Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Car, it is a want or a need?


One tea break, I was discussing with some fellow friends topics on owning cars.

Ashley was the type of fellow who want to chase after the trendy latest model.
He had a nice Honda Civic, and now he is thinking of changing to the latest
Toyota Camry, which he thinks is more executive stylish and suit his character.
He pays his car by the highest maximum installment as possible, to lower his monthly payment, and he is still doing that with his Civic installment.


Jenny is the type of non-fussy colleague, and she is happy with her Perodua Kancil, that she newly bought 10 years ago until now. The small little Kancil is in good hands with a contented lady. She paid off, with a 5 years car loan.

Mark is looking for a second hand Toyota Unser, as he is intending to swap his car with father's old 30 years old Nissan Sunny. He mentioned his father car is, now, in a bad shape. Currently, Mark owns a Proton Wira, which he wanted to give to his father as a birthday present. He intend to pay the Toyota Unser within 3 years to settle it as soon as possible.

Definition of wants and needs as in Wkipedia :
In economics , a want is something that is desired. It is said that people have unlimited wants, but limited resources. Each person has wants. You might want a laptop while your best friend may want a desktop computer. Thus, people cannot have everything they want and must look for the best alternatives which they can afford.
Wants are often distinguished from need. A need (such as food and shelter is something that is necessary for survival), whereas a want is simply something that a person would like to have. Some economists have rejected this distinction and maintain that all of these are simply wants, with varying levels of importance. By this viewpoint, wants and needs can be understood as examples of the overall concept of demand.
Some would say a car is a want. It is just a transport to bring you from A to B.
So, buy a cheap car will do. The best, is to buy a car that you need not an alarm system to safeguard your car. Maybe, the box-shape looking Juaraa will fit-in the bill. No need to lock the doors, nobody would steal.

Some, would say car is a need. It is a need to be inside a trendy stylish car to suit the owner. When driving it, will make you feel grand and you do travel in style, with the latest gadgetry that comes with it, of course, also to show off to friends who never had one, so that they could envy you. They will keep upgrading their car accordingly to the latest model.

Looking at the three colleagues of mine, here is one question,that I hope readers could contribute, is car a need or want? What type of car you would buy? How many years would you want or recommend to pay off the car loan?


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12 comments:

雷門 said...

In M'sia, car is a need; in S'pore, car is a want. This is because S'pore gov provide a complete public transport system.

For me, I will minimize the monthly installment as low as possible. Why do you need to pay so much on a value depreciated item?

Jo said...

I think in the context of your post, you've gotten the definition of "want" and "need" mixed up.

I view a car as a need. Something to get me around, and around. As long as the car has a reputable make, and is not built like milo tin. :P

I don't view it as a want, i.e. I didn't buy my car because I wanted it (well, the one I wanted I could not afford anyway).

mind mgmt said...

Hi JoMel, thanks for the reply, but however, there are different definitions to each individual.

Michelle said...

I am from Kuching. A car is a need here. I need my car to bring me around as the public transportation is really terrible here. I need a comfortable car which can bring me around. It must be reliable, stable, not so old, no need to be so new (presentable), medium size. But, most importantly, I must be comfortable with the monthly installment.

Horlic said...

Car is a NEED: for those who use car to earn more money

Car is a WANT: for those who increase their burden by owning a car

雷門 said...

This mean CAR is not a burden to those who use CAR to earn money?

Use CAR really can earn more money after deduct all related expenses?

Isley Chang~ said...

i view a car as a liability. since malaysia public transport is hopeless, so is a must to have own car in malaysia.

if wanna minimize monthly installment, take up long tenure hire purchase loan.

Shingo T said...

A car is a want, a good-to-have. No one dies because they have no car. At least not in Singapore.

Mrcoolku said...

Car is a need, just as handphone is a need nowadays. It depends on your vanity, how much you want to show off to others.

For me, I just need a car in good condition that can bring me around, regardless it is old car.

TG said...

Car is a need, if you depend on it and a want, if you don't ;-)

William said...

I always joked that the Juwara looks like like Nirvana Memorial Service would use, but come to think of it, they have better taste.

In my opinion, unless your home and office are connected well via public transport, a car is a need. Just buy what you can afford.

成亿 said...

car could be a want or a need depending on the situation...if owning a car save a lot of troubles, car is a need but merely changing car just for the sake of style, clearly it's a want...that's how i see it...XD

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