Just yesterday, I got to experience one of life's biggest joys––the delivery of my first brand new car in 18 years. Might seem odd to some seeing that I pick up a brand new car every week, but it is different when its yours. Just ask an OB-Gyn. It is the classic hallmark moment and is as close as it gets to pacing up and down the hallway outside the delivery room when you’re expecting your first child––no matter how many babies you've delivered before that.
After all, this is not just a car that we have bought; it's independence. It symbolises all the hard work and sacrifices our family has made over the years and is most likely going to be the second biggest investment we will make in our lives. I haven’t slept properly in days just dreaming about it, and yesterday, I was finally able to live that dream. If I could've hit the pause button in life, 4:14pm of Friday Feb 21, would have been a perfect time.
The president of the company personally came over to deliver the car. So did his senior vice president. They even a made personalised cake. It was perfect. How I wish everyone could experience this, even just once in their life.
As soon as I posted the picture of my car on my Facebook page, I got hit with a deluge of messages––both private and public––asking me what made me choose the Trailblazer over the country's top selling models?
A fair question, considering my profession, so to try and clear things up once and for all, I'll share the reasons I posted on Facebook to my family and friends.
Firstly, it has best-in-class power and torque: My Wildtrak that I had to hand back recently held that title when I first got it. And it's habit forming. So when Chevy answered back with their newly bumped up 200 bhp and 500nm of torque, I was drawn in like a politician to pork.
Also, the Trailblazer features the best-in-class water wading depth in the 7 seater diesel SUV segment. If I need to explain why that is important, you have obviously never spent a rainy season in the Philippines.
It is not the best selling car in its class: Yes, somehow that becomes a selling point for me. The Montero Sport and the Fortuner are not market leaders for no reason, but aside for my soft spot an underdog, I prefer to have a vehicle that not everyone has. It helps a lot in parking lots.
My Link: Yes, I know, you shouldn’t choose a car for its stereo, but this is way more than that. This is a highly interactive, customisable infotainment system that basically integrates your mobile device with your car, allowing you to sync everything, including your multimedia files. I’m a sucker for that. It even comes with a built in speed limiter.
Best in class ride and NVH: The others have improved dramatically, but the Trailblazer is still the only one in its class to sit on the next generation platform that has been designed from the ground up to reduce the noise vibration and harshness that is normally inherent in a pick up platform. It’s no longer truck like. Just drive an old Ranger back to back with the new T6 and you’ll know what I’m talking about.
The fact that it is technically the biggest in its class, with the longest warranty, and is still the only one to offer a six speed auto, plus a hill descent control and an electronic 4X4 drive control that I’ll never use, are just bonuses.
The beauty about car ownership is it is very personal. Many experts will tell you never to buy brand new and they are quite right. But as I drove out of the dealership yesterday, my face hurting from smiling so much, running my hands over the dash and every other surface I could touch, just to make sure it was all real and I wasn't dreaming, I thought about that for a moment. Yes the experts may be right that it may lose anywhere from 10-15% of its value just on the ride home, but none of them have been able to put a price on what I'm feeling now.
