As the last post describes, I recently purchased a new baby. Now, seeing as this is my baby, I was tempted to purchase an anti-theft system involving flame throwers and darts that would ensure that if anyone tried to steal even the most minute of parts, it would leave such an impression that no one would ever think of going near the ‘pyscho black CRV of Dar’ again. And yes, they do make anti-theft systems with flame throwers- legal in good ‘ol South Africa, but for rather obvious reasons illegal in the US. So I purchased a standard system with a wonderfully loud alarm and a switch that disables the battery if anyone tries to override the system.
So on Saturday the mechanic arrived with an electrician and I handed the box over to them and showed them the installation guide. The electrician looked through the installation guide and then asked for the instructions. I told him that those were the instructions and showed him the page with the diagram for the wires. He looked surprised, looked and the mechanic, shook his head and said something in Kiswahili and then put the instructions down. He then pulled the facing off under the steering wheel and started cutting wires. Two thoughts crossed my mind: 1- that he was good enough that he didn’t need instructions, and 2- that my car was never going to start again.
Not to ruin the story, but neither ended up being true. My baby does start. But there were a few rather hairy moments- it took an awful long time for him to find the wire that controlled the door locks. And in the process he cut at least 4 wires and reattached them to each other, smiling sheepishly at me each time he realized that he had cut the wrong wire. He would also occasionally grab the diagram and look at it for a few seconds. Though I think his glances at the diagram were more to give me confidence in him than to actually serve as a guide for him, since he didn't seem to mind if he was reading it upside down or not. (Which, needless to say, did not exactly scream "relax, your car is going to turn on again with a functioning security system".)
But the reason that I am describing this rather traumatic experience in my baby's life, is to describe how completely African the event was.
The process for arriving at a result is very different here in than in the states. In the states there are always instructions and a clearly defined path to get from A to B. Here you use your brain and figure out how to get something done. Granted, this involves a lot of trial and error, a lot more time, and backtracking when you go down te wrong path (e.g. reattaching the wires to each other). But I have to say, as someone that would much rather put something together on my own by playing with it than by using instructions, I find this way refreshing. Because as scary as it was to watch the electrician cut and reattach wires, it was reassuring knowing that he actually knew what he was doing.
Note: this method should probably not apply to any heart or brain surgeries. And I think its track record with chandeliers (cough cough dad cough) has also been shown to be dubious.
08 July 2007
05 July 2007
how to purchase a car online
I try to (loosely) stick to my rule about not writing stories specifically about my life, but I thought this story was pretty funny and also a tale of life in Dar.
The title of this past was going to be “how to purchase a car online from another continent and pray that it doesn’t fall off the ship on its way to Dar”, but I thought that would be too cumbersome. And it would give too much of this post away.
So the first option for buying a car is to buy one here in Dar (see previous post). The second option is to have a car imported. Cars drive on the left hand side of the road here (right-side driver) so there are a limited number of places from which one can import a car. Japan is the most common option. The process is to view cars on a website (e.g. http://www.japanesevehicles.com/tcl/en/stockList?region=Japan&type=8). You then email the company and tell them you’re interested in such-and-such vehicle and they quote you a higher price that includes freight and processing charges. You then have 48 hours to send them the entire sum of money, otherwise you loose your hold on the car. In my case, I sent them the entire sum of money in 48 hours and then received a polite email telling me that my car had already been sold.
Needless to say, that was not a happy moment. Not a happy moment at all. After a week of haggling, I found a new car that will henceforth be referred to as “my baby”. Now, keep in mind that all this occurred in March and that I had, in essence, purchased a car that I had never seen, never driven and had no information on past the type, year, color, transmission and engine specs. I had paid a rather substantial sum of money to own a car, in Japan. You get no paperwork, only an emailed version of the invoice saying that you own a car. Everyone assured me that was “how it was done”, but really, it was not the most reassuring feeling.
Then the waiting begins for a spot on a ship. So for two months my baby sat in Japan while I sat here. Then finally, you get a shipment date. The car is put on a ship and then, (finally!!), then you are sent the bill of sale and the paperwork saying that you actually own a car. My mean, evil roommate (jokingly) pointed out that with my luck, my baby would fall off the ship and I would never actually get to claim her. Luckily his prediction did not come to pass.
But the battle is not over yet- once a car reaches Dar it has to be maneuvered through the bureaucracy of the import paperwork and import duties. And it needs to do this fast enough so that parts don’t start to “fall off” the car. Luckily, none of my parts succumbed to the incredibly strong pull of gravity (helped along of course by screwdrivers and fingers). (Though I’m told that even if parts do fall off, there is usually little structural damage to the car since if the guy with all the keys gets a cut, there is no need to break windows.) I of course do not possess the requisite skills (aka the knowledge of who to bribe and how much to bribe) to speed the paperwork through the process, but I did have the brains to hire a skilled individual to do that for me.
So nearly 3 months to the day from when I paid for my baby I allowed to see her and drive her home. I’m still waiting on plates and the registration, but those should come any day now. And luckily, hopefully (since only time will tell) my baby is not a leemon.
The title of this past was going to be “how to purchase a car online from another continent and pray that it doesn’t fall off the ship on its way to Dar”, but I thought that would be too cumbersome. And it would give too much of this post away.
So the first option for buying a car is to buy one here in Dar (see previous post). The second option is to have a car imported. Cars drive on the left hand side of the road here (right-side driver) so there are a limited number of places from which one can import a car. Japan is the most common option. The process is to view cars on a website (e.g. http://www.japanesevehicles.com/tcl/en/stockList?region=Japan&type=8). You then email the company and tell them you’re interested in such-and-such vehicle and they quote you a higher price that includes freight and processing charges. You then have 48 hours to send them the entire sum of money, otherwise you loose your hold on the car. In my case, I sent them the entire sum of money in 48 hours and then received a polite email telling me that my car had already been sold.
Needless to say, that was not a happy moment. Not a happy moment at all. After a week of haggling, I found a new car that will henceforth be referred to as “my baby”. Now, keep in mind that all this occurred in March and that I had, in essence, purchased a car that I had never seen, never driven and had no information on past the type, year, color, transmission and engine specs. I had paid a rather substantial sum of money to own a car, in Japan. You get no paperwork, only an emailed version of the invoice saying that you own a car. Everyone assured me that was “how it was done”, but really, it was not the most reassuring feeling.
Then the waiting begins for a spot on a ship. So for two months my baby sat in Japan while I sat here. Then finally, you get a shipment date. The car is put on a ship and then, (finally!!), then you are sent the bill of sale and the paperwork saying that you actually own a car. My mean, evil roommate (jokingly) pointed out that with my luck, my baby would fall off the ship and I would never actually get to claim her. Luckily his prediction did not come to pass.
But the battle is not over yet- once a car reaches Dar it has to be maneuvered through the bureaucracy of the import paperwork and import duties. And it needs to do this fast enough so that parts don’t start to “fall off” the car. Luckily, none of my parts succumbed to the incredibly strong pull of gravity (helped along of course by screwdrivers and fingers). (Though I’m told that even if parts do fall off, there is usually little structural damage to the car since if the guy with all the keys gets a cut, there is no need to break windows.) I of course do not possess the requisite skills (aka the knowledge of who to bribe and how much to bribe) to speed the paperwork through the process, but I did have the brains to hire a skilled individual to do that for me.
So nearly 3 months to the day from when I paid for my baby I allowed to see her and drive her home. I’m still waiting on plates and the registration, but those should come any day now. And luckily, hopefully (since only time will tell) my baby is not a leemon.
04 July 2007
cars in Dar
Most people buy cars by wandering down to a dealer and either purchasing a bright, shiny, new one or looking at a used one. Of course if the car is used, you order a vehicle history report and find out all the sordid things the car did in its past. That’s not exactly how cars are bought and sold here.
There are two types of cars in Dar: old and really old. The “new” vs. “used” doesn’t really apply. Occasionally you see a new car, but chances are that is 1- the person who will be investigated next month for the purchase of some unnecessary radar system for the airport/port/local dala dala stand or 2- an embassy car. There just isn’t enough wealth here (and import taxes are 50% of the price of a car) for people to be able to afford new cars. Also since cars are truly luxury items there isn’t a large enough market to sustain numerous car dealerships.
There are a few dealerships in Dar- and when I say a few, I really do mean 3 or 4. And they each have a handful of cars (10-20) rather than the scores you would find on a typical American car lot. There is however a vibrant car market in dar- expats are constantly arriving and leaving so there is usually a handful of quality cars (mainly suvs) for sale at any moment. When you’re selling a car, you post an advertisement at the local supermarkets and if it’s priced reasonably it usually sells in a matter of weeks.
What I found fascinating was the years of the cars for sale here. Expats tend to own SUVs, which are more expensive but well worth the extra money seeing as a lot of the roads aren’t paved. (And getting stuck in mud up to your doors is not a fun experience in a city with two tow trucks.) Most of the smaller SUVs were models from the mid-90s. 95 and 96 were pretty common, with 97 being considered newer while 98 and more recent models are relatively rare. The model years of larger SUVs goes back even farther, with early to mid 90s being common. (There’s even one car from ‘81 on the market for sale, in shockingly good condition for a car that’s nearly as old as I am.)
When you see these cars and compare them to similarly aged vehicles in the US it’s pretty surprising. On the one hand, people don’t drive their cars long distances here, so two cars may be the same age, but the Dar version only has half the miles on it. The weather is also less brutal on a car here- there are no cold winters, no need for anti-freeze, no salt to corrode the undercarriage. (The opposite problem exists here- cars frequently overheat from the, shall we say, occasional heat.) Yet when something breaks here, the mechanic doesn’t open up a shiny new package with a new part and install it. Chances are you may be getting a part that is as old as you and your car combined. The other thing about Dar that wrecks havoc on cars is the roads- cars, even SUVs with high clearance, bottom out on some of the roads here- and it’s not simply a matter of avoiding the potholes. When a road is one big series of dirt potholes, there is no avoidance.
So sometimes when you buy a car that has braved life in Dar you get lucky. But unfortunately, sometimes that ’97 (that’s really a ’95) is a leemon.
There are two types of cars in Dar: old and really old. The “new” vs. “used” doesn’t really apply. Occasionally you see a new car, but chances are that is 1- the person who will be investigated next month for the purchase of some unnecessary radar system for the airport/port/local dala dala stand or 2- an embassy car. There just isn’t enough wealth here (and import taxes are 50% of the price of a car) for people to be able to afford new cars. Also since cars are truly luxury items there isn’t a large enough market to sustain numerous car dealerships.
There are a few dealerships in Dar- and when I say a few, I really do mean 3 or 4. And they each have a handful of cars (10-20) rather than the scores you would find on a typical American car lot. There is however a vibrant car market in dar- expats are constantly arriving and leaving so there is usually a handful of quality cars (mainly suvs) for sale at any moment. When you’re selling a car, you post an advertisement at the local supermarkets and if it’s priced reasonably it usually sells in a matter of weeks.
What I found fascinating was the years of the cars for sale here. Expats tend to own SUVs, which are more expensive but well worth the extra money seeing as a lot of the roads aren’t paved. (And getting stuck in mud up to your doors is not a fun experience in a city with two tow trucks.) Most of the smaller SUVs were models from the mid-90s. 95 and 96 were pretty common, with 97 being considered newer while 98 and more recent models are relatively rare. The model years of larger SUVs goes back even farther, with early to mid 90s being common. (There’s even one car from ‘81 on the market for sale, in shockingly good condition for a car that’s nearly as old as I am.)
When you see these cars and compare them to similarly aged vehicles in the US it’s pretty surprising. On the one hand, people don’t drive their cars long distances here, so two cars may be the same age, but the Dar version only has half the miles on it. The weather is also less brutal on a car here- there are no cold winters, no need for anti-freeze, no salt to corrode the undercarriage. (The opposite problem exists here- cars frequently overheat from the, shall we say, occasional heat.) Yet when something breaks here, the mechanic doesn’t open up a shiny new package with a new part and install it. Chances are you may be getting a part that is as old as you and your car combined. The other thing about Dar that wrecks havoc on cars is the roads- cars, even SUVs with high clearance, bottom out on some of the roads here- and it’s not simply a matter of avoiding the potholes. When a road is one big series of dirt potholes, there is no avoidance.
So sometimes when you buy a car that has braved life in Dar you get lucky. But unfortunately, sometimes that ’97 (that’s really a ’95) is a leemon.
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