GWM Florid

[Anakha56]

Greetings All,

So I am looking at buying a new/"new" car sometime soon. If I were to buy brand new I would be mainly looking at the Hyundai i20, "new" would be a low mileage Toyota/VW. Then I was alerted to this cheap car:

http://www.gwm.co.za/index.php?option=c ... &Itemid=76

The Florid:

Florid super-lux 1.5 petrol


The Florid is GWM’s first passenger car to be launched in South Africa. A sexy 5-door hatch, it will bring out your energetic side with sporty styling and an ultra-comfortable interior. It’s a little car with a big personality… one to take you on flirty city nights, open road adventures and indulgent shopping sprees.

Price (Inclusive of VAT) Available from R109 990*
Dimensions (LxWxH) 3907×1694×1521
Track Front/Rear (mm) 1459/1430
Wheelbase (mm) 2368
Kerb/Tare Mass (Kg) 1120
GVM (Kg) 1495
Approach/Departure angle (Degrees) 17/20
Engine Type GW4G15
No of Cylinders 4 Cyl In Line
Fuel Supply Multi Point Fuel Injection
Cycle 4 Stroke
Displacement (Cm3) 1497
Compression Ratio 10.5 : 1
Maximum Power (kW/rpm) 77kW @ 6000Rpm
Maximum Torque (Nm/rpm) 138Nm @ 4200Rpm
Fuel Tank Capacity (Litres) 45L
Fuel Petrol
Brakes Front/Rear Discs / Drums
Cooling System Water Cooled
Steering System Power Steering- Rack and pinion
Gearbox Manual
Speeds 5 Forward Gears (Synchromesh
1 Reverse
Front Suspension MacPherson Strut
Rear Suspension Trailing arm twist beam composite
Tyre Sizes Front / Rear 185 /65 R 15
Axle Configuration 4 x 2
Drive Front Wheel Drive
No of Doors 5
No of Seats 5
Vehicle Type Hatchback
Ground Clearance (mm) (Laden) 127
Turning Circle (m) 11
*Suggested retail pricing & specifications are subject to change without prior notification

Now besides it having a stupid name that can be changed to something like the GWM Horrid and the fact that the full name is Great Wall Motors which if you cant see just from the name shows that it is a Chinese company. What cons could be with this car? I know the after market value will be crud because they are new but I cant see any other problems. It uses a 1.5 engine from the Toyota Avensa and from what I have been told by my mate a work the majority of the internals are Toyota parts.

*sigh* I hate buying cars just as much as I hate upgrading PC's...

[Nuke]

I heard that the engine is a Toyota blueprint, but the materials are not on the same standard. Maybe someone who know more on the subject can comment on that.

Myself, I would never buy one. If I have to buy something for that price, I would buy an Audi, there was a 2004 S6 a few months ago for R120K with 120K on the clock I would have loved to buy, but seeing that a car is not a critical thing for me ATM I decided against it. For now I will keep driving the work's bakkie...

[doo_much]

Can't comment on the Florid, but I know two guys who drive GWM bakkies and both are quite happy with them.
One, who used to own a Toyota which he donate involuntarily, reckons he wishes the thieves had taken his old bakkie sooner!

[Anakha56]

I heard that the engine is a Toyota blueprint, but the materials are not on the same standard. Maybe someone who know more on the subject can comment on that.

Myself, I would never buy one. If I have to buy something for that price, I would buy an Audi, there was a 2004 S6 a few months ago for R120K with 120K on the clock I would have loved to buy, but seeing that a car is not a critical thing for me ATM I decided against it. For now I will keep driving the work's bakkie...

Problem with buying a Audi/BMW/Merc that is second hand and has high(ish) mileage is that you are looking at a huge expense in parts when it needs servicing/fixing .

Thanks doo&Nuke, I am not set on this just wondering why its so friggin cheap.

[GreyWolf]

only the engine is a blueprint?



I don't know man. I would seriously consider a second hand Toyota/VW before going for this...

[KillerByte]

yeah i agree with GreyWolf.

I would prefer a brand with a bit more history. A car is a serious investment (well it costs a lot and it will cost you a lot over the years) so buying a cheap car that has very expensive parts and service fees is not the best idea.

All I advise is that you do your homework. Find out how much the services costs, how much parts such as fuel pump, side mirror and bumper cost. These are the parts you don't want to have to buy but you may have to one day.

[RuadRauFlessa]

Oh and the Polo Vivo also starts from around R108 000. Have a look at it.

[Prime]

It's Chinese, that's enough reason for me not to buy it. I agree, look for a vw.

oh and Anakha, merc parts are actually cheaper in most cases than Toyota parts.

[Mr_Norris]

From the side it looks like a Suzuki Swift. Saw one the other day, thought Suzuki updated their look

I'd go for a test drive before judging it. Costs you nothing except time.

[Frozenfireside]

I love the idea of a Swift. People under estimate the Suzuki and it´s not popular but it´s got a great couple engines and looks good.

I agree I would look at running and repair costs

[Anakha56]

Its just a option, just like the fact that it has a lot of features for its price. But as Prime said its Chinese which has me very worried. Test driving will hopefully happen next week when I am on day shift, night shift is a killer on one timetable.

@ Ruad Polo Vivo is a no no. Lets go with the 1.4 Trendline at R119.900

+ Aircon @ R7.950 (Needed for the DBN heat)
+ Sound @ R2.210 (Sound is definitely needed)
+ 14" Tires @ R2.480 (Anything smaller and it looks stupid)
+ Alarm&Central Locking @ R1.400 (Speaks for itself)
+ 120k Service Plan @ R10.374
+ 120k Maintenance Plan @ R16.951

= R161265

Not a cheap car. FYI Reason for the 120k stuff is because I do 100km per day so I will go through the mileage very quickly. Not really considering this Chinese thing just wanted to see what other forumites had to say. Like I said I hate buying cars...

*edit*

Second hand Toyota is looking more like a possibility, parts may be more expensive but the car is reliable and parts are plentiful.

[Prime]

Its just a option, just like the fact that it has a lot of features for its price. But as Prime said its Chinese which has me very worried. Test driving will hopefully happen next week when I am on day shift, night shift is a killer on one timetable.

@ Ruad Polo Vivo is a no no. Lets go with the 1.4 Trendline at R119.900

+ Aircon @ R7.950 (Needed for the DBN heat)
+ Sound @ R2.210 (Sound is definitely needed)
+ 14" Tires @ R2.480 (Anything smaller and it looks stupid)
+ Alarm&Central Locking @ R1.400 (Speaks for itself)
+ 120k Service Plan @ R10.374
+ 120k Maintenance Plan @ R16.951

= R161265

Not a cheap car. FYI Reason for the 120k stuff is because I do 100km per day so I will go through the mileage very quickly. Not really considering this Chinese thing just wanted to see what other forumites had to say. Like I said I hate buying cars...

*edit*

Second hand Toyota is looking more like a possibility, parts may be more expensive but the car is reliable and parts are plentiful.

There is the added bonus that you work there, can you not use that to negotiate a better deal?

Fiat has just released a new hatch. and there is an electric version coming but alas the greedy bastards in our motorcar industry won't price it close to 12000 Euro's and its a fiat

I hear mixed stories about chinese vehicles, but mostly horror stories from people who've bought them. Over heating on the pickups, lack of parts or poor after sales service, and I've seen several in parking lots that look ready to fall apart. A new vehicle with perished fuel lines and lose panels says stay the hell away.

[Anakha56]

There is the added bonus that you work there, can you not use that to negotiate a better deal?

Does not work like that I am afraid . The company I work for is not apart of Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM), we are Toyota Boshoku South Africa and we just make seats and door panels for TSAM for the Hilux&SUV range as well as the Corolla range. So no lease vehicles or price reduction . However if I go to a second hand dealer and I say I work for Toyota maybe I will get a better price hmmm....

[Prime]

There is the added bonus that you work there, can you not use that to negotiate a better deal?

Does not work like that I am afraid . The company I work for is not apart of Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM), we are Toyota Boshoku South Africa and we just make seats and door panels for TSAM for the Hilux&SUV range as well as the Corolla range. So no lease vehicles or price reduction . However if I go to a second hand dealer and I say I work for Toyota maybe I will get a better price hmmm....

So the only thing you could negotiate is a bench seat?

Possibly.

I'd recommend ford but their parts are extremely expensive. My sister just spent 10k on labour, a clutch and a master cylinder for a first gen fiesta.

[naughty]

+ 120k Service Plan @ R10.374
+ 120k Maintenance Plan @ R16.951

= R161265

Not a cheap car. FYI Reason for the 120k stuff is because I do 100km per day so I will go through the mileage very quickly. Not really considering this Chinese thing just wanted to see what other forumites had to say. Like I said I hate buying cars...

thats a bit wrong - you dont need both - you chose between one of them - the service plan is self explanatory - the maintenance plan is the service plan plus it covers other items like windscreen wipers and brake discs etc which are not covered in the service plan - so its like an additional warranty on wear and tear parts - so you need to select one or the other

secondly - i found that either of those plans is hectically overpriced considering that the actual services have never been above R850 for my car and mine is a GTI - sure at service time there were other things like windscreen wipers and brake pads which drove the price i paid up a bit but by the time my car reaches 59995km and is due for the 60000km service i would have spent only R7k on maintenance - so yep by the time i hit 120000km im sure i will have reached that R16k total but you say you do loads of mileage so then your maintenance plan will be exhausted pretty quickly - my car will be 4 years old by the time i hit 60000km's so i expect 120000km's to take me around 8 years so that R16k spread over 8 years isnt too bad for me

so those plans may seem to have an advantage in that you are getting the HP to pay for them so you wont need ready cash at the service interval time BUT when you look at the interest rate the total you repay on that additional R16k for the maintenance plan is closer to R30k over the 5 years and you will probably exhaust the plan in two to three years (obviously depending how much your mileage totals up to) - so these maintenance plans are actually a load of bosh when it comes to a cheap car

the maintenance plans make more sense on cars like Beemers and Mercs which are R10k to service cos you have to things like replace brake pads every 15000km's etc - so IMHO for the VIVO you can drop around R27k off that total anyway - and pay for the services as required or get those done at a cheaper place than the agents - dont bother about resale value cos if you are going to put up a lot of mileage in the car then resale value in your instance with ANY vehicle is going to be absolute rubbish anyway

BTW im not recommending the VIVO because its not my favourite budget buy at the moment - im sure you can do better than that but when looking at the deal in total consider every aspect of the deal and the finance loan you are taking - all im saying is whatever you do and whichever vehice you decide on, dont tack on those service plans to the loan cos they land up costing double what the total maintenance would be if you paid cash for it

normally im the first person to say buy new but i do have a few friends who have bought second hand cars and have saved a fortune because of that so there is nothing really wrong with that idea if you do chose very carefully and get a decent deal - remember though in general nowadays cars are designed with planned obsolescence in mind so a second hand car is going to generally start costing more to maintain from the time its 5 years old or so so if you do go second hand it doesnt make sense to get something more than two years old unless you want to change cars every three years or so ..... which isnt a bad aim though considering that with annual increases etc you may be financially better off in three years time or maybe even in a better job which hopefully pays more

also chose your car very carefully one of my buddies neighbours got himself a volvo which he used till his service plan expired - unfortunately the bloke passed away so his widow inherited the car - so she was using it till it developed some sort of problem (i dont have the details of what this problem is) but apparently Volvo want R60k to fix it cos they cant repair the parts they have to replace so needless to say thats one useless car parked in a garage somewhere - so dont think that a big expensive luxury car thats cheap now cos it is old is going to be a second hand bargain - you could use it for a year or two and land up in a similar situation - if you do buy second hand then stick to the simpler cars cos repair work will be generally cheaper ..... just IMO

one last opinion to add here - you cannot go wrong with Toyota or VW in respect to the paragraph above because new parts will always be plentiful as will second hand parts if something big goes wrong cos these cars are sold in bucketloads

[Anakha56]

Thanks for clearing it up for me naughty . Was not sure which plan would be needed.

Actually thank you for all of that advice! . One of the cars second hand I am looking at getting is the 2008 Corolla with low mileage, problem is finding one. In 2 weeks time once my list is complete I will be devoting a weekend to test driving cars. Any more suggestions please swing them my way!

Any thoughts on this car?

http://www.wheels24.co.za/NewModels/R99 ... o-20100506

/think a name change is in order...

[naughty]

i havent driven any fiat in a couple of years but by my reckoning this should be the modern fiat UNO or something like that - if it helps Clarkson, May and Hammond all love the Fiat 500 and they reckoned it was one of the best little cars sold in Britain at the time so fiats cant be all that bad

the thing is is though those guys dont look at repayment terms and things like maintenance etc - they only look at how good a car is at going around a race track ..... nevertheless they all liked the Fiat 500 so i think its worth a test drive at least