station, on the left before the bridge. (Tell him you know me)
The built in gps can be updated actually… Take out the thinggie stick in whatever in computer and update it online. My brother does it for me. Can never figure it out. That said, I use my iphone most the time for diections, hahaha.
Cheryll Ann;
Just the fact that a “thinggie stick” is required is validation that I was wise to pass on the GPS Option. Who needs it, if someone asks where I am, I’ll just tell them “I’m right here”.
Bill S. Portable is also available in PH.
http://www.avt.ph
Thanks Cheryll Ann. So it sounds as though the Philippines is mapped then. What brand GPS do you have there. I have looked at Garmin and it appears they offer maps for parts of the Philippines, but I have to purchase a map of all of Asia to get the Phil. and no way to preview it to see what it actually covers in detail.
I have a Garmin that I bought through Amazon, loaded with the US Maps. You can buy a map of all Phil Islands thats not a Garmin branded map. Comes on a micro card. Just ask at the GPS store. I bought a map at Megamall. I have used it extensively in Luzon.
Congrats on the New car Paul. WoW, a USB plug right on the dashboard. That is something I am looking forward to in a few years when I buy another new car. Solid State Music, no moving parts to jam or wear out. Hours and Hours of music or other recorded information on a pocket sized USB flash drive. I’ll bet the factory equipped stereo sounds nice. At the risk of sounding ignorant, do cars there come with a heater and defroster ? At 70 Deg. F there I know some complain that it is cold.
Best of luck and enjoyment with your new Car and thanks for taking us with you to buy it.
Bob (NY);
The USB port is in the top of the glove box, plus you can connect your I-tunes player there also. That is a great question about the heater and defroster, they are marked on the AC controls but if they work, I’ll never know. There is a Mitsubishi factory here in the Philippines so I wonder if they’d bother, the Honda didn’t have one.
Paul,
Is there plenty of power in the 3 cylinder engine to go up mountains. What kind of commission do car salesman get there? Sounds like a great car for the price.
Randy’
The power question was answered on the test drive, I drove it home, and even the automatic Transmixers is geared to pull you up hill with little effort. Salesmen receive no commission at all.
LOL Randy, keep asking that kind of question about 3 cylinders and before you know it, Paul might just put a supercharged V8 Corvette engine in there coupled to a 5 speed gearbox. Kuya Greg will even manufacture wideass rims for it by splitting 8 rims in half and welding the split halves together to make four superwide rims. To get the monster rims and tires to fit, Kuya Greg can either put a lift kit, or cut out portions of the wheel wells for clearance. Then paint the rims Oakland Raiders black. Scary looking li’l car, if you ask me. LOL
John;
Now you be giving Randy nightmares thinking about that! (LOL)
Paul, John,
No more questions at all lol.
Randy;
I can’t blame you for that.
Sounds like someone needs a new, matching garage! I think they have some marble slabs next to the hardware store in “Gemstone Mica” 😆
It had better be comfortable parked on peebles (pebbles); they were good enough for the Honda, so they are good enough for the G4, not the G8 which might be the big punishment to Putin for invading the Chimera. Pretty strong action from the paper tigers in Washington.
Obama: You’d better get the hell out of there, Vlad. You’re violating international law and the territorial integrity of the Ukraine.
Putin: No we aren’t. And don’t call me, “Vlad”, as if I am Vlad the Impaler. We went in there at the behest of our compatriots, the majority ethnic 80% Russian population of the Crimean peninsula to protect them from the abuses of the pro-West government of Ukraine. Besides, Crimea belonged to us historically. We want it back. Also, aren’t you being a hypocrite to be reminding me about “international law”?
Obama: Well, yes, but…
John;
Obama can call in Syria to intervene for him, and once more avert international crises. Because Putin is a tad busy this time.
Paul,
Now that’s a good idea. Don’t put it past Washington lol
Larry;
There is nothing I’d put past the boys in Washington.
Did you ever discuss doing a trade-in of the old Honda, at the Mitsubishi dealership? I know I have not seen hardly any used car lots in the PI, and the dealers usually don’t seem to have any either. I wonder about the space in your new car, since I am 6 ft. 2 and am currently driving a 2009 Chevy Equinox SUV here in the US, with a 3.4 Liter V6 engine, and automatic transmission. I bought it used at the Chevy dealership, in December 2010, for about $20,000. I know it would be kind of oversized for city driving in the PI, but I would probably be using it mostly in Isabela province, between Gamu, and Ilagan. I think a used small SUV would be a useful thing there.
Larry;
My car is quite roomy but at 6’2” you might be wise to go the SUV route.
Dealerships (I just found out) will not take any trade over 9 years old. As to what they do with them the lord only knows. Next week I’ll be explaining how to get shed of an 18 year old Honda.
Bill S. Just take a look at google maps, or apple maps, and that’s what’s mapped. Last time I was there, it was pretty good coverage of Davao City; I used my iPhone a lot to help out the taxi drivers.
Jim
The only limitation with Google / Apple maps is access to 3G or LTE to update the map real-time. I’ve encountered spots where I get a blue dot on a blank background until I have access again. So it all depends on your Globe / Smart coverage.
John;
Since I passed on the GPS option on my new car, I’ll let you folks that know about it comment on it. I know where I am at all times, I’m right here.
Good article as usual Paul. When I retired and we moved to my wife’s hometown of Baybay Leyte in 2009 we bought a Mitsubishi Fuzion SUV , automatic, gas, which I understand is only sold in the Philippines. This vehicle has served us well so far. Enjoy your new vehicle.
Ricky;
Mitsubishi made great fighter planes and now cars, this is my third Mitsubishi here in the Philippines and they all served me well. But my Honda was my favorite, I know you’re not supposed to have a favorite but I did. I hope your Mitsubishi serves you long and well too. (Honda was so much easier to spell)
I have never had or used a GPS navigation device. I got happy with Mapquest then Google maps on my home computer. I pre-plan my trip and route and print our the map at home and carry a paper wone with me if I need it. We seldom go anywhere we haven’t been before anyhow. I also am still using an older cell-phone that doesn’t do internet. I do all this on my home desktop computer. I love my 19-inch screen and full-sized keyboard.and mouse.I think I am spoiled.
Larry;
You sound normal as hell to me; I follow your example on computer usage. GPS, I can’t say I’d ever need it, if I were to be going somewhere far flung from my house I would download the map and follow it. If my battery goes dead, I just can’t receive a call, but I’m not lost as those who are dependent on technology would be. Old school is the way for me.
Thank you very much Paul for the wonderful narration. We are both delighted and flattered to have served you, and at the same time, proud for Denny!
We have shared the link of your blog on our FB page. We invite you to like Carworld Subic on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/carworldsubic
“We Drive the Extra Mile to Make You Smile!”
Regards,
Rio
Mr. Perez;
A more pleasant car buying experience one could have, thanks to Denny, Mr. Magat and the rest of the profession staff at Subic Car World. I will tell my friends about my experience there. Wait, I think I did just do that here on Lip!
Greeting Paul
Dave star suggested I write you about buying a car in the philippines. I did not know there were car salesmen in Subic. I will be in the philippines in May 2015. I am looking for a toyota. Either a fortuner or the land cruiser. I am looking for something either new or no more than 35,000 miles on it. Any suggestions???
Morris;
The reason I departed from buying used cars and went with a new one was in the past year or so a lot of areas here were flooded. My friend lost two brand new cars. The law states that you must be informed if the car they are selling was flooded, but do you think they’ll really tell you. There are thousands of used cars up for sale, but what a chance you’ll be taking. BUY NEW
BTW; Dave said you thought that I was leaving the Philippines; there is no way that will ever happen. (LOL)
Hi Paul, A question regarding your swiping transaction: Did you go to the bank to swipe your card? I also use NFCU and will probably use this route. Do you have any other lessons learned that you can pass on to me? Thanks!