Teana - A Nissan that Grows On You

Dang! It's been two months since I last blogged on my favourite subject.

To all my readers, my sincerest apologies for my lack of new entries. Just switched jobs; had to get into the groove at the new office; new expectations - that sort of thing.

In that time, however, I've had a lot to think about when it comes to cars. At the top of my head is the realisation that you don't have to spend a bomb on a car just to feel like you've made in the world. Driving an expensive, prestigious marque may impress your peers, but at the end of the day, you can still get a lot of driving pleasure from less expensive marques.

That realisation dawned on me at a recent Golf Tournament that I helped to organise. Almost all the VIP guests came in "wowie" cars, befitting their stature.

But as I took a walk in the golfing club's car park, I realised that many of the VIP cars weren't all that fantastic, especially those whose upkeep have been neglected by their VIP owners.

Some looked old and even run down. And for some of those cars, their interiors don't look half as impressive as their external looks.

And this brings me to my main point - don't spend so much on an expensive car when cheaper cars these days can give you almost as much comfort and driving pleasure as those expensive, prestigious marques (if not as much or even more).

Don't believe me? Having spent several months driving a Kia Forte 2.0SX, I've gotten quite familiar with its interior comforts. Then, I got into a BMW 525 and was surprised to find its interior as less than impressive.

That got me thinking - RM95,000+ vs RM230,000+. Yes, the BMW 525 is impressive looking on the outside, but since we're going to be spending far more time inside of a car, is it really very smart to pay more than twice for something similar in a far cheaper car?

OK, so you don't think that a Kia Forte would go very far with your peers. No problem, just settle for a stylish Mazda 6 at RM170,000+. Its interior will still be cheaper to own and will be just as impressive as a BMW 525, if not more.

Alternatively, you can go for the stylish Nissan Teana. Don't laugh. It's not the old-man's car that some may think it to be.

Yes, I'll admit, I was one of those who thought that the Teana was an old-man's car when it first came out. After being conditioned to prefer cars that have the fire-ant, upward-sweeping rear looks, anything that went the other way or looked like the Teana's drooping rear looked weird.

"Bontot roboh, macam orang tua," I said (translated from Malay to mean the shrunken ass of an old man).

But then, if one can be conditioned to like something, then one can get used to the Teana's rear looks, and even prefer it over time. And to my surprise, I actually started looking forward to seeing the Teana on the roads.

After that, the rest of the car's looks just grew on me. What can I say? I love it now. Never mind the faux wood panelling that sometimes makes me think that I'm driving part of a display cabinet - I hope they'll get rid of that in future variants of the Teana.

And judging from the many that have been sold already, many other car enthusiasts love the Teana too (the cheapest being the 2.0L variant at RM140,000+).

Would I drive it to a golfing club if I were to be a VIP someday? I don't see why not. OK, it's no Mercedes Benz or BMW, but it's good looking enough and its interior prestigious enough to hint to my peers that I've got my money tied up elsewhere.