Hyundai Getz wipers
I’m about to buy another set of wipers for Gina, my Hyundai Getz, because it’s just waaaay too worn out to be effective. Where should I buy it?
Listening to: Sidewalk Prophets Live Like That
What prices!
Have you seen the prices of gasoline nowadays? It’s teetering near Php56/liter, which is ludicrous! Good thing my Hyundai Getz still gets decent mileage, or I’ll have to sell a kidney just to get to work!
Gina Floodworthy
A friend of mine lost his car in the recent Pedring typhoon. I felt badly for him; it’s never easy losing a car – hello, that’s a lot of money/value in one item! – but gosh, it’s gotta suck when your car gives in.
Meanwhile, my Hyundai Getz is flood-savvy and flood-safe! I used to be concerned about whether my Getz would be able to handle it, especially with a relatively low tail pipe, but you know what? She’s a trooper! My Getz survived the infamous floods of Araneta, Espana, and Taft Avenue.
Wanna buy a Hyundai Getz?
So, we’re pretty much decided that we’ll be buying a new car, which means we’re going to be selling our Hyundai Getz.
You’ve seen virtually everything we’ve had done to our car on this website. 
You know we won’t be hiding anything from you. Would you like to buy the most famous Hyundai Getz in the country? LOL Negotiations start at Php280,000. Send me an email at ganns at gannsdeen dot com for details, or if you’re interested. I already have two interested buyers but I’m still open.
If you buy the car, you obviously also get this website. And the value of this site isn’t too sloppy:
My wife and the Geely Panda
So I finally took my wife to the Geely North EDSA showroom to check out the Geely Panda.
Good news: she liked the car.
Bad news: She couldn’t get over the fact that the Geely Panda was a China car. (And that it seemed like a downgrade from our Hyundai Getz. Korea to China, Hyundai to Geely, that whole enchilada.)
Image is everything, folks. Now what?
*heads off to Toyota*
Five-year installment plans = OUCH.
I took my Hyundai Getz today to Suzuki Caloocan and Kia Caloocan to check out the Suzuki AVP and the Kia Soul and new Kia Picanto, respectively. While both are gorgeous cars, they also came with promotions – low downpayments tuckered in with a ton of freebies – but I was shocked at the installment plans for five years! None of the car plans afforded even came close to Php10,000. The cheapest was the Picanto, but the payment plan was like Php13,000. (I’ll update this entry with the actual prices; they’re in my car.) Which is a shame because it’s a gorgeous gorgeous car, but ouchies talaga, that’s expensive. At Php13,000 * 60, that’s Php780,000, up from an original tag of Php545,000 yata.
As for the Suzuki AVP, well, forget it, it’s Php760,000. Looks like I’m going to check out Toyota again, as well as Hyundai.
Then again, there’s always the Geely Panda. LOL
Geely Panda name
If I get a Philippine Geely Panda, I am so naming him Po.
… and then there’s the Suzuki APV…
My wife and I had a conversation about what car to replace our Hyundai Getz, and while I was leaning towards the Geely Panda, my wife felt that she wanted to upgrade to a larger vehicle.
“A Toyota Avanza, then?” I suggested. “It starts at somewhere near Php600,000.”
“Okay lang,” she replied. “We can do a payment plan.”
But then I had an epiphany.
“What about the Suzuki APV?” I Googled an image and showed it to my wife. Her eyes lit up.
“That looks good!” She exclaimed.
And why wouldn’t it be? The Suzuki APV starts at Php565,000 a good Php70,000 off the starting Php593,000 of the Avanza. Based on the discussion here and here, the APV seems to be a better fit for our family and quite the workhorse; the folks who have it swear it’s a great car.
So, cute and compact Geely Panda (Php448,000) vs. large and roomy Suzuki APV (Php565,000)? Let the battle begin!
Geely Panda review (1)
Found a Geely Panda review online from South Africa. It’s a straightforward, unbiased review. Bottom line for the car: You don’t buy Chinese for the brand, you don’t buy Chinese for the quality. You buy it because it’s cheap.
At Php448,000 for the upper model with a five-year or 150,000km warranty, whichever comes first, I may be willing to take a chance. Until I make my own Philippine Geely Panda review.
Methinks I may have to sniff around other cars to replace my Hyundai Getz. The Toyota Avanza seems to be the only other car I’m willing to take a chance on, because I really don’t like the Hyundai i10 and everything else is ludicrously priced.
Is the Geely Panda worth it?
I recently read this review on the Geely Panda, and let’s put it this way: I’m really looking forward to test-driving the Geely Panda in the Philippines. It’s a South African review – apparently, South Africa has Geely Pandas, and there doesn’t seem to be any backlash against it – and it seems legit because it’s straightforward frank. The only down-side to getting a Geely Panda outright that I see is that my good friend Kris – who reviews cars for a partial living – really doesn’t have anything nice to say about China cars in the Philippines. So I won’t make a decision until my wife and I test-drive it. The Geely Panda is smaller than a Hyundai Getz – the article says it’s at par with the Suzuki Alto, which I find really odd, because it looks larger than an Alto – so we really do have an issue with space, but all other factors combined would, at face value, make the Geely seem like a perfectly legitimate alternative to the Hyundai Getz.
Will keep y’all posted once I test-drive the Geely Panda. Other than a Toyota Avanza or a Suzuki APV, it’s looking like a strong candidate for our next family car.
