Mobil Rakyat...new cars

^
For that budget you should be able to find a good new car over here. A 2nd hand from a source you don't know, I wouldn't trust.

The problem is also you won't be able to get a 400+ million rupiah car for your budget if it is younger than two years (with the small depreciation over here). So Nissan X-Trail and Mazda CX-5 are not feasible. In the CR-V you would get a version of two facelifts ago; there have been quite some improvements since. With the Fortuner and Pajero Sport and X-Trail you get the end of life line of the previous model, which in itself is not a problem. (No more child's diseases.) However, often they are not treated well, and even dashed off, esp. the Fortuner. In those bigger cars a diesel will last you longer. Anyway, make sure you know who the previous owners were!

A good alternative for the HR-V could be the Nissan Juke, but you must like its looks. I have driven one in Europe for a week and was rather pleased. The moment the Mazda CX-3 is available here (and that's any moment now) I would definitely have a look at that one. Of course with the small SUVs and crossovers you have more ground clearance and the higher position is always desirable in heavy traffic. A sedan will always have a better sitting position.

image.png


Something else to consider if you want some more umpfh is the Honda Mobilio RS. Fits easily in your budget and will give you more space. (Esp. at the second row and in the cargo.) If the Honda BR-V had a RS version, I would advice that one. I would make a test drive with both to compare and see if you can live with the less powerful engine.

image.jpg


For the Freed you would have to wait a bit. The Toyota Sienta is a good alternative.
 
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If you have too much money and you don't need a big car, you can spend it on the new Honda Civic.

Currently there is only the sedan version. But (as in the USA) the new hatchback should be introduced in RI as well. These are produced in Swindon (the UK).

Count on 480 juta (yes, you do read this correctly) for a car in the same compact class as a VW Golf or Mazda 3. In the USA this car will be just over $19K. Amazing.

CRVpres_spcEdition16.jpg
2017-honda-civic-hatchback-official-photos-and-info-news-car-and-driver-photo-670250-s-429x262.jpg
My daughter bought one of these Hondas in the US this summer. Lots of safety features, even in the base model.
 
.
The Civic also has become much bigger over time; it started out as subcompact. The problem with all these global 'world cars' is that they become quite expensive in countries like RI, see also the Rav4 and those Ford SUVs for instance.

Now Indonesia is generally speaking an expensive country to buy a car. The country came in third after Singapore and Malaysia in some lists. Other countries in the top 10 were China, Brazil, and the......UK. The Netherlands and Denmark should probably be in that list too; the taxes are amazing.
 
Something else to consider if you want some more umpfh is the Honda Mobilio RS. Fits easily in your budget and will give you more space. (Esp. at the second row and in the cargo.) If the Honda BR-V had a RS version, I would advice that one. I would make a test drive with both to compare and see if you can live with the less powerful engine.

What I did not mention, is that the RS versions of the Jazz/Fit and Mobilio are in fact not more powerful pur sang. So you won't get a bigger engine or so. They have done some exhaust and intake tuning. Which can be rather effective.

These cars also get a different suspension and steering behavior.
 
^
For that budget you should be able to find a good new car over here. A 2nd hand from a source you don't know, I wouldn't trust.

The problem is also you won't be able to get a 400+ million rupiah car for your budget if it is younger than two years (with the small depreciation over here). So Nissan X-Trail and Mazda CX-5 are not feasible. In the CR-V you would get a version of two facelifts ago; there have been quite some improvements since. With the Fortuner and Pajero Sport and X-Trail you get the end of life line of the previous model, which in itself is not a problem. (No more child's diseases.) However, often they are not treated well, and even dashed off, esp. the Fortuner. In those bigger cars a diesel will last you longer. Anyway, make sure you know who the previous owners were!

A good alternative for the HR-V could be the Nissan Juke, but you must like its looks. I have driven one in Europe for a week and was rather pleased. The moment the Mazda CX-3 is available here (and that's any moment now) I would definitely have a look at that one. Of course with the small SUVs and crossovers you have more ground clearance and the higher position is always desirable in heavy traffic. A sedan will always have a better sitting position.

image.png


Something else to consider if you want some more umpfh is the Honda Mobilio RS. Fits easily in your budget and will give you more space. (Esp. at the second row and in the cargo.) If the Honda BR-V had a RS version, I would advice that one. I would make a test drive with both to compare and see if you can live with the less powerful engine.

image.jpg


For the Freed you would have to wait a bit. The Toyota Sienta is a good alternative.

Thanks for that. I didn't know the CX-3 would be coming to Indonesia, but a quick google learns that it should be in October, brilliant.

Don't like the Mobilio/BRV/Freed one bit, styling wise. Plus those are more family cars, while it's just the 2 of us.
 
Another car which is positioned as competitor for the HR-V, is the Suzuki SX4 S-Cross. This used to be a collaboration between Fiat and Suzuki, both had their own version.

It has been introduced in RI a couple of weeks ago.

But now the strange thing; in other countries the car has been facelifted as of this week. And yes, in Indonesia you would still get the 'old' version. (Which is new.) I don't know if they will catch up as well, since the car manufacturers have done this before; the Toyota Navi1 for instance, has always been the previous version. They did the same waiting game with the Jazz/Fit. So if you would consider this car, I would definitely wait until there is more clarity.

Here are the before and after (so the version in the color between p!ss yellow and vomid green, is the previous, eh.. current one):

image.jpg

image.jpg

image.jpg


Of course you would not get the AWD or diesel version here. But it is a full automatic, not a CVT.
 
Currently the biggest car show of Europe is taking place. It switches yearly between Paris and Frankfurt.

There is not so much news relevant for RI, it is very clear the car manufacturers are all betting on electric now. (Even Mercedes and VW.) There is a new Audi Q5, BMW is showing a prototype of a X2 and Lexus has some interesting new cars as well.

A rather important car for Nissan (India and Indonesia), will be the new Micra. In fact it is more a Renault. It becomes much bigger and will play in the Yaris and Jazz class now....

9kmy2imbqp3k_480.jpg


Something new that would be interesting for the Indonesian market, is the Suzuki Ignis.

2016-suzuki-ignis-6_800x0w.jpg
 
I'm more excited about Infiniti's variable compression ratio engine (on display at the Paris Auto Show). I wonder how well it would work in Jakarta's traffic and if it would provide any benefit.
 
Yeah, it's just a shame you won't be able to buy the QX50 in many places. None of the Infinities are very popular outside of the US or UAE*. I'm also not convinced whether the technology makes sense in urban areas; as far I understand it is more useful at cruising speed. (That might also explain this being Infiniti technology, instead of Nissan -> USA.)

Of course we should applaud any development that increases fuell efficiency and power, and brings down pollution. But I feel it is a shame suddenly all manufacturers seem to 'forget' the fuel cell (hydrogen) cars. Only the Toyota Mirai is commercially available.
 
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Yeah, it's just a shame you won't be able to buy the QX50 in many places. None of the Infinities are very popular outside of the US or UAE*. I'm also not convinced whether the technology makes sense in urban areas; as far I understand it is more useful at cruising speed. (That might also explain this being Infiniti technology, instead of Nissan -> USA.)

Of course we should applaud any development that increases fuell efficiency and power, and brings down pollution. But I feel it is a shame suddenly all manufacturers seem to 'forget' the fuel cell (hydrogen) cars. Only the Toyota Mirai is commercially available.

Maybe eventually it will trickle down to Nissan's and maybe other manufacturers will do something similar.

If only Infiniti made their designs free for everyone to use like Tesla did (the company, not the genius inventor).
 
At home in Europe we consider Japanese and German cars are no 1 with German cars cheaper (spare parts ect.).
French and Italian cars are in the same category.
I am amazed that we don't have extra groups like British or Swedish cars.

The modern thinking seems to be that the German is expensive to own (expensive parts, poor reliability) but better to drive, and the Japanese is for boring people who don't like to waste their money.

The result of course is the old people buy Hondas and maintain then rigorously, and then some young guy buys a BMW on bald tyres and revs it until it breaks.
 
If you have too much money and you don't need a big car, you can spend it on the new Honda Civic.

Currently there is only the sedan version. But (as in the USA) the new hatchback should be introduced in RI as well. These are produced in Swindon (the UK).

Count on 480 juta (yes, you do read this correctly) for a car in the same compact class as a VW Golf or Mazda 3. In the USA this car will be just over $19K. Amazing.

CRVpres_spcEdition16.jpg
2017-honda-civic-hatchback-official-photos-and-info-news-car-and-driver-photo-670250-s-429x262.jpg

They are giving these away (almost) in the UK. Around £172/month for the 1.6 diesel on a lease (or £200/month with 10,000 miles allowed per year, instead of 5,000). That's 3.4 juta/bulan. Way less than half the cost of owning one in Indonesia.

It just doesn't make sense to buy imported cars in Indonesia.
 
The modern thinking seems to be that the German is expensive to own (expensive parts, poor reliability) but better to drive, and the Japanese is for boring people who don't like to waste their money.

The result of course is the old people buy Hondas and maintain then rigorously, and then some young guy buys a BMW on bald tyres and revs it until it breaks.

Or people like myself who would rather own a second hand quality vehicle and look after it well. I wouldn't buy a brand new BMW for example but a 10 year old one would certainly be a better option to my mind compared to a 10 year old Kijang or other Japanese vehicle. Personally I would rather have an older quality car fully loaded with all the extras, leather everything, electric everything, well maintained with a proper service history and decent sized engine than an (average) brand new plastic Japanese car.

For me classic styling and good build quality wins hands down every time.
 
It just doesn't make sense to buy imported cars in Indonesia.

I think it depends a bit on the model and where you're from. Singaporeans here will think they arrived in car heaven. Many imported cars in Indonesia have similar prices as those in a country like The Netherlands and they are cheaper than in Denmark or so. (Because of the high taxes in those countries.) But countries as Belgium and esp. Germany for instance, are much more economical. I remember I felt sorry for my English colleagues who had to fork over a lot for an A4, and now it has become one of the cheaper car countries in Europe which will end at the Brexit. Not to mention the USA; an American muscle car or Japanese premium over there is a 'bargain'.

But car ownership also includes costs as gasoline, insurance, road tax, etc. And there RI does pretty well.

Or people like myself who would rather own a second hand quality vehicle and look after it well. ......Personally I would rather have an older quality car fully loaded with all the extras, leather everything, electric everything, well maintained with a proper service history and decent sized engine than an (average) brand new plastic Japanese car.

For me classic styling and good build quality wins hands down every time.

I would buy a car from someone like my father. So you need to be somewhat lucky. But if the history is unknown or can be forged, I get a bit nervous, esp. here. In Germany it is mandatory to have a full disclosure of the history of the car, including accidents. And in many countries every workshop and garage is obligated to enter the odometer info into a central database at each visit.

Don't forget though, that quite some German cars were/are assembled here. With variable results. And that has lead to quite some complaints and HQ scrutiny.

But yes, buying a Merc or Beemer here which has been maintained by the dealership, should be pretty safe, unless they had it fixed by a botcher after an accident to save money. (And that happens quite a lot by stingy owners who will also get premium bensin.)


Now, this is what you need over here:

mqcxgPmCR7t5FCE-q-YTNJw.jpg
 
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A rather important car for Nissan (India and Indonesia), will be the new Micra. In fact it is more a Renault. It becomes much bigger and will play in the Yaris and Jazz class now....

9kmy2imbqp3k_480.jpg

Of course the car is called Nissan March over here. It will grow to 4 meter in length, that makes a model like the Nissan Note obsolete. (According to Nissan. Therefore this rather popular car will disappear in the EU.)
 
The modern thinking seems to be that the German is expensive to own (expensive parts, poor reliability) but better to drive, and the Japanese is for boring people who don't like to waste their money.

The result of course is the old people buy Hondas and maintain then rigorously, and then some young guy buys a BMW on bald tyres and revs it until it breaks.

Majority of people from my country would disagree with you.
 
It's all very subjective of course. And not all brands are sold in every country (esp. the French and Italian). Not to forget, that after many scandals (hidden recalls, dieselgate, exploding airbags, ...) but also with the introduction of 'world cars', the shared platforms and collaboration between brands, the automotive world is a bit in turmoil; there is no 'truth' anymore.
 
Majority of people from my country would disagree with you.
It's a matter of statistics:

From the UK:
http://www.reliabilityindex.com/manufacturer

Japan brands:
1,2,3,4,5,6,9,16,20

Germany:
12,26,29,31,33,36

In particular, the mainstream luxury brands, BMW, Mercedes and Audi finished 29, 31 and 33. Lexus came number 6, so you can't exactly say that they did bad because they are big and complicated, because so are Lexuses.

It is very clear that Japanese cars (at least in the West) are better built than German ones. I wouldn't necessarily say things are the same in Indonesia, unless you can consider only imported cars (which are very expensive anyway
 
^
An example of a reason I don't really trust these reliability figures; compare the brands on 1 and 4 and 6. That simply makes no sense since they use the same parts.

And, in certain countries the Japanese warranty is 4 years and even 6-7 years on Korean cars. European brands often still offer 2 years.

Also, reserach shows that customers of the so called premium brands are a bit more prone to complain. (If you pay more, you expect more.)

Last but not least, the way the car is used has a big impact on reliability and repairs. The index is a moment in time; JDPowers for instance, compares cars that are 6 months old or so. Then the question becomes how well the brands perform after two years or four years. But not only that, using a car for daily short rides in a city has a very different impact as professionals driving long highway stretches. And a substantial group of people will never keep their car longer than the warranty (so X years or 100K kilometers), that also affects the long term measurements.
 

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