I am in a quandry..and once I find out what that means I shall share it with you!! Anyway, I find that I am increasingly drawn to purchasing another old piece of junk..by that I mean another classic car..please please help me beat this disease. I fail to understand why we men will never learn. I mean, my MG just broke down on me last weekend and I can STILL contemplate buying another old car..do I need therapy? Well, regardless, I am going to fight the urge..for the time being at least because my will is strong, but more importantly..my bank account is empty!!! By the way, I shall be attempting to video stuff on my car and car reviews as and when I do them, so please watch this space. Thanks.

With a power output of 170PS at 5800 rpm, it certainly is not lacking in the power department. This Honda pulls smoothly from a standstill and acceleration is brisk. While on the highway to Port Dickson, slower traffic was disposed of with ease, the Honda’s mid-range urge powering us past slower traffic that obviously had a later tee time than we did.

After spending a great day and a half with the Honda Accord and a rather disappointing 18 holes, I am pleased to report that unlike my short game, the Honda never let me down. It is an accomplished highway mile muncher, and most certainly has the pace and pick-up to make it fun and entertaining to drive.

With suspension that is geared more to comfort than all out aggressive driving, it is commendable that the Honda handles as well as it does. When pushed, it remains neutral under cornering and if really pushed hard, there is a tendency toward mild understeer. In short, this is a comfortable and safe handling vehicle; no nasty surprises await should you be too aggressive while attacking a set of corners.

The Honda Accord is indeed a car that would be easy to live with day to day. It is good looking, comfortable, spacious and has decent performance. While other things in life come and go, like your putting, this Honda should prove a reliable and entertaining companion.

The driving position is fine, and the seats offer adequate support and comfort in order to ensure that one is bereft of aches and pains when driving long distances.

I must add that I had the opportunity to take the new Accord out for a drive to Port Dickson for a round of golf. It proved to be a comfortable and spacious ride for 3. Its large boot had no problem swallowing up 3 golf bags, with some room to spare I might add. My friend at the rear, and I use the term friend somewhat loosely, since he won all of my money, commented that he had loads of leg room and was most impressed by the comfort levels offered by the rear seats.

The version that I tested was the mid-range model, the one with the 2.4 VTi-L engine( there are also 2.0 and 3.0 variants..but that’s another story). This unit is a DOHC i-VTEC 16 valve in-line 4 cylinder. However, the manner in which it performs and its inherent smoothness belies its 4 cylinder configuration.

Suffice to say that Japanese interiors have most certainly come a long, long way. The interior, while not class leading, is nevertheless a pleasant place to be in for either that short trip to the driving range, or that long distance trek to visit the dreaded in-laws, oops! Sorry, I meant to say beloved in-laws of course.

The gauges are clear and easy to read, as we have come to expect from Honda, and all instrumentation is easy to use and fuss-free. While the overall look and feel of the cabin is that of quality, one must say that perhaps Honda should have opted out of using wood veneer, or in this case faux wood veneer, on parts of its interior, as it looks a little out of place in this particular model. I feel that wood, especially that of the variety used in cars should be left to the likes of Bentley and Rolls Royce, and the rest should be firmly left in the forests.

The New-look Accord strikes a fine balance with its European-styling and excellent handling.

At first glance the face-lifted Honda Accord certainly strikes a chord. And a good one at that. While the previous generation Accord could be called “handsome”, one would have to be honest in admitting that that would have been rather generous at the time.

However, this current incarnation of the breed is indeed a handsome beast, albeit in a slightly angular sort of way. The current styling could be termed as very European .

I must add though that this car looks best in colours of a darker hue, I saw one in black that looked particularly menacing, especially since it was shod with 18 inch alloy rims that altered its usual stance from aggressive, to absolutely manic.

The new Honda Accord is best viewed from the front, as it has a rather aggressive facial expression, quite out of the norm for a Japanese marque, what more a family saloon at that.

So there you have it. The actual buying of a car is simple, but apart from what I have outlined previously, please also consider the following points:

• If you are going to be in the country for only a short span of time, buying a new car would probably not be such a good idea as a new car sheds value nowadays like a stallion with three legs. As soon as you have driven it out the showroom, you may find yourself in a slightly bent-over kind of position as DEPRECIATION immediately takes over. So my advice is unless you are loaded, either with money or otherwise..buy a second hand car and let the first owner suffer the brunt of the depreciation.

• Decide on your budget and on what type of car you want first, be it SUV, sports or compact whatever..whatever, and then do the research and hunting. If you are the sort that knows exactly what make and model you want..great! If not, good luck! A great place to look is of course the Motortrader, the Star classifieds and of course the used car lots. If you still insist on buying a new car, bear in mind that sometimes better deals and discounts can be found at dealers and not the principals.

• Always view the car in the cold light of day, this way no blemishes are kept in the dark, so to speak.

• Test drive the car for at least 10 minutes, in varying road and traffic conditions if possible.

• Bring along a friend who knows about cars, or at least looks like he/she knows about cars.

• Do a Road Transport Department/Police check on the car’s registration number, your runner will do this for a small fee. This check will show if the car is black listed or has been reported stolen, unpaid summonses etc.etc*

• Take it to a trusted mechanic and/or the Automobile Association of Malaysia to give it a thorough once over, if the seller has nothing to hide, he should agree.*

The actual act of purchasing a car is very simple, you have decided on the car you want, be it brand new from a dealer or second hand from the owner. The price has been agreed upon, (please bear in mind that this being Malaysia, you can haggle even if you are purchasing a brand new vehicle, in fact the market is so bad right now that you will be able to get some really good deals out there) then, you pay a small earnest deposit, sign a document that states your intention to purchase said vehicle at the agreed price and upon payment of the remainder of the purchase price, the seller will then sign over ownership to you. This works pretty much the same way for a new car as well.

Transfer of ownership can take up to two weeks, that is why I prefer to use a runner. They know their job and for a few ringgit more, they will do everything that is tedious and time consuming for you except clean your windows! Once the transfer is done, the car is yours! Unless of course if you have financed the purchase of your vehicle, that… is another story, but the long and short of it is that the Bank owns the car until you complete the payments.

So you decide it is time to regain your lost independence, to feel free again, to roam hither and tither when the mood takes you, to spend two hours in a jam to get to a place ten kilometers away..aahhh,the joys of motoring. You are going to buy a car. How do you do it? Read on.

There are basically four ways in which you may purchase a vehicle:

1. Directly from the owner
2. From a car dealer, either for a new or used vehicle
3. From the principal or local franchise holder of the brand for a new vehicle, actually some principals have their very own approved second hand cars that they sell as well
4. Auctions. I do not recommend this for many reasons, none of which I feel like going into right now.

Things to consider before purchasing a car:

1. Budget.
2. Budget.
3. What is the car for? It’s main purpose? Family transport? Fun? Picking up tarts? To compensate for certain shortcomings..etc.etc.
4. Is it a practical buy or an emotional purchase?
5. How long do you intend to keep the car?

Buying a car in Malaysia is a relatively painless and simple thing. Thank you very much, my job here is done, cheque please! Really, it is, and as a result, this is going to be a very short article. However, since I am paid on a per word basis, allow me to expand a little on the above mentioned subject matter.

The good news is, you are now in sunny, humid, and lovely Malaysia, the bad news is..you can’t get a taxi at rush hour to get you either to, or from your place of employment even if your life depended on it, plus you cannot make head or tail of the public transport system.

To be continued ...

AAhhh, the engine. You see, the Mini I had was a standard 850, this has about as much get up and go as s geriatric on muscle relaxant!! Now, I could live with a lot of things..but most certainly not 50horse power and zero to sixty before nightfall from an 850 cc engine!! So what was I going to do?

The answer my dear Watson..was elementary…I needed more power!!! And to achieve this I would have to modify that little 850 unit in order to transform that limp wrested power unit into a fire breathing, fuel guzzling and rubber burning beast!! But how was I to do that on limitedknowledge and even more limited funds?

Stay tuned..