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Suzuki Liana VURV

Suzuki Liana VURV

Suzuki Liana has been around the block for some time now.

Have you noticed that it is not as common as you’d expect a 1.Trio Suzuki car to be? I mean, you still see the Baleno plying the roads more often than the Liana. I think it is safe to say that the Suzuki Liana is not exactly a runaway success. The Engine is the same as the Baleno’s (in terms of engine capacity and responsiveness at least), so why aren’t more people buying the Liana? Very first, of course, is the damn form. The car seems to be, you know, packed a little too taut from the sides, as if someone squashed it ever-so slightly. And then there is the cost.

Price of Suzuki Liana VURV

The Fresh Suzuki Liana VURV will set you back at least 1,184,500 / -. And that’s just for the Petrol version.

A petrol version?

Yes, it seems that a factory-fitted CNG kit now is worth to be called a “CNG Version”, albeit it runs just fine on petrol too.

So, Suzuki Liana VURV – petrol version is priced at 1,184,500.

The Suzuki VURV – CNG version is priced at 1,255,500

What about Transmission? Obviously, there is no A/T in this one. Ever. Suzuki and Automatic Transmissions just don’t do well together it seems. When was the last time you spotted a Suzuki car with an automatic transmission? Exactly, me neither.

Why You Should Consider Buying The Suzuki Liana

Suzuki is one of my most beloved car companies. Not because they make cheap cars for the ‘rest of us’, and not because their cars usually are the ‘last option’ on anyone’s list of possible cars to buy. No. I like Suzuki cars because of their engines. I don’t know, but a 1.Trio Baleno has always, and I mean ALWAYS outperformed a Honda City or even the Toyota Corolla Xli. Always.

And does anyone here recall what the Suzuki Baleno 1.6 used to do to the VTi (Honda) and GLi (Toyota)? Wherever you see the now-rare Baleno 1.6, just suggest a puny Thanks to Your Lord for showcasing you such a wonderful car!

So yeah, the Suzuki engines feel more powerful, they drive better and you have a sense of responsiveness that the other two companies just don’t seem to give you. And no one can hit their parts-availability and the Suzuki’s ruggedness.

The only thing BAD in the Suzuki Liana, truly, is the form of the car; I’ve seen better backside of buses! For some people, that is reason enough to not buy the car.

Lahore Shopping Festival. And Classic CARS!

Expect the Rolls Royce one thousand nine hundred sixty five at the Car Rally

One of the better things coming out of the Lahore Chambers of Commerce is the decision to organize the Lahore Shopping Festival .

It has a lot of things covered it seems. And there is something for car paramours as well.

The Lahore Shopping Festival will embark from the Fourrd of April 2011, and will go on for about one week, ending on the 10th of April 2011.

Here’s what you can expect:

• A Polo Tournament at the 125-year-old Lahore Polo Club
• A Qirat competition on April 5th. The winner of the competition will be awarded PKR 100,000 and an Umra ticket (cool, no?)
• A Classic Car Rally on April 6th, kicking off from Siddique Trade Center to Liberty Chowk. Around fifty cars dating from one thousand nine hundred twenty to one thousand nine hundred sixty five will take part.
• Youthfull Entrepreneurs’ Business Plan competition will be held at ninety The Mall on the same day i.e. April 6th. (Wonder what the very first prize for this competition would be. )
• A Musical Evening at Raiwand Road
• A Peace Walk on April 7th, from Lahore Chambers of Commerce to Alhamra Hall (Mall Road), at Ten:30 AM.
• A Photography Competition would be held at the Tollinton Market Hall.
• Lahore Wrestling Competition will be held at the Punjab Wrestling Stadium on April 8th.
• On the same day (April 8th), a two-day Punjab Expo would commence at the remarkably built Lahore Expo Center, where trader and manufacturers would showcase their products at discounted rates.
• Also on the same day (April 8th), a rally of powerful bikes would be organized, from Lahore Chambers of Commerce and Industry offices to the Lahore Expo Center.
• A Style Display will be help on April 8th at 8:00 PM at The Royal Palm.
• A Conference on Investment Opportunities will be held at the Lahore Expo Auditorium on April 9th. A must-attend for would-be entrepreneurs and businessmen.
• A Cycle Race from the LCCI offices to the Lahore Expo Center would be help on April 10th.

OK, so I don’t know about you, but a lot of things are happening here; Cars, bikes, cycles, business opportunities and even wrestling and style shows! Don’t know about you, but it sure presents ample chance for many of us to be entertained, get educated and stay interested!

CarAdvice – some significant updates

Car Advice Pakistan

A lot has been happening in the Pakistani auto market. This post is not about that.

This post is about the future direction of CarAdvice.pk as a blog and as a magazine site for Car enthusiasts from all over Pakistan.

A fresh wave of inspiration and some plans have wooed me that we can inshAllah take CarAdvice a lot further and put out some fine content that is not helpful but also entertaining.

I am planning movie reviews for a number of cars. InshAllah you will soon see the Honda Civic reviewed inwards out…

I am also hoping that you would proceed with your support and feedback and interaction – the interaction in the form of comments on this website is what makes all of this useful.

Thank you for your interest and interaction – this is what makes this website useful for all of us. JazaakAllah and thank you again!

I have been writing a few posts/article over at Life ETC, and while writing on setting goals and helping people out, I realized that the CarAdvice blog is a good way to do just that. I know, when you think of ‘helping someone out’, no one is indeed thinking of helping people out in determining which vehicle to buy or how to maintain their cars. But I also realized how certain I felt when I bought my very first firearm after reading authentic reviews on forums like PakGuns – I was and am very grateful to people who take the time out to give valuable advice based on practice and good-ol hard work. I want the same for CarAdvice. And I hope that you keep advising me on how to do that even better.

Thank you and God bless,

This is Momekh, signing off.

Importing cars to Pakistan

Import of five year old cars to Pakistan is now permitted.

I have imported a Honda Accord CF3 directly from Japan. This was in 2007. It was a fine car, and is the best one I have possessed (I have not possessed many high-end cars, not yet at least! ) … I have other goals for life etc for the time being.

The reason CarAdvice.pk have had a few posts on the import of cars to Pakistan is because of the latest politically-driven bill of permitting import of five year old cars into Pakistan. And what do you know, the government has ultimately re-considered and have now permitted the import of five year old cars into Pakistan.

Now, the ‘automobile industry’ of Pakistan, as expected does not like this:

The Pakistan Automobile Manufacturers Association (PAMA) and Pakistan Association of Auto Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM), the assemblers of cars and the auto parts vendors, have voiced dismay over the government decision to permit import of up to five-year-old cars that would retard the gradual growth the auto sector was witnessing after two years of turmoil.

I have mentioned why this decision is GOOD for the consumer here.

But, as mentioned in The News (a daily newspaper), there is a rationale behind the latest decision to permit the import of 5-year-old cars:

The cabinet has eventually taken a good decision to permit the import of five-year-old cars. The lack of competition in the market, owing to its petite size and absence of economies of scale, make the car assemblers make money at the cost of ordinary people by enhancing prices whenever the Japanese yen rises or the rupee falls. Ideally, we should have a developed car industry but it can not develop in a country with a petite market size. To put it in perspective, China produced more than thirteen million cars in 2009, Japan almost eight million and the USA around six million, compared to a little over 100,000 in Pakistan.

It would be foolish to expect the car assemblers in Pakistan not to raise prices when the yen rises or the Rupee falls further, because most of the car components for assembly are imported from Japan. However, if the size of the car market increases, there would be greater need for spare parts and Pakistan can make good-quality car parts, which could also be exported. Later on, if the numbers of cars sold in the country passes a certain threshold; we can also make good-quality cars. Until then the concentrate should be on enhancing the market size and bringing cars within the reach of the ordinary people.

So, do you guys think that this is a good decision? I know I am blessed because I don’t want to pay Two.0 million rupees for a 1.8 sedan when I can pay less for a four-by-four. Let’s hear your comments people.

The Fresh Hilux

Toyota Hilux Turbo in Pakistan

For those who are not aware, the Toyota Hilux is very much a living legend.

From Top Gear to Newsweek, the critics have always held good respect for the rough and harsh Four×Four. Not only that, the Toyota Hilux is well known for its part in the wars of our world! Yes, much like the revered AK-47 when it comes to weapons, the Toyota Hilux is considered the AK-47 of vehicles.

The Toyota Hilux in Pakistan

We have had the Vigo, the imported diversity of the Hilux, plying our roads for some time now. It is by all means, a desirable vehicle. And no one has to tell you that they are talking about the Hilux and when they say ‘Dual Cabin’.

But there is one problem; more often than not, you’d see the ‘lords of our country’ stuffing their guards into the Hilux. It is, for most intents and purposes, considered a ‘guard car’, but that is not to be considered a bad thing! The Hilux gets a kick out of this reputation as well; guards get the hardest car, no?

My anecdotal review

One fine day, I got to rail in a Land Cruiser, a Pardo and the dual cabin Hilux. All three Four×Four′s, on the same day. As expected, the Cruiser took total marks on pretty much everything (it is not the best car in the world for nothing!), but to my surprise, I just couldn’t place the Prado above the Dual Cabin. The Hilux was more convenient, even in the supposedly cramped back seat (it is not cramped, you only imagine it to be!)

What’s fresh in the Fresh Hilux?

The same that you’d expect from a monopolistic, zero-competition industry; not much. The ‘fresh’ Hilux is claimed to have a fresh ‘Turbo’ engine, whatever that means, and the website does not tell you much about what ‘fresh engine’ got placed.

There are two ‘trims’ to the Hilux; Hilux Standard and Hilux Turbo.

So, what is the difference in the engines of the Standard and the Turbo? If you dare to read the specifications, you will clearly see the difference in the Standard and Turbo engines.

And what exactly does TURBO mean?

Why are you not astonished that both the engines have EXACTLY the same specifications?

Toyota, especially with the Corolla, have given us the same Two.0 Diesel engine for ages, whereas the diesel technology on Toyota cars has leaped forward in other parts of the world. I request the Toyota guys reading this, to please give us a break!

Give me four Lacs, I will give you AC

If you ever get a chance to see the Toyota Indus website, you’d see that they have attempted to present even the smallest of things as ‘features’ of this ‘fresh’ Hilux. They even go ahead and mention things like “premium” fabric on the inwards of doors as a freakin’ feature. Are you kidding me? And they mention that the fresh Hilux have ‘bottle holders’. What the hell?

But then again, the ‘Standard’ version of the ‘fresh’ Turbo Hilux does not have Air Conditioning, or the ‘premium’ fabric gracing the inwards of the door. So you better end up paying 400,000 more for the Turbo version! Wait till people pimp their Standard versions over at the Montgomery Road, and get it to “look” exactly like the Turbo version for quarter of the price difference.

And there is no option of automatic transmission in either of the two trims. That is just sad.

The Price We Pay

The standard comes to Two,349,000 Pakistani Rupees.

The Turbo costs Two,749,000 Pakistani Rupees.

There is the touchscreen DVD and other ‘little things’ that make up the price difference. You also get the A/C in the Turbo version. So rejoice!

Will you buy this car?

I will buy this vehicle because it ‘looks’ good, and even the ‘old’ engine tech of Toyota has stood the test of time. I will not buy this car if I have the slightest of chance of getting an imported vehicle.

I only want to get one thing clear; the Pakistani market is permanently given a bad deal, or rather a deal that is just good enough. As mentioned previously on Car Advice, if you truly want to see if ‘our cars’ would stand up against ANY competition, let us import cars at a lower duty. Then no one, and I mean, NO ONE, would pay what we have to pay.

Review of Cars in Pakistan

Pakistani Car Advice | News Blog

Main menu

Suzuki Liana VURV

Suzuki Liana VURV

Suzuki Liana has been around the block for some time now.

Have you noticed that it is not as common as you’d expect a 1.Trio Suzuki car to be? I mean, you still see the Baleno plying the roads more often than the Liana. I think it is safe to say that the Suzuki Liana is not exactly a runaway success. The Engine is the same as the Baleno’s (in terms of engine capacity and responsiveness at least), so why aren’t more people buying the Liana? Very first, of course, is the damn form. The car seems to be, you know, packed a little too taut from the sides, as if someone squashed it ever-so slightly. And then there is the cost.

Price of Suzuki Liana VURV

The Fresh Suzuki Liana VURV will set you back at least 1,184,500 / -. And that’s just for the Petrol version.

A petrol version?

Yes, it seems that a factory-fitted CNG kit now is worth to be called a “CNG Version”, albeit it runs just fine on petrol too.

So, Suzuki Liana VURV – petrol version is priced at 1,184,500.

The Suzuki VURV – CNG version is priced at 1,255,500

What about Transmission? Obviously, there is no A/T in this one. Ever. Suzuki and Automatic Transmissions just don’t do well together it seems. When was the last time you witnessed a Suzuki car with an automatic transmission? Exactly, me neither.

Why You Should Consider Buying The Suzuki Liana

Suzuki is one of my most beloved car companies. Not because they make cheap cars for the ‘rest of us’, and not because their cars usually are the ‘last option’ on anyone’s list of possible cars to buy. No. I like Suzuki cars because of their engines. I don’t know, but a 1.Trio Baleno has always, and I mean ALWAYS outperformed a Honda City or even the Toyota Corolla Xli. Always.

And does anyone here reminisce what the Suzuki Baleno 1.6 used to do to the VTi (Honda) and GLi (Toyota)? Wherever you see the now-rare Baleno 1.6, just suggest a petite Thanks to Your Lord for demonstrating you such a wonderful car!

So yeah, the Suzuki engines feel more powerful, they drive better and you have a sense of responsiveness that the other two companies just don’t seem to give you. And no one can hit their parts-availability and the Suzuki’s ruggedness.

The only thing BAD in the Suzuki Liana, truly, is the form of the car; I’ve seen better backside of buses! For some people, that is reason enough to not buy the car.

Lahore Shopping Festival. And Classic CARS!

Expect the Rolls Royce one thousand nine hundred sixty five at the Car Rally

One of the better things coming out of the Lahore Chambers of Commerce is the decision to organize the Lahore Shopping Festival .

It has a lot of things covered it seems. And there is something for car paramours as well.

The Lahore Shopping Festival will commence from the Fourrd of April 2011, and will go on for about one week, ending on the 10th of April 2011.

Here’s what you can expect:

• A Polo Tournament at the 125-year-old Lahore Polo Club
• A Qirat competition on April 5th. The winner of the competition will be awarded PKR 100,000 and an Umra ticket (cool, no?)
• A Classic Car Rally on April 6th, commencing from Siddique Trade Center to Liberty Chowk. Around fifty cars dating from one thousand nine hundred twenty to one thousand nine hundred sixty five will take part.
• Youthfull Entrepreneurs’ Business Plan competition will be held at ninety The Mall on the same day i.e. April 6th. (Wonder what the very first prize for this competition would be. )
• A Musical Evening at Raiwand Road
• A Peace Walk on April 7th, from Lahore Chambers of Commerce to Alhamra Hall (Mall Road), at Ten:30 AM.
• A Photography Competition would be held at the Tollinton Market Hall.
• Lahore Wrestling Competition will be held at the Punjab Wrestling Stadium on April 8th.
• On the same day (April 8th), a two-day Punjab Expo would embark at the remarkably built Lahore Expo Center, where trader and manufacturers would showcase their products at discounted rates.
• Also on the same day (April 8th), a rally of strong bikes would be organized, from Lahore Chambers of Commerce and Industry offices to the Lahore Expo Center.
• A Style Showcase will be help on April 8th at 8:00 PM at The Royal Palm.
• A Conference on Investment Opportunities will be held at the Lahore Expo Auditorium on April 9th. A must-attend for would-be entrepreneurs and businessmen.
• A Cycle Race from the LCCI offices to the Lahore Expo Center would be help on April 10th.

OK, so I don’t know about you, but a lot of things are happening here; Cars, bikes, cycles, business opportunities and even wrestling and style shows! Don’t know about you, but it sure presents ample chance for many of us to be entertained, get educated and stay interested!

CarAdvice – some significant updates

Car Advice Pakistan

A lot has been happening in the Pakistani auto market. This post is not about that.

This post is about the future direction of CarAdvice.pk as a blog and as a magazine site for Car enthusiasts from all over Pakistan.

A fresh wave of inspiration and some plans have coaxed me that we can inshAllah take CarAdvice a lot further and put out some fine content that is not helpful but also entertaining.

I am planning movie reviews for a number of cars. InshAllah you will soon see the Honda Civic reviewed inwards out…

I am also hoping that you would proceed with your support and feedback and interaction – the interaction in the form of comments on this website is what makes all of this useful.

Thank you for your interest and interaction – this is what makes this website useful for all of us. JazaakAllah and thank you again!

I have been writing a few posts/article over at Life ETC, and while writing on setting goals and helping people out, I realized that the CarAdvice blog is a fine way to do just that. I know, when you think of ‘helping someone out’, no one is truly thinking of helping people out in determining which vehicle to buy or how to maintain their cars. But I also realized how certain I felt when I bought my very first firearm after reading authentic reviews on forums like PakGuns – I was and am very grateful to people who take the time out to give valuable advice based on practice and good-ol hard work. I want the same for CarAdvice. And I hope that you keep advising me on how to do that even better.

Thank you and God bless,

This is Momekh, signing off.

Importing cars to Pakistan

Import of five year old cars to Pakistan is now permitted.

I have imported a Honda Accord CF3 directly from Japan. This was in 2007. It was a good car, and is the best one I have wielded (I have not wielded many high-end cars, not yet at least! ) … I have other goals for life etc for the time being.

The reason CarAdvice.pk have had a few posts on the import of cars to Pakistan is because of the latest politically-driven bill of permitting import of five year old cars into Pakistan. And what do you know, the government has eventually re-considered and have now permitted the import of five year old cars into Pakistan.

Now, the ‘automobile industry’ of Pakistan, as expected does not like this:

The Pakistan Automobile Manufacturers Association (PAMA) and Pakistan Association of Auto Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM), the assemblers of cars and the auto parts vendors, have voiced dismay over the government decision to permit import of up to five-year-old cars that would retard the gradual growth the auto sector was witnessing after two years of turmoil.

I have mentioned why this decision is GOOD for the consumer here.

But, as mentioned in The News (a daily newspaper), there is a rationale behind the latest decision to permit the import of 5-year-old cars:

The cabinet has eventually taken a good decision to permit the import of five-year-old cars. The lack of competition in the market, owing to its puny size and absence of economies of scale, make the car assemblers make money at the cost of ordinary people by enlargening prices whenever the Japanese yen rises or the rupee falls. Ideally, we should have a developed car industry but it can not develop in a country with a puny market size. To put it in perspective, China produced more than thirteen million cars in 2009, Japan almost eight million and the USA around six million, compared to a little over 100,000 in Pakistan.

It would be foolish to expect the car assemblers in Pakistan not to raise prices when the yen rises or the Rupee falls further, because most of the car components for assembly are imported from Japan. However, if the size of the car market increases, there would be greater need for spare parts and Pakistan can make good-quality car parts, which could also be exported. Later on, if the numbers of cars sold in the country passes a certain threshold; we can also make good-quality cars. Until then the concentrate should be on enhancing the market size and bringing cars within the reach of the ordinary people.

So, do you guys think that this is a good decision? I know I am glad because I don’t want to pay Two.0 million rupees for a 1.8 sedan when I can pay less for a four-by-four. Let’s hear your comments people.

The Fresh Hilux

Toyota Hilux Turbo in Pakistan

For those who are not aware, the Toyota Hilux is very much a living legend.

From Top Gear to Newsweek, the critics have always held fine respect for the rough and harsh Four×Four. Not only that, the Toyota Hilux is well known for its part in the wars of our world! Yes, much like the revered AK-47 when it comes to weapons, the Toyota Hilux is considered the AK-47 of vehicles.

The Toyota Hilux in Pakistan

We have had the Vigo, the imported multiplicity of the Hilux, plying our roads for some time now. It is by all means, a desirable vehicle. And no one has to tell you that they are talking about the Hilux and when they say ‘Dual Cabin’.

But there is one problem; more often than not, you’d see the ‘lords of our country’ stuffing their guards into the Hilux. It is, for most intents and purposes, considered a ‘guard car’, but that is not to be considered a bad thing! The Hilux gets a kick out of this reputation as well; guards get the hardest car, no?

My anecdotal review

One fine day, I got to rail in a Land Cruiser, a Pardo and the dual cabin Hilux. All three Four×Four′s, on the same day. As expected, the Cruiser took utter marks on pretty much everything (it is not the best car in the world for nothing!), but to my surprise, I just couldn’t place the Prado above the Dual Cabin. The Hilux was more comfy, even in the supposedly cramped back seat (it is not cramped, you only imagine it to be!)

What’s fresh in the Fresh Hilux?

The same that you’d expect from a monopolistic, zero-competition industry; not much. The ‘fresh’ Hilux is claimed to have a fresh ‘Turbo’ engine, whatever that means, and the website does not tell you much about what ‘fresh engine’ got placed.

There are two ‘trims’ to the Hilux; Hilux Standard and Hilux Turbo.

So, what is the difference in the engines of the Standard and the Turbo? If you dare to read the specifications, you will clearly see the difference in the Standard and Turbo engines.

And what exactly does TURBO mean?

Why are you not astonished that both the engines have EXACTLY the same specifications?

Toyota, especially with the Corolla, have given us the same Two.0 Diesel engine for ages, whereas the diesel technology on Toyota cars has leaped forward in other parts of the world. I request the Toyota guys reading this, to please give us a break!

Give me four Lacs, I will give you AC

If you ever get a chance to see the Toyota Indus website, you’d see that they have attempted to present even the smallest of things as ‘features’ of this ‘fresh’ Hilux. They even go ahead and mention things like “premium” fabric on the inwards of doors as a freakin’ feature. Are you kidding me? And they mention that the fresh Hilux have ‘bottle holders’. What the hell?

But then again, the ‘Standard’ version of the ‘fresh’ Turbo Hilux does not have Air Conditioning, or the ‘premium’ fabric gracing the inwards of the door. So you better end up paying 400,000 more for the Turbo version! Wait till people pimp their Standard versions over at the Montgomery Road, and get it to “look” exactly like the Turbo version for quarter of the price difference.

And there is no option of automatic transmission in either of the two trims. That is just sad.

The Price We Pay

The standard comes to Two,349,000 Pakistani Rupees.

The Turbo costs Two,749,000 Pakistani Rupees.

There is the touchscreen DVD and other ‘little things’ that make up the price difference. You also get the A/C in the Turbo version. So rejoice!

Will you buy this car?

I will buy this vehicle because it ‘looks’ good, and even the ‘old’ engine tech of Toyota has stood the test of time. I will not buy this car if I have the slightest of chance of getting an imported vehicle.

I only want to get one thing clear; the Pakistani market is permanently given a bad deal, or rather a deal that is just good enough. As mentioned previously on Car Advice, if you indeed want to see if ‘our cars’ would stand up against ANY competition, let us import cars at a lower duty. Then no one, and I mean, NO ONE, would pay what we have to pay.

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