A CFO's fleet management issue

Belacans: Hey brother! Long time no see! apa macam? ada baik-kah?

Tuah: hey belacans! ok lar, cannot die lar.

Belacans: wah, i see you got new wheels at your house? "fart tart" already issit?

Tuah: where got? still the same job and pay ler. bought this car with my own hard earned savings lar

Belacans: fuiyouh, when can i afford a car like yours ar? (a RM230k german make) slurrrpppp! too expensive for a kedekut guy like me lar.

Tuah: woi, do you know how many years i saved for this dream car? 5 blardy years and then still gotta take at least 60% loan. thank goodness the interest rate now is quite low. daylight robbery....*grumble mumble*

Belacans: hey, let's talk cock somewhere else. needless to say, you are driving. hehehe

Tuah: dius!

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Expensive auto transmission issue

Belacans: so, where's your sleek black P V 6? that's a company car right?

Tuah: still there, but only drive when i have to go to Putrajaya, you know lar. but i am considering to replace almost all of my fleet of P's. too expensive to maintain lar.

Belacans: expensive? because it's a V6 engine?

Tuah: no lar. mainly the auto transmission. that thing takes a freaking RM25k to change! how to tahan? it's ok if it's only a few P's but we have more than a 100! you do the sum lar. i can use that money for better things.

Belacans: wahlaueh, RM25k! but how often is that? after 5 years, the car can sell already right? so no need to change lar.

Tuah: what 5 years? can be as early as 3 years ar! fark man. really depends on your luck and maintenance, i guess. My own PV6 ok wor, but most of my managers' P got problems. repair cost so high, bonus pun kurang.

Belacans: hmmm, 100 Ps'... lets say 50 - 70 bad luck ones... kali RM25k divided by change once in 4 years will be... wahseh! you gotta budget between RM315k to RM500k per year for this! and that's not inclusive of running cost!

Tuah: hah, now you know why i gotta replace them? i can use that money for revenue generating capex, can make more money for my company. too bad the P cannot tahan my managers F1 driving style. The P is value for money leh.

Belacans: so, what you gonna replace the Ps' with?

Tuah: first you gotta understand why my managers need a car. my boys have to travel a lot in their area from one client to another. if got meeting, have to drive down to KL summore. so mileage is pretty high. then, because it's a company car, sure kena abuse kau-kau one, sigh...

Tuah: in year 2000, we purchased 5 Toyota Altis for a few lucky managers. those are still running well, although kena tekan kuat-kuat by my boys. Hardly any major maintenance issues, so I guess I will slowly replace my perdanas with a toyota make.

Business Sense vs. Patriotism

Belacans: hey, your big boss Datuk Seri will ok this meh? you know lar, patriotik mah and all that jazz.

Tuah: i know what you mean, but patriotism doesn't mean that you need to go bankrupt for the country right? what good are you to the country then? patriotism is important but shouldn't be implemented abusively.

Tuah: The official cars will still be P's but i will replace the hard-running managers cars to a toyota, a Vios also can lar. it makes economic sense, especially when petrol price has risen. I need a value-for-money long running and lower cost fleet of cars. Furthermore, it's only the P's. i have almost 600 "warriors", "butterflies" and vans running around, even "mousedeers"!

Belacan quotes... "patriotism is important but shouldn't be implemented abusively"