This post won’t cover the details of what was required to do this so I’m writing a whole other page about this experience with photos and everything related to the complexity of purchasing an automobile here. Anyway, here is the scoop…
We bought a used 2005 Chinese SUV called a Tiān Qì Qí Bīng or “Cheer”. Except for the front grille, It’s identical to the Great Wall “Sing” which leads me to believe it’s basically the same car. Of course, if you are reading this in the US, this has absolutely no meaning to you. It’s basically a large SUV with fold-down 3rd row seat in the cargo area. It has a whopping 2.2 liter engine but otherwise, it’s styling is pretty nice. It has a leather (with a capital p) interior, a nice cd player, reverse proximity sensors in the bumpers, dual digital climate control, power windows, locks etc. In all honesty, it’s not that bad. The engine ran smoothly, and while it’s not an automatic transmission, it shifted smoothly.
When traveling home, we saw one on the road which gave me the opportunity to shoot a much better photo of what it looks like. Stay tuned for my “car shopping mini site”.
In the meantime, have a look at this site…http://www.car-solution.com. This is a company that handles all the tricky details of buying a car here. I didn’t use them because I have a friend here who helped me. If you browse through some of the vehicles on this site, you will see the prices in RMB. Just divide by 8 to get the US dollar price. Take notice of the fact that the imports cost double what they cost in the US (a Chrysler minivan costs about $75K). Unless you are married to a local, it’s cash only…no financing or leasing unless you company offers some assistance. Needless to say, I didn’t have a choice when it came to buying a Chinese brand. And, fortunately, my employer offers an interest free loan that is automatically deducted from your paycheck over 7 months.
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