Dream to Reality

As I've shared in my previous post, we were set to purchase an Altis from Dennis of Toyota. Our car loan application to PSBank was already approved and we even paid a certain fee to reserve the color that we wanted which was either black or medium gray. During this time, we were still waiting to receive a call from another bank, BDO, to know if our car loan application to their bank was approved as well.

If you're wondering why we applied for two car loans from two different banks, it's because PSBank is Toyota Dasma's affiliated bank while BDO car loan is the preferred bank of AutoTrust Philippines, a car financing company in Quezon City.

We chanced upon AutoTrust's Sulit ad and got interested in an instant. The SRP of the Toyota Altis is the same but they offer more freebies than Dennis of Toyota. We then inquired and asked for a quotation and it appeared that even if we have to pay the same amount of down payment, the monthly amortization is still lower by a few hundreds than that of Toyota's.

June 17, we finally received a call that our car loan from BDO was approved and almost at the same time, AutoTrust's agent France, told us that our preferred Altis in medium gray was already available and can be picked up the next day. Before making a decision, we sent a text message to Dennis asking if he can lower down the monthly amortization that he quoted us. If ever he can give us a closer amount to that of AutoTrust's, we'll definitely get from him. But, as I've said, it took him a day before he sent us a new quotation and it's still higher than AutoTrust. So, the decision has been made.

We initially planned on going the next day, Monday, but we decided to go on Tuesday instead because hubby still needed to open a checking account and I still have to secure a Certificate of Employment from my company.

On June 19, the three of us - hubby, myself and Johan - were on our way to achieving one of our dreams. We left the house early around 8am and met up with hubby's cousin who is a policeman, for security purposes, and my sister who wanted to take part in one of the happiest days of our small family.

When we arrived at AutoTrust's office, we were welcomed by a sad news. Toyota North Edsa didn't want to give us the 3 year LTO registration which was included in the freebies that we discussed with France. This is a huge setback because that meant another Php13,000 which we didn't want to shell out in addition to the 20% down payment that we'll be paying that day. Good thing is, France's boss, Alex, was able to talk to Toyota North Edsa and they agreed to include the 3 year LTO registration. France later on told me that Toyota didn't really agree and that her boss, Alex, shouldered the additional fee because he didn't us to back out of the deal and he was embarrassed that all this had to happen when we're already there and excited to pick up our new car. Now, if that's not great customer service then I don't know what is. Though, our deal with them is not yet done because we are to get our plate from them in a month's time. Hopefully, we get it by July.

All in all, it took us almost the entire day signing the paper works and waiting for the car to be ready for pick up. We had lunch at around 2pm in Hap Chan - SM North and passed the time until 5pm came and the car is finally ready. I would say that it was a very teary moment for me. I can't believe that we finally have our dream car.

It pays to dream coupled with hard work and double up with your prayers. God indeed is good.

Searching for the Right Car

Hubby and I did extensive research before we decided on what car to purchase. We've considered getting a second-hand one and we even made a few trips to the dealers here in Cavite but even the second-hand cars are priced above our expectations. We both think it's not very practical in the long run. Even if a used car is cheaper than a new one - with the possible car repairs and the declining market value of the used one - a brand new car will still end up as a great value for money.

During those weeks that we're on the search, we scheduled a trip to three of the huge car manufacturers - Toyota, Honda and Hyundai. Basically we're looking for the following: a good deal, plenty of freebies, great customer service and a great car.

Toyota Vios 1.5G A/T

The first stop was Toyota. Here we met the sales agent, Dennis. Great customer service, so to speak. He walked us through the different units that they have in the showroom, showcased each of the cars' features, gave as much information as he can and provided us with accurate computation of our desired units and terms of payment, he even told us he'll be very glad to add in a few extra freebies should we decide to get a car through him. He's very easy to talk to in person but takes a day to reply to our text messages. :)

Hyudai Elantra

Our next stop was Hyundai. We met the sales agent Dickson and we received the coldest customer service we ever received. It's as if he doesn't want to sell us anything or maybe he thought we're not really going to buy one. Sure, he showed us the Accent which is the one we're eyeing from Hyundai, but apart from that he offered no other information about the other units that they have. We even had to ask him what the inclusions are, what freebies we'll get and we even had to ask for a computation. He didn't really divulge that much and the crappy customer service stuck with me, so, sorry Hyundai but you need to get better sales persons who can bring in more sales than send prospective clients away.

Honda Civic

Our final stop was Honda. I didn't bother remembering the name of the sales agent that we met here because she's the worst. Yes, she explained to us the features of their units but when it came time to show us the quotations, she asked for the prices that Toyota quoted us and she badmouthed them. If there's one thing that turns me off big time, it is badmouthing a competition to make you appear better than the other. 

The short trip that we did on that day was very productive. Good customer service won though our deal with  Dennis of Toyota didn't push through in the end. We found a better deal online through a car dealer in Quezon City. That's up on the next post.

His First Pair of Matchboxes

Even if I am a girl, I get excited when it comes to collecting cars, toy cars that is. That's why when my youngest brother started his collection of Tomy cars, I even helped my mom in choosing the models to add to his collection.

Now that I am a mom to a very-active 15 month old, I know that I wanted him to have his own toy car collection. Even if I know he's much too young to play with small cars, I gave in and bought his very first pair.

I don't have any pictures of Johan holding his new toys yet because he keeps on putting these cars in his mouth. I only allow him to play with his cars under very, very close supervision from me.

There will be more to come, baby. I promise.