Wheels for the woman

Apr 20, 2006

<br>Have you ever noticed this thing about the cars, which women with the money to choose drive?

By Titus Serunjogi

Have you ever noticed this thing about the cars, which women with the money to choose drive?

One common trait among them is that they are all cute; that is, petite and curvaceous. They are almost always automatic, can fit into almost any parking space in town and hey, the wheels must be looking good too.

If you want to make any guy wear that smile that runs from ear to ear, give him a car that goes groaning all the way down the road and in turn bleeds the fuel tank dry in just thirty minutes. But that will not do for a lady. “The job of a feminine car is to make the driver the centre of attraction, not to take it away from her,” says one woman motorist.

Women know that it is not just
thirteen-year-old boys who pay more attention to a convertible Lexus than to the beautiful driver herself. So they would feel much more comfortable in a three-door (baby) RAV4.

“Just cosy enough, just cute enough, just cheap enough, that is the kind of car an average middle class woman in town wants,” says Mohammed Razin, the manager for Yuasa inland car depot.
Here are the cars that are bought in disproportionately large numbers by the fairer sex.

Toyota Starlet
Toyota Starlet (at about sh9m) dubbed the number one feminine car in town. A Starlet has always been the entry-level vehicle for women buying their first cars. Why not? It is economical, easy-to-drive and runs like a Swiss watch. And for city slickers – you can squeeze it into almost any parking space. The Starlet is the obvious choice for girls fresh from university and just beginning to work. But female executives like WBS TV’s Programmes Director Justin Nakuya are going for the fancier Toyota Corolla FX, Corsa VIT-X or the VW Golf.

G-Touring
Now here is a picture of every mama’s ideal car. Urban mothers have discovered that the Toyota Corolla Wagon a.k.a G-Touring – at about sh10m for a used one – is big enough for the family to ride comfortably without a chorus of “Mummy, he hit me!” to an interjection of “But she hit me first!” from the back seat. The inside is roomy enough and yet small enough for easy parking.
Best of all, it offers a thrilling, albeit raw, driving experience for any woman. Little wonder that all who have been asking after it at Dembe car sales on Dewinton road are ladies. The Caldina and the Carib have also made a serious impression on ladies too.

RAV4
The three-door (baby) RAV4, which costs about sh13m for a used one, is now largely seen as the ultimate way in which well-to-do women can treat themselves right. “It feels like a Land Cruiser, only less macho,” says Super FM’s Ruth Kalibbala. The RAV4 can strike from 0 to 100km per hour in just 10 minutes. But it guzzles fuel like no man’s business when on long journey and the spare parts don’t come cheap either. Still, the RAV4 has proved to be one of the best lifestyle 4WDs for urban women. Competitors include the Pajero (baby) short chassis, Honda CR-V and Suzuki Jimmy.

Toyota Corolla
Salon cars however remain best-selling favourites among guys and girls alike. The Toyota Corolla, popularly known as kikumi (sh8m for a used one), is going in heavy rotation right now because it has everything that a regular town woman needs of a car. It’s gorgeously lifted rear and metallic green colour make it all the more attractive. More rational women like Joanita Kawalya are still big time fans of the new Toyota Sunny.

Volkswagen Beetle
There is a new Volkswagen Beetle in town but it is obvious from the way the thing was put together that it was meant for women. The vehicle is so curvy it seems like an egg. There are only less than half a dozen of them in town. But bet it. Ladies will be raging for it once it goes down on its price (sh50m for a brand new). Only fault is; the vehicle is so fancy, it does not offer enough cachet for an up-and-coming executive.
It seems as if the fairer sex can never feel comfortable within straight lines like those of the Volvo or the Pick-up truck. One just wonders why they don’t want to date guys with rounded bottoms?
But to sum it up, women add up the good things, subtract the bad things, and then compare the result with the cost of the car. Men, it seems, just add stuff up then wonder if they can afford the car without having to miss out on a night at the pub.

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