Our New Car Finally Arrives

After months of waiting in line for our Mitsubishi Montero, our unit was finally released today. We originally PO-ed for the Garnet Green back in June. But because the Montero is selling like hotcakes, Citimotors has been prioritizing those who were willing to pay cash or availing of in-house financing, while leaving those who go through external bank financing (like us) as last priority. So we kept getting bumped back and there was nothing we could do.

We even agreed to settle with the more popular and common dark grey already since the experimental Green was very limited. But what do you know -- our account manager sent me a text message a couple of days ago saying our first priority color was available! Of course, all this did not happen out of the goodness of their hearts. Far from it, in fact. We had to ask favor from friends of friends until we got connected to the son of one of the owners of the dealership. Only then did we get moved up the queue.

Over all, I'm pretty unhappy with the politics needed to just get a car from Citimotors. This is the first time in our family that we've bought a Mitsubishi, and based on this experience, I think I'll stick with Toyota or Honda in the future, thank you. Or if I do get another Mitsubishi, it will probably be with a bigger dealership like Diamond Motors.

The Montero's car stereo has bluetooth and iPod support. But since I hardly listen to music in the car (I prefer the quiet solitude while driving), its not that big a deal for me as it is for Cols. The back-most area also has its own aircon vents so its not hot unlike the Honda CRV. And the seats can collapse down completely giving a big trunk space.

I was more interested with its supposed fuel efficiency. The agent told me its mileage was around 12 km per liter. Sounded too good to be true. Based on actual experience, its more like 7 km per liter under normal city driving conditions. Not too bad if you consider the fact that its physically bigger than our CRV, and the CRV already runs at only around 6 km per liter in city conditions. The good thing about it is it runs on diesel, so that makes it cheaper on a per kilometer basis.