The Ouzo

One other thing to be aware of. Many of these low interest deals are supsidised by the dealer, i.e. the dealer hands over part of their margin to the bank in order to buy you that rate from the bank. This then leaves the dealer no margin to discount that car to you. So have the numbers worked out for you on a normal finance deal with discount and one of their "special" low interest rate deals. Sometimes it does not make financial sense to take the low interest rate deal.

Again, its down to personal circumstances. I have a number of high earning customers that rather finance over 72 months for a cash flow perspective.

Good post I'd like to just add. The banks will give you a better interest rate the higher the amount you are financing, so if you have a big deposit, dont put it down straight away, finance the full amount, let the first installment go off, and then put the deposit into the account and ask the bank to recapitalize. This way you get the benefit of the low interest rate and the deposit.

yes and no. Yes because you dont HAVE to have a fancy car when a basic one will do the job just fine. No because something like a car is often NEEDED to get to work and earn that money. Then there is also the smart way of playing with money. To this I dont profess to be an expert at all. But i've been told that in some cases its better to pay the monthly installment than to pay the cash, even if you have the cash. Its not about the end price of the vehicle but rather to do with money on hand/cash flow.

If you do 20 000km per year for 3 years there will be fair wear and tear, the initial GFV value given to you when you take out the contract supposedly takes this into account, hence the mileage and time limit on the cars. The issue comes in when you are penalised even further for that fair wear and tear.

They are trying, hence Max's follow up email to me.

I would ad that you want to avoid guaranteed buybacks too. The customers that arrive here with German cars with GFV all have the same story. The brand they have bought has gone out of their way to find faults with the car they want to give back and have deducted insane amounts from the GFV they are supposed to be getting.

As fanie said, you are perhaps leaving out the bank initiation and monthly fees. But you basic assumption is correct, if the list price of the vehicle is R100k, and you take a 30% balloon, you will be paying off the R70k monthly with the 30k hanging over your head. But be aware, balloon is based on the base price of the vehicle excluding any extras, so if your 100k car is a 80k car with 20k extras, the 30% balloon is 30% of 80k edit to elaborate further. Balloon is not always a bad thing if you are aware of what you're in for. It allows you to buy a more expensive car and keep in your budget. You are planning to keep the car for a long period, so you have a few options. A) put some money aside every month so you can pay off the balloon at the end of the finance period B) put the money from A into the loan and pay off the balloon slowly C) at the end of the loan period finance the balloon portion. Yes all of the above mean you will be paying more than the sticker price by the time you are finished, but not many people can save up and buy a car cash these days. Just be very aware of the resale value of the car you are buying. If you get something with terrible resale and you decide after 3 years you want to get rid of it, you will be in a hole that is not easy to get out of. Also make sure that any insurance you take out on the vehicle has cover for the full amount of the loan, including the balloon. This calculator includes bank fees and allows you to play with different balloon amount etc. https://partners.wesbank.co.za/partners/calculators/repayment.xhtml?siteID=volvo

commuting with the bike 3 to 4 times a week, I realised very quickly when I get in my car other cars irritate me much more than when I'm on the bike.

Max took a while to respond, which was unusual, but apparently he has not been in the office for a few days, and since I emailed him directly its understandable. Anyway, he is dispatching me an XL whilst I'll be sending back the L. He then also followed up with another email with more sizing questions so that they can improve their sizing going forward.

the once or twice I've tried to have a friendly chat with motorists I got the feeling they didnt understand.

I was hoping I'd be bringing a new spin on things, I should have known better.

Very true. Its a 3 way stop, most traffic at that time of day is in 2 direction, the left turn goes to a school, so generally only busy during school pickup and drop off hours. And even though I proceed with caution, it just takes one guy coming from the left to skip the Stop on his side for things to get interesting.

the above and I've also found having lights on, day or night, mostly gets you more space and respect on the roads. But, I think the point of my post is going missing. We are often quick to judge others, especially in the heat of the moment, but a little retrospection before confrontation is needed.

Fair point, not going to argue it. I mostly do stop, but this particular Stop sign is so quiet even the cars generally just slow down for it at that time of the day.

A bit of a thread resurrection here. Do those of you with the Atop lacing system find that the ratchet does not hold up under pressure. i.e. you will have the laces tight, stand up to peddle and when you lift your foot up pulling on the laces the ratchet lets go of the tension.

I've tried to make a point of not confronting drivers on my commute unless I can do so calmly. Last night on the way home, there is this down hill stretch, after the first maybe 100m there is a stop sign that is normally quiet and then a further couple of hundred meters before the road climbs over the highway. So normally I proceed through the stop with caution but try and carry the speed through. Last night this car comes past me on the first little stretch before the stop, indicator on to turn left. I did not slow down as I was fully expecting him to stop and go straight away, thereby leaving me space. Except he stopped dead, I braked hard, trying to shift my weight backwards and steer around him at the same time. I probably missed the right corner of his bumper by millimetres. Me swearing into my buff looking him straight into his very wide eyes. It was only afterwards that I realised he was actually waiting for me to come past on the left before he turned, so he was in actual fact trying to do the right thing. I realise this is probably a rehash of past topics, but thought it is pertinent for us to realise that not everyone is acting like an idiot on purpose.

I've got a girls crank because I have girl power When I was buying the bike I did lots of gear calcs and on the top end I was only losing out a small amount to the old Scott, on the climbing end it was the same. And since I hardly ever ran out of gears on the Scott (because I was just not fit/strong enough) it did not bother me. I might go for a bigger blade down the line, but right now for those few times I need the extra bit a 10T will do what I need, anything faster and I have the weight to allow gravity to do the rest.

I'm actually thinking of changing the 11 tooth cog on the Giant to the 10 tooth cog from the Scott, it will give that little bit extra on my morning commute. I'm more a grinder than a spinner, so spinning away at around 90rpm doing 60km/h alongside traffic in the mornings I'm always looking for the next gear.

the way I see it is stuff happens, its the way the company deals with fixing the stuff that makes or breaks things. Nice feedback, makes me more confident to purchase Ciovita kit again.

really enjoyed both those articles from her, thanks for the link.

that is gorgeous

make a build thread already

We set out on the 15km trail, I thought there was no way I was going to drive 40km so that we can ride 5km. Packed a backpack full of snacks and drinks and off we went. Took plenty encouragement in place, lots of walking in other places and lots of me carrying the little ones bike. She took a tumble or 6, but just kept going. The only time there were tears was when my wife was putting her helmet back on her and pinch her cheek with the buckle. We landed up taking a shortcut back so only did 6km, but they had fun and so did I (even though I hardly rode).

Trying out this riding in dirt thing Took the girls to Rietvlei today. Super proud of the youngest, only been riding without side wheels for a month.