Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by autodriver

Why Must Youngster Need A Car?

autodriver — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 14:23:57 +0800

Malaysia car sales in 2022 hitting 720k units all time high and the anticipation for 2023 is higher than 2022. Malaysia is a country where there are manafy highways in the city especially in Klang Valley.

I believe everyone can feel the current traffic flow is even worse than before covid time. Many people claiming not enough money to survive but they got new vehicle for themselves. Especially for youngster where many of them getting car license the parents bought them a car or after graduate from school first priority is buying a new car to go to work.

Why youngster need a car? They will answer the public transport sxck. Yes this can be a reason 5 years back then but now we have MRT, LRT, monorail and KTM now. And rapidkl is having RM50 unlimited travel pass to access to almost all kind of public transports. Why not enough money to survive. A graduate earning RM2000 and buying a new Saga or Bezza monthly repayment is RM400. If we include petrol, tolls, parking and maintenance fee it is about RM300 and total damage to maintain a car is about RM700. RM1800 (after deduct EPF and socso) minus RM700 the balance is only RM1100. If single and stay with parents this money can still survive for basic life. But there are cases some people are from other states and live in KL and still decide to own a car. With add on of RM 400 for room rental the balance is only RM700.

If we choose to take public transport it only cost us RM50 monthly and we have plenty of money to do something else or save it. We can own a car but it should be within our capability. There are many youngster earning less than RM3000 and driving a new City or Vios. Include the petrol, tolls and other cost it is almost half of salary gone. RM3000 is not low definitely but many still claim not enough to survive.

For those who claim not enough money, pls take a look on your own commitment. There must be some unnecessary commitments that cause you broke.

EPF Saving RM 240k at 55 Is Not Hard

autodriver — Tue, 11 Jul 2023 09:56:17 +0800

Accordingt to EPF saving guideline one should have at least RM 240k saving when they reach 55 years old. This amount look big and not easy to get but in fact it is VERY SIMPLE to get this provided that we fulfill very simple steps.

Government has set minimum monthly wages of RM 1500. So let's take this as example.
a
1 young boy he started employment with salary of RM 1500 and no salary increment at all till his retirement after 30 years. Guess what, the approximate EPF saving after 30 years is RM 330k. How to achieve that?

RM 1500 wage, employee 11% and employer 13% EPF contribution which make up of RM 360 and yearly will be RM 4320. Take a simple calculation RM 4320 x 30 years total contribution saving is RM 129,600. EPF dividend is compound interest and according to past 20 years history the average dividend paid is 5.68%, let takes 5.5% as average benchmark. After 30 years the total EPF saving (total contribution + total dividend) is RM 330k. It is RM 90k more than EPF standard. This example is merely RM 1500 salary without any increment which is impossible that we remain in min salary among 30 years.

If first 10 years monthly salary of RM 1500, 2nd 10 years paid in RM 2000 monthly and 3rd 10 years got RM 3000 monthly wages. The total EPF saving after 30 years is passing RM 400k.

To achieve this result one must be very discipline to work continuously and not taking EPF account 2 for housing loan or any other purpose. The question is back to us whether or not we can continuously work and put saving into EPF.

Would You Consider to Buy Conti Car?

autodriver — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 13:55:30 +0800

I used to have Japanese and local car and finally I bought a VW 2 years back. In the passed 40 years my family only die hard for Japanese and national car, none of my family members own a Conti car until I break the rule. I broader my view after I having the car for 2 years and learnt a lot from the car club. The first rule of having Conti car is... you should have spare car. If you only have 1 car, my advice do not pick Conti car.

Why people go for Conti car? People who look for prestigous status will go for Merc, BMW or Porsche and those looking for power and tech will go for VW, Peugeot, Ford etc. There are many negative comments of Conti car especially doubt on the reliability. It is right to say Conti car is not as reliable as Japanese overall, but it is not fragile like the car break down few times a year on roadside. Comment faulty parts are electronic components, water pump and sensors. Nowadays the Conti car's engine and transmission are pretty reliable (except the VW DSG DQ200). Conti cars are more stable in highspeed and more powerful as mostly turbocharged compared to Japanese and Korean car. For the compact car like VW Vento 1.2 or Peugeot 308 the driving sensation is better than the same segment Japanese or Korean car.

After talking about the good stuff of Conti cars, there are several drawbacks of having to own Conti car.

1. Reliability is not as high as Japanese or Korea car. Spare part can take weeks or months to arrive. It is advised to have spare car before owning Conti car.
2. Bad resales value. No surprise on this matter. Japanese car is having better resales value by far. If concern about resales value do not buy Conti car.
3. High cost of maintenance and spare part. Usually 30% or more compare to Japanese car.

Those who concern of fuel consumption let's make no mistake the Conti car with turbocharged is pretty fuel efficient. Example Passat 2.0T is more fuel efficient than Camry 2.5NA and comparable to Accord 1.5T.

What is your concern of having Conti car?