Michael’s New Car

In what has turned into a bit of your-turn my-turn scenario, it was my turn for a car upgrade after my ‘lil commuter Daewoo started having clutch issues. It had been a spur of the moment thing when, back in August 2009, I accepted a new job up in Sydney and needed a 2nd car. With four weeks notice to my old job I applied for a loan with Commonwealth Bank and started looking for a decent small to mid sized car.

Long story short – Commonwealth Bank stuffed me around for nearly the entire four weeks; first they needed this, then they needed that, then I was going to be in a probationary period that caused further delay and finally had to provide details of my previous job, banking and taxes over in the USA.

The final knife was driven hard when the bank denied my app on the Friday before I started work; and had the gall to say that once my 3 month probation was up to come back and see them for a car and a home loan!

Needless to say I was not very happy. I jumped in the car and found the nearest local dealership and bought a tiny thing off the lot, cash, in about 25 minutes. The plan was to replace it in six months to a year.

So, two years later and countless days with my manhood taking a battering whilst driving a Lanos, it had enough troubles to warrant being rid of it. I’d been working on other priorities so I extended the six month replacement until it started croaking.

We bought Jenifer a Toyota Landcuiser a year and a half ago, just prior to some family members coming to spend a month with us. We didn’t have any loan issues, nor should we, as I had been in the new position about four months. So with an existing loan it made sense to roll it into a new loan encompassing both cars. And thus we began the Commonwealth Bank process again.

Not only did Comm bank take forever, again, but they come back with a ridiculous rate of 18.5%. Never mind the fact we had a perfect record with them with the existing loan.

This is where I discovered CUA Bank. Trouble free process, a 9.99% loan and within days I had absorbed the Landcruiser to the tune of $100 per month more, but for two cars. As you could imagine I quickly moved all accounts over and performed my own big switch.

And now I am a proud owner of a kick arse VW Golf GTI – with APR ECU upgrade. That’s the upgrade to take it to 188kw (252 hp) and 411nm (303 lb-ft) of torque. Handles incredible, the power at each of the six speeds is remarkably linear – picking up to over take in 3rd gear feels about the same as in 6th gear.

I’ve lost a little fuel economy over the Daewoo hatchback, especially since high octane 98 is the recommended fuel – but I think we’ve clawed that back by using the Golf instead of the Landcruiser for family outings, as well as Jenifer using the Golf two days a week while I work from home.

Finally, the leather interior and sunroof was just a bonus. But I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth!

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