My father passed his driving test on his 13th trial.
Finally, he got his driving licence!
He bought his first car immediately. It was on Saturday,
20/09/1985, afternoon. He went to the car dealer at
Queens Street by himself. The salesman told him that
the petrol provided could only last for seven kilometers
and he should fill up the petrol as soon as he drove the car off.
He went to the petrol kiosk at Victoria Street and filled
up his petrol tank. Then he tried to drive home at Holland
Village. After getting of the petrol kiosk, he stopped in front
the traffic light near Bugis Street. As he was a good driver,
he pulled up the hand-brake. When the traffic light turned green,
he tried to move on. But he found the car was "dead-fire".
He started the engine for a few times and the car was still
ˇ°dead-fireˇ±. He wondered why the car encountered a fault
on the first day. At the fourth trial, he was then aware of the
hand-brake was not released. He released it and the car moved
without any problems. On that day, the drivers behind him were
nice and patient. Nobody honed at him and he was not panic at
all although he got existed easily.
A few minutes after my father reached home, the salesman called up.
My father thought that there might be documents not signed. But
the salesman just called up to make sure my father reached home safely.
He said that usually new drivers would come with friends to collect
their new cars. Yeah, my father was great!
Ten years later, my father did not have enough money to buy a new car.
He had to pay for a document which entitled him to continue to use
the ten-year-old car for another 10 years until 2005. That is the
Certificate of Entitlement (COE). Have you heard of this certificate?
On 30 June 2005, my father's COE was expired. He needed to have
a new car. He wanted a car with a high stance, like a Sport Utility
Vehicle (SUV).
The Nissan Pulsar was indirectly replaced by the Latio Sport (Tina).
The Latio (Tina) was not as high as a SUV and did not have a Manual
transmission. Two years ago, we saw the Hyundai Matrix at a road show.
When we approached the Matrix, the salesman gave us a brochure.
Reading the brochure, we decided it would be the ideal car to
replace my father's Pulsar.
In early June this year, we went to the showroom. As it was crowded,
we decided to come back two weeks later. When we did, the matrix
was face lifted. It had a new grill and lamp clusters. My father
approached the staff and told her that we would like to know more
about the car. She called a salesman to attend to us.
I had to remind him that what the questions to ask. The salesman
said that I knew better about the car. We had already chosen the
colour we wanted. The salesman took some forms to be signed.
He said, "You have to pay the deposit of 2000 dollars."
"Can I pay by VISA?"
"Yes, sure."
"When shall I pay the balance?"
"If you pay by tomorrow, you can get the new car by end of the month."
"OK, we will come back tomorrow."
"Let me explain the installments."
The salesman took about ten minutes to explain the installment scheme.
After that, he asked, "Is the five-year installment ok with you?"
"No. We will pay all the balance tomorrow."
The salesman looked at my father, and said, "Why don't you get the
loan from the bank?"
"I am not working now. There is no income for me. Do you think
that the bank will let me get the loan?"
Ha, ha, ha! The two men laughed.
On 28 June 2005, my father drove his old car to the show room. The
salesman explained that the company would arrange for the car-scrapping
procedure for my father. The new car was delivered that afternoon.
