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Guys
Would like to let you know that a go-kart gethering is being organised.
Venue: ShenZhen.
kart: 100cc karts
No. of races: 3
Px: below $1k each.
Date: 9th.
However, quite possible, the gathering would be cancelled as only a handful has shown interest (we are experiencing the same problem you mentioned earlier, ben).
A friend of mine called me the other day, saying that a company in China could organise formula go-kart at ZhuHai for those who were willing to pay $3000 each. (price included a hotel room, transportation and two day racing, karts would be those so-called formula kart with 6-speed gearbox and a top speed of 160km/h) Some racing talibans I know already said yes, if you guys are interested, will post u further details.
Tony
PS, ben, Ivan called me last night. He asked me whether I know if you were coming home for xmas. We didnt talk much as I was at a meeting. He did say that he had given up buying a STi. He was worrying about insurance,..His plan now is to buy a clio and run it for a year or so then trade it up for a megane turbo. Seems that you are going to have a "long term" customer.
Tony, yes, it always seems thay way doesnt it. Try your hardest to help and organise...then people slowly edge their way to teh door. The thing i DONT like about HK is the selfishness that the majority of the people have.
I am comming abck around the 19-20th of DEC so i will miss the karting sorry.
And Kenvin if you read this, your ECU cover has been sorted and is ready for collection. Althougbi think this is the elast of yoru worries as i was informed that there was some crash damage to your car. Sorry to hear this.
Cyue, sorry mate, all teh wongs confuse me.....i thought we were already talkign about teh owner of kingsway..now im really confused.
Ben,
Do you have any idea when the megane II will be available, and which model you guys will import. I will have to replace my 164 by March the latest (lic/imsurane will expire in April). My wife wants an auto box and small turning circle in the new car. Does the megane II fit her requirements?
Tony
Ben,
Ivan has now made up his mind and will take one of the three remaining RS. He is now thinking whether he should wait till you are here or sign the contract before leaving for Taiwan later this week (they are going to open a new office there). In view of the small number that was available, I advised him to sign the contract asap. Hope you dont mind.
Regarding my replacement car, we tried the Laguna yesterday. Were impressed by its suspension setup and the smooth autobox. There was still some rattling noises from the back. from the speaker covers, I suspected. The biggest problem now is to get rid of the alfa.
Tony
HK cliomen ... go to Alfa showroom n see wuts his name... let me go n find his card now.. Gordon Fong. Go ask him to show u the 156 GTA I think u will like it. Selespeed not due out till next year though if thats what u want. Gordon owns 3 alfa so i think he knows wut he is talkin about he use to sell Ferraris. Have u tried the V6 Passat 4 Motion? Go n have peak as well, perhaps if I m in HK (this saturday) I can give u an idea of wut those cars are like? (i m not a pro but had some encounters with them) I had a go in the V6 laguna as well. I didnt encounter much rattles but the wind noise at motorway speed could be improved.
oh just read the "small turnin " circles....... ahahha no GTA wont turn circle for anythin 1.7 lock to lock ahha
. BUT!!!!!!!! Do go n have a try hehe coz i liked it ..... a good turin circle..... Ben would u say those S class (although huge suckers) they turn circles like no one can (for that size) my moms S Class turn circles like the little Golfs!@@! absolutely fab cars though n absolutely outrageous price tooCyue,
My wife prefers collora to 156. Not because of the style or performance but alfas overheating problem and big turning circle. She would kill me if I replace my 164 with another alfa. Besides, alfa in Hongkong has became very expensive and to make thing worse, Kingsway is not interested to offer me a trade-in price. Sigh.
There are four possibilities. The Laguna, 2.0; the Ford Mondeo 2.0 Ghia; 307 SW; and The Nissan Primea. The car will mainly be used by my wife, so performance is not a major concern. She likes the look of 307, I like the safety features in the Laguna. The Ford is in-between. I am not too sure about the Nissan. Like its look and engine but the CVT gearbox is a let down. Anyway, am waiting to see which company is going to offer me the most attractive deal. Am pushing the saleman from Reno, see if he could come up with a good offer that can match or even better others.
my heart goes for euro cars, but logic tells me that japanese cars are more reliable. My major concern now is to get rid of the old alfa.
Talking about Kingsway, my experience wasnt good. I phoned them last week, told the guy on duty that I would like to trade my 164 for a 156 JTS selespeed. He gave me a short answer, didnt even care to ask my name and number. I did have the same response the other day when I talked to the Toyota man. I could understand that as there were too many eager customers. But seeing a saleman of the Alfa adopting the same attitude is another thing.
As a family car, 307 is ok. And it has a more modern look than the laguna. Actually, I quite like the new Meganes look. Dont know how good it is. If no good offer for my alfa is recd, then I will simply wait for the arrival of the megane.
sad . i told my dad n he asked for a copy of this msg (if thats ok with u) he will do a complain to my uncle. I hate it when sales does that I think its bloody unprofessional they might as well work at the petrol station probably need more manners there too!. I will check out wuts the deal with that guy. Oh yeh which day did u call ?
come on in to see the 156 GTA even if ur not buyin it try it though (as a coutesy of crap service? haha)
Ahhhh, so you are connected to the Kingsway. Should have told me first.
No need to make any complain, dont want ppl to lose their job. Job market in HK right now is really really bad. No harm to tell them to be nice to the guy who wants to trade his 164 for a JTS, though. heehee.
The poor second hand market is making very difficult life for sale ppl. No one wants to buy big engine second hand car, especially Alfa Romeo. Tell you one more thing, I told the Reno guy to make me the best offer he could. I said if any other came up with a better offer, I would cancel the clio order that I placed on my brothers behalf, because I wont trust him anymore (I am a real evil in making deals). You should have seen his facial expression. Dont think he had a good sleep last night. Hahaha
ahahahah yes my family is related to Kingsway actually dad has some part in it as well. I emailed a senior sales already n told him about it see wut his reply is. If u dont mind u can tell me what Reno is offerin for ur 164 n then I will tell them see if they can do a even better deal huh? ahah sorry ben.
They seriously should be nice to anyone that walks in. Even if they dont want or cant buy at the moment if u make them feel comfortable perhaps in the future they will come back its all in good faith really.
Anyway i will tell u wuts goin on when i get the email back
Thank you for your kind offer.
The Reno man made me a reasonable offer, not the highest (no, I didnt cancelled the clio order, the contract was signed an hour ago). I told him to allow me a week or two to think it over.
The only thing about the Laguna that I am not too sure about is its electronic features. Ben will certainly say that I am worrying too much.
Do let me know when you are in Hong Kong.
Cheers
wow, lots of chat here!
did you sign ivan deal already!!! DAMN, i should of gotten my da to do it as you would of slipped out the other salesman bit and signed in my name.....DAMN, another sales the other salesman have gotten over me...ho hum....
as for the laguna, no need to worry as you said.....its been out in europe for a good 2yrs and over that time they have sorted teh niggly electronics. We have the MK 4 ECU program which doesnt have any bugs in the program....sometimes its lucky to get the cars later than europe haha!
and thats almost a general fact now, euro cars are possibly better than jap cars in every way. Quality is far higher, and japs use such cheap plastics.....tacky.....
and i agree on salesman in HK all being crap in general, dont know the cars, dont know the sales......overall, dont know much at all. lazy, dont dress nice, never smile, dont stand stright...ergh, bad image......
Oh, and tony, you will find it VERY VERY difficult to get rid of your alfa for more than $10,000 trade in and thats giving alot!! sad fact is that such great cars with fab character go through their slump for a few years before they start appreciating into classics, when they are worth nothing. Like the AE86....few yrs ago....scrap....now im looking for one and its $50,000!!!!....for a rusty shed!
oh, and can you email me details of the clio sale as i will try to beat it......as i need that commision haha.......i owe cash, not just low on it...
Talk later!
HKclioman r u Tony or Kevin i m gettin a bit messed up if u r Tony my applogies for callin u Kevin hehe i helped out the NZ car show n i got the wrong name on my tag as well its a trend.
Yeh like Ben say i dont think the electrics is a big issue anymore they seem to have picked it up.. the face lift version of 156 is step up from when it was first introduced so should be ok too... there is somethin about drivin an Alfa n u tend to enjoy that italian flavour. But yeh the price tag on those 156 is definately a minus point.
HK second hand car market is pretty aweful isnt it haha u probably gain more if u export it off to some other small countries like Fiji, Samoa ... they take ALOT of second hand jap import n actually they take 3rd hand from us .
Ben would the 156 JTS have a bit more go n torque than the 2.0Lag? JTS is runnin at 160hp no too sure about hte torque
On the topic of 156 vs Laguna. My comments are as follows.
They are different cars, the Laguna is more saloon like. The good point, really good point is its suspension setting. I didnt expect it to be so good. It is very comfortable yet provides a lot feedback and control. I didnt trash the car but did keep its rev above 4k on the uphill section between happy valley and Tai Hang Road by holding the 3rd gear, and made a few relatively quick corners. No problem whatsoever. The car was very responsive, really far beyond my expectation.
On the 156, I havent tried the JTS yet (maybe we can do it together when you are in Hong Kong, cyue). I tried the 156 TS experience last year before placing the order for my red clio. I remember that the Alfa had a very quick and good feel steering and brake. However, the lack of power was also very clear. Thats why I now have a clio instead of a 156 TS. Hope the JTS s extra ponies would make a different.
People here are still skeptical about the quality of Alfa and Reno. If I were the manger in charge, I would suggest the factory to provide a longer warranty period. Like the Korean, they offered 10-year warranty in the US when they first entered the market there. And now, KIA, hyundai are everywhere.
Ben, sorry that the commission had gone to others pocket, Ivan did want to wait for you, but there were just two cars left, there was a risk that by the time you arrived, all cars had gone. Dont cry, I will buy you a drink to compensate.
Didnt realise my alfa worth that little, sigh. As the lic wont expire until end April next year, maybe I shall keep a sit and wait tactic and see whether there is any unfortunate dealer who needs to dump their car. It usually happens in Dec/ Jan. Wish me luck.
tony (HK Clioman)
yay i know ur name now
Hey Tony nice to meet u.If u dont mind can u give me ur contact . dad said he wants Mr Leo Wong himself to contact u (Leo owns Kingsway dad knows him for more than 25 years) we dont want some crap salesmen ruinin u from enjoyin a 156 JTS. The JTS (from the spec sheet) performance wise is runnin v.v.v.close to the V6 which makes it a much better buy. I have persnoally tested the GTA car which is very very good i would say just half a step down from German built cars. but the interior design is definately more interestin n the momo leather is all good.
I think Kingsway can definately get rid of the 164 for u since they MUST have someone to take their second hand Alfas.
So if u dont mind give me a number hopefully your second encounter with Kingsway will be a MUCH better one.
Hi cyue,
tried to post a message, but it didnt appear. Strange.
My number is 9416 6032. Gvie me a call when you are in Hong Kong.
Would love to make new friends and test drive the JTS, dont let Leo has high hope. My wife really hates alfa. She had witnessed and was involved in many ocassions when the car was broken down over the last ten years. The classic one happened in a rainy night, we were both dressed and was on our way to a wedding dinner. My 75 TS refused to start. The lady didnt have a lic then and chose to do the pushing. The mud kicked up by the tires was everywhere. I was living in Sai Kung then, you see. We still managed to get there before the dinner started, the 75s handling was balanced and gave one confidence to drive fast even in rainy environment. The lady didnt appreciate that too much keep on complaining that she had to wear t-shirt and jeans in a wedding dinner. By the way, that was her sisters wedding dinner. Need I say more?
Tony
the new alfa is a whole new car reliability n built quality has definately improved . Interior wise i think u will like it(maybe?). they wont mind u dont buy it but they will and so will i hhaha if u dont try it ! the more u try the more u know. i reply quite often not becoz i have no life guys ahha i m on holiday just finish my exams ok ? just incase anyone get the wrong idea that i m a freak.
Love to meet u all in HK this year n have a blast huh!
Tony good to know u man n Ben u too
Alfa has sure made a lot improvements. Have yet to tell my wife that I am arranging another alfa test drive for her. Dont know how she would react to that. Anyway, do call me when you come home, owe you more than a drink. Was trying to learn a little more about the new megane from Ben and ended up talking to Leo about alfa. Can you believe that?
Cheers
Tony
haha did Leo uncle call u? i thought he got Eddie to . maybe we can all meet up by the bar in the Lamborghini showroom when Ben is back haha try ot get him drunk!. When is ur test drive? nah u dont owe me nothin man its my pleasure !! i just think its a great product that u should look at
Let me know how u get on , the new alfa should be a big change from wut u got its definately gettin there
anyway good luck keep me updated
oh by the way my name is ching ;p no english name funny that
Cyue, My contact no. is (852) 9882 8443. When you in HK, please call me. Our Karting function maybe suspend to Jan. We do have enough ppls to join. But We will have some gathering. Our Clubs birthday is coming. Hope to see you and Ben here.
Ben, Thank you, I know you cant control it. But as Tony said, its a really hard feeling. I love my Clio. Do you know its my first car? I hope it can a prefect car.
Cheers,
Kevin
Kevin,
You expect a "perfect" car from Reno?
Young boy, you must be "too simple and sometime naive". (joking)
I can give you a long lonf list of why clio is not a perfect car, such as the not too comfortable driving position, insufficient cooling power from the aircon, not too adequate ICE, very thin paint that cant last long...BUT do remember Reno gave us 172 ponies (or even more, if you opt the RSR package that will be available shortly) and sure-footed handling for civic money. What more can you ask?
Do share your view that there is room for improvement at Jebsen, though.
Lets have a drink sometime in Dec. That should cheer you up.
Tony
Still waiting for Eddie call. Shall be free this Sun afternoon. Hey, remember you said earlier that you would be in HK by this Sat, right?
Tony
If the car was for myself, I would say 5:45 am. unfortunately, i have a clio already, and the new car is meant for the mrs. better make it in the afternoon.
talked to my wife of the possibililty of replacing the 164 with another alfa product. She wasnt too keen. Dont know how she would respond to the jerky ride of the selespeed. I dont have the gut to forewarn her. Anyway, wish you luck.
And Ben, I have also noted that megane is voted the COTY. Any idea what model you will bring and the approx. price level? if Jebsen only wants to import 1.6 model (to maintain a gap between megane and laguna?), I would rule megane out. Dont think I can get use to a 1.6 after driving bigger engined cars for so many years.
