Car Buying Woes

Buying a car here with a loan is going to be harder than I thought.  According to the bank, we have to have a South African drivers license.  We talked to a guy at a dealership and he said that obtaining that license might prove to be a bridge to far.  The daunting mission would take a day or more waiting in lines followed by a several month wait for the actual license.  I'm going to have to do some more research and find out if this is true.  Another option is to get an international driver's license, but my bank didn't say if that would suffice. 

Another hurdle is my three year Visa; our loan terms can not be longer than my Visa.  Since I have already been here a few months, I might be stuck with a 24 month loan.  I might not be able to afford a decent car that is less than five years old with loan terms that are this short.  Car prices, even used car prices, in South Africa are just silly.  For example, we saw a used Jeep Wrangler Sport at the Jeep Dealership in Claremont which sold today.  It was a four banger soft top bare bones Jeep, it was not a Rubicon, and it went for the equivalent of $43,000 used.  I'm feeling like the traditional financing option is not going to work and I'm feeling OK with that.  The last and only time I ever financed a vehicle it made me feel dirty and used.  I felt like I was getting screwed from every direction and swore I would never do that again.

Another option mentioned by my bank was to get a personal loan.  My bank will lend me three times my monthly gross pay.  This might turn out to be the best option and save me money for several reasons. With this type of loan I don't need a South African driver's license, I can buy the car from a private seller, and it can be older than five years old.   I may be able to avoid a 14% Value Added Tax (VAT) on a private sale.  I might also be able to afford a decent vehicle if it over five years old. The only setback with this loan is that I can't get one until my account is three months old.  This will make it impossible to buy the Defender 110 I mentioned in the previous post, since it will probably be sold today.  Another guy came with cash in hand.  I guess I will be keeping my eyes out for similar deals and hope the interest rate on this type of loan is decent.

Western Cape Getaway Show

Yesterday, we went to a trade show held at a wine estate.  For an off-road enthusiast like myself, the equipment being shown outside the large tents was by far the best part.  I especially enjoyed the neat little tent trailers.  My guess is that since the geezers who can afford toys in South Africa can't buy a Ford F-350 to haul a fifth wheel they invest in these little trailers that can be pulled by a Ford Ranger. Here these little trucks are considered a large bakkie (truck).  They use them in every role a full size truck would be used back home.  Everything from serving as a tow truck to a dump truck.  The trailers seem rugged yet refined and well designed.  Everything you will need for a luxury outing in your 4X4 has been thought of.  They even have places to store your wine glasses.  I definitely want to buy one of these trailers and take one back to Arizona when we decide to move back.

I even started looking at off-road vehicles again.  I currently have my sights set on a Defender 110 which is kitted out for a Cape Town to Cairo trip.  An American came down, bought his Land Rover got it ready for the trip and decided not to go.  I think recent events in Egypt might have played a role.  He is asking R 95 000 (~13,000).  For this I would have room for four or five, a roof top tent, freezer, refrigerator, roof rack, two jerry cans, bull bar, kitchen, a newly overhauled diesel engine, and a power inverter with enough wattage to power a television (why would I need a television?).  If I can get a car loan for a private party sale, I just might buy it. Pictures of this vehicle can be seen at the following link.  I'm also looking for Jeep Wranglers, I really treated my last one horribly and it refused to die.  Now that they come in a four door version, my wife is even open to the idea.  I'm also intrigued with the diesel engine option we can get over here.  I always wanted to do an engine conversion on my old jeep, and diesel was one of the options I was thinking about.  The only problem with the Jeep idea is that I can't find a used one which is reasonably priced.  I guess the brand name adds a few extra thousand Rand.

It's Been Some Time

I know that I haven't written anything in awhile.  My wife is so much better at keeping up with her blog at withoutcomplexities.blogspot.com.  I actually haven't done much I would consider interesting.  Mostly getting up going to work and coming home, mostly writing grants and acclimating to the university.  We have only been on two real day trips.  The first we went on a drive across False Bay and visited one of the two African Penguin colonies on South Africa's mainland.  On the second trip we went to a restaurant called the Brass Bell (http://www.brassbell.co.za/) in Kalk Bay.  The food was good, I especially enjoyed the calamari (best I've ever eaten).  Unfortunately the mood was soured when we were forced to wait an inordinate amount of time to pay for our bill.  We cheered ourselves up by going to the Muizenberg beach where I saw surfers, for the first time, in their natural habitat.  I'll try to do better.

Driving

Up until a few days ago my wife and I have been relying on public transportation.  The cheapest way we found to move around town was by using what people call cabs.  These cabs are very different from the cabs Americans might picture when someone says "I took a cab."  These cabs operate more like buses, but with a little more hustle.  They have a route,  with semi-regular stops, but instead of keeping to a schedule, a team of people try to cram as many people in the cab as possible.  The team is made up of two people, a driver and a cashier of sorts.  The driver's job is to drive as fast as possible down the route, honk the horn to attract passengers, and stop when the cashier tells him too.  The driver also seems to have the job of angering and competing with other cabs with his driving.  The cashier obviously takes people's money, but also facilitates more business.  During stops, he whistles and runs around looking for passengers.  If a passenger is on the other side of the street he might jump in the middle of traffic and stop it so that passenger can safely j-walk across the street.  The cab might even wait for more passengers to fill the cab, which is quite annoying if you're in a hurry.  While they are driving, the cashier spends his time yelling out the side of the cab "Kip Taun" or something like that.  After a few days we realized that he was saying "Cape Town", which is the last stop on the route.  I was told that most of these people who run the cabs are from the Cape Flats area of Cape Town and that they have a very distinct accent.  These guys must be the hardest working people in Cape Town.  The best part of this whole experience is that the cabs are little Volkswagen Micro-buses and they often stuff sixteen passengers or more in the thing.  Including the two operators that is eighteen people who have been working up a sweat running around town.  Needless to say it gets a bit smelly in those things.

A few days ago we got access to a car, a nice little Mercedes-Benz hatchback.  I'm not going to say that I will miss riding in the cabs, but I will say that it was a worthwhile experience.  We've only taken the car out twice, once to the grocery store and once to the gym. We're kind of afraid to drive on the wrong side of the road in crazy traffic.  I can't wait to see more of Cape Town with the freedom of a car.  Since cab route maps were not available we only used one route.  Now we can go wherever we want.