I brought Gina, our new Hyundai Getz, to Makati today. (Yes, it’s a bit of a daring thing to do, but I’d like to live dangerously today.)

Manong Dyaryo, the fellow from whom I buy my Philippine Daily Inquirer,  didn’t recognize me, as did the lady at the Greenbelt parking lot. Ran into Andy from work, who loved Gina’s golden-beige color. As I was parking, I noticed a Hyundai Getz in a lovely shade of green a few cars away. Wanted to make the driver’s acquaintance, but it turns out the driver was already gone.

Last night, I applied a dashboard protector onto Gina’s lovely vinyl curves, as well as Rain-X so when it rains later, I won’t have such a hard time driving. Couple that with the new Cool Water air freshener and longer rear-view mirror, I’d say my Hyundai Getz is quite happy.

Oh, I also switched from Caltex Silver (with Techron) to Shell Unleaded. I read on the Hyundai Getz Philippines Club that Shell is supposed to be more efficiency-friendly. Well, we’ll just see. I’m measuring now.

After the explosive rant of last Friday, I owe it to my sales agent Jason Chung and Wheels Inc. Hyundai sales manager Mercy to detail what happened afterwards.

Last Saturday, I brought Gina back to the dealer to have her speedometer and odometer connected. Jason wasn’t there because he had to represent Hyundai at the Megatrade (or was it World Trade?). One of the salesladies there, Bheng (H optional), bore the full force of my wrath. She took it completely in stride – a testament to team effort from Wheels Inc. – and assured me everything would turn out okay.

Mercy then came in and assuaged in me turn, based on the issues I brought up:

1. Unplugged odometer & speedometer. An oversight on the part of the technicians. She acknowledged the oversight resulted in my lack of peace of mind for the previous night, as well as her having to come in to work on a Saturday, her day off. She apologized profusely.

2. No plate, no travel. Jason would secure a conduction permit, good for a week, that would allow me to take Gina to Makati. It’s not a license plate, but at least I can travel. He will also secure me a renewed permit, should the official receipt and certificate of registration (OR/CR) not be available by next week. He delivered it straight to me yesterday. Sure, there’ll be the occasional inconvenience of getting pulled over, but at least I can travel.

3. Horn. Other than payPhp2450 for a Hyundai-chosen horn, I’ll buy a horn of my own choice then have them install it for Php500.

For the record, I’d like to say that, despite an initially sour first impression, I am pleased so far with the after-sales support of Hyundai E. Rodriguez.

Since our Hyundai Getz’s odometer was shot – you can read the previous blog entry on that nosebleed experience – I don’t have the accurate overall distance traveled by Gina since we picked her up. What I do know is that we placed Php500 in her fuel tank when the fuel lamp started to flicker, and since then this is more or less where we’ve gone.

Friday night
From the Hyundai Getz Philippines dealer at E. Rodriguez to Jollibee Siena;
From Jollibee Siena to our house near Grace Christian Village;

Saturday
From our house back to the Hyundai Getz Manila dealer at E. Rodriguez;
From the Hyundai Getz Philippines dealer to my mom’s house in Paranaque;
From Paranaque back to our house;

Sunday
From our house to SM North EDSA;
From SM North EDSA back to our house;
From our house to Suka at Sili along D. Tuazon;
From Suka at Sili to Hope of God Church near SM Sta. Mesa;
From SM Sta. Mesa to Tempura along West Avenue;
From Tempura to Waltermart along E. Rodriguez near our Hyundai Getz Manila dealer;
From Waltermart to our house.

All that… on Php500 of fuel. The Hyundai Getz’s fuel efficiency rocks my socks!

Of course, I fully intend to be more scientific about computing my Hyundai Getz’s fuel consumption. I’ll wait until the next gas refill then start observing trips to take note of regular distance traveled and all that.

Looking for the best fuel for Hyundai Getz Philippines? Check this out.

We finally picked up Gina from the Wheels Inc. dealership along E. Rodriguez. She was everything we hoped she’d be. Shiny, a joy to drive, and very, very easy on the eyes.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get her without kinks. It’s a real shame, because what should have been a truly joyous occasion was marred by otherwise unavoidable circumstances. I took the day off from work to make sure we would have a smooth transition with our car, and that didn’t happen.

First, we arrived at the dealership at quarter to five, 15 minutes ahead of our agreed time. Ownership papers weren’t quite ready yet. After rounds of signing, we received the keys to Gina at about 615PM, a good hour and a half later. As far as we knew, we were the only customers buying and checking a car out that day at that time. Did it really have to take so long?

Second, we learned that the ‘no plate, no travel’ policy of the LTO was in full effect, and a temporary permit that would allow us on the road while waiting for our license plate would not be ready until Tuesday. We purchased the car with a downpayment on Tuesday. Couldn’t they have filed a request for that permit so that we could have received it already by Friday? If we knew we were not going to be able to drive Gina for two whole weeks, maybe we wouldn’t have rushed getting her so quickly, or at least checking her out.

We don’t have a spare car – someone at the dealership thought we did, which was a little off-putting to me – and to not have a car that can be on the road, especially with Cathy so close to giving birth, was virtually suicidal! Why didn’t they tell us this ahead of time? Grrrrr.

Third and most painfully, we drove off, Cathy, Nathan and I, in our brand-new Gina, only to discover a few kilometers later, that the odometer and speedometer weren’t working! This means tomorrow, I gotta go back to the dealership so they can fix it. The car hasn’t been with us 10 minutes!

We know the Hyundai Getz is the car for us. The service afforded us, however, left much, oh so much, to be desired. I truly hope things will improve in the months, because we love our car and it’s just such a piss-off experience to go through stuff like this when so much of it can be avoided. Grrrr.

(After I was reminded that Ding sold Hyundais, I was so wracked with guilt. I know he would never let anything like this happen to us. If you wanna buy a Getz, try going to Ding; he’ll take care of you.)

Cathy and I did a significant amount of research in choosing the Hyundai Getz Philippines over its subcompact competitors the Kia Picanto, Honda Jazz, and Suzuki Alto, as well as the Toyota Vios 1.3. It helps that Philippine motoring experts agree with us. Here’s a reprint of what Top Gear Philippines had to say about the Hyundai Getz Philippines for 2006.

Best Subcompact Car
HYUNDAI GETZ 1.1GL

A typical choice for first-time car buyers, subcompact cars can carry the same level of sophistication and features commonly found in vehicles of higher classes. The Hyundai Getz 1.1GL combines its peppy engine and smooth five-speed manual transmission with surprising refinement and spaciousness. These attributes, along with an amazing fuel economy and an affordable price tag, make for a guilt-free driving companion.

Those were the main reasons we bought Gina: good fuel efficiency, a spacious interior, and a price that whupped all other competitors.

Hi everyone! Meet Gina – our new Hyundai Getz!

My family and I are looking forward to making a lot of great memories with this car, so we hope you’ll come along with us for the ride!

Gina sold for only P488,000 at the Wheels Inc. dealership along E. Rodriguez in Quezon City. We were assisted by branch manager Mercy Savillano and customer service specialist Jason Chung.

If you’re based in the Philippines and are looking for information on the Hyundai Getz Philippines, visit the Hyundai Philippines website here for more information, or tour our website for more information.