I am not sure which part of my post gave you an impression that I claimed it is easy to maintain a continental car. I thought I have already highlighted, to upkeep a bmw in the condition of ultimate driving machine, one needs to budget 30k for next five years for a F30 produced in 2012. I also highlighted the need of additional insurance to cover for possible damage caused by flood.

I am not sure where you send your 10 years old Merc for service and maintenance. But, I have no big problem for my 6 years old Merc.

Nowadays, modern continental cars are fitted with electronics and sensors. Independent workshops need to invest in new equipments and training in order to give proper maintenance. Trial and errors type of solutions actually cost more in terms of total ownership. For an independent workshop to have equipment and training, the charging won't be far away from the authorized service centre.

If you find out you have to send your Merc frequently to workshops, you have to ask, did the workshops you visited really know the root cause? Did they give you advices for the preventive maintenance?

For me to maintain the continental, I do a lot of preventative maintenance. When I know it is about time (based on mileage) to change absorber shock, I will change. If I don't, the ageing s absorber may impact other components of the suspension such as the arms for strut assemblies or the wheel bearing. I also send my car for wheel alignment and checking. I keep Excel spreadsheets to track the problems and the maintenance history.

Hi S'aimer,

I'm not what you would call a typical case, but I'm more than happy to share my personal take on the matter.

I will only take up a loan if the following criteria are met:

a. I can secure a tenure of FD higher than the EFFECTIVE (not paper) rate of the HP interest rate charged

b. I will not risk losing my capital by putting it into anything that's not capital guaranteed (maybe with the exception of A or AA rated bonds)

c. The loan is necessary to qualify for special rebates or benefits - for example, the new BMW G12 740LiA which I just signed an hour ago required that I take a minimum loan of SGD60,000 of 2 years to qualify for the special discount/rebate/freebies. I agreed, because they also allowed me to sign a higher than normal deposit level onto my credit card (more Kris Flyer points)

d. If for whatever reason I wish to pay the loan back earlier, there shouldn't be any punitive measures - only the rule of 78, which is the standard clause for all early repayments in Singapore.

Car loans in Singapore are averaging 2.28% per annum, and I calculated, for $60,000, I'll end up paying about $2,750 in interest after 2 years. The truth of the matter for me is, if I paid off the car in cash (in full), I would have lost something like $40,000 in discounts and rebates and upgrades to the car, so when I did the math, it was more worthwhile for me to take up a minimum loan amount to qualify for greater savings.

Hope that helps, but that's just my personal experience.

Yes, they said the camera is the original BMW front/back advanced car eye, and the solar film is supposed to be the best 3M has to offer. Crystalline something or the other. The other freebies include service valet pick up and drop off from home, courtesy cars, free service (all inclusive) for 3 years, and as what was written, umbrellas haha. Plus the cash discount, and over trade for one of my old cars (the old BMW F02) it came up to about $40,000 extra in value. Can't complain.

This is where I believe I should be spending most of my time in the new car:



But, a BMW is still supposed to be a driver's car, so likely I'll still spend more time behind this:

TAXI Driver! (Helicopter Pilot) Ferrying workers and equipment to and from the offshore installations in the South China Sea. Currently base in Labuan. 

No, not yet. That's the test drive car. My car interior is mocha brown with black trim - classier than the plain black of the test drive car. I'll take photos of everything when I take delivery. Pity I can't take photos of the massage seats in action though haha.

The purple trim can be changed - it's all OLED type of mood lighting. Got orange, yellow, blue, green, purple, white and some other colors I can't remember. My X5 only had 3 choices - blue, white or orange. The new 7er has expanded it.

This is also an unusual time for me. Just a week ago after I had signed for the new BMW, I walked into the Mercedes-Benz dealership next door. I normally only buy one new car per year, but they were really giving good discounts on the S400 (non hybrid) - $444,888. Spoke to the sales person about the S400 - it's not as well spec'ed as the new 740Li - no massage seats, no panoramic sunroof, no 360° camera and no HUD, amongst other minor details, but it's a comfy ride and I think wife quite likes the idea of going back to the MB brand for the first time in a decade. If she can get back to me with a good trade in price for my X5..... I might have even more pictures to share with you guys in a couple of weeks' time!

My friend, have you not heard of the new quote in the marriage vows: "Her money is her money, my money is also her money". Huat all the way.