The old: |
 and the new! |
Simons Neon page |
| Bookmarks: | The car | Accidents | The Holden Station | The 4WD |
Back in the Netherlands I was driving on mainly flat, sealed roads. So when I was in the process of migrating to Australia I promised myself to buy a four-wheel-drive (4WD) to explore the wilderness and to be able to go bush for the weekend.
Already in the first week (October 1997) Lisa and I went out to look at used car lots. A lot of decisions had to be made such as the size of the car, open- or hardtopped and the age. But within a few hours we saw just what we wanted and few days later (allowing for a check etc.) I was the proud owner of a Suzuki JLX hardtop.
However, because Lisa had an (15-year) old Mazda station, after some time we had to find a replacement. By that time (August 1998) the novelty of four-wheel-driving had worn off and I decided to buy a new (used) car and Lisa could use the Suzuki.
The usual suspects where mainly Asian cars (Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Toyota) or used fleet/lease-cars (Mitsubishi Magna, Ford Falcon, Holden Commodore), but in line with my previous choices (Alfa Romeo 33 and Rover 600) I was looking for something out of the ordinary. Taking into account my budget I had my eyes on a Chrysler Neon and when there was a sale of ex-demo-cars we made our move:
| The old: |
and the new! |
The car is a strawberry red Chrysler Neon SX. The Chrysler comes in two models and this is the ‘simple’ one, but still has: electric mirrors dual airbag, air-conditioning, power steering etc. The only thing that is really missing is the electric windows.
On the other hand it has a powerful 2-litre engine and great allow wheels that came with it as a demo-car. When I bought it, it was 10 months old and had done 13.000 kilometres (so plenty of new-car warranty left). Manual or automatic is a standard option, but because it was a demo-car we had no choice but to settle for the manual. Just as well as it is a great 5-speed gearbox, whereas the automatic is only a 3-speed (probably ruining some of the enjoyment of the 2-litre engine).
The car has lots of (American ?) gadgets, such as: cupholders, vanity-mirrors in both sunvisors (with a little light), friendly alarms warning you for when you leave your light on , .. or your keys in the ignition, lighting in the boot and extra lighting on the dashboard when you open the door. We had an immobiliser installed and connected to the central locking (so it’s remote now). Only drawbacks so far: a funny light-knob, uneven boot-floor and bad finishing of the (inside) roof.
For me it was a return to a manual transmission, but this time on my left side. You get used to that easy enough (especially as I am totally accustomed to driving on the left). Now I know why in many right-hand-drive cars they switch the indicator and windscreen-wiper controls. I always wondered why they went through the trouble and now I found out as the Chrysler has ‘European/American’-controls (indicator on the left, wipers on the right). Imagine coming up to a turn: you slow down, press the clutch, down-shift gears with your left hand and want to indicate with .. your left hand as well !! It’s not a huge problem, but it would indeed be easier if you could indicate with your right hand, which is on the wheel.
The Neon is not a lucky car though. In December 1998 a car grazed my side when it came into my lane to avoid a bus. It was only a light contact and the car kept moving. I had a choice of either pursuing him, or to stop and get the details of some passers-by. So I noted the licence-plate and stopped. I have to give credit to the police here as the first news was that the owner of the car of which I had taken down the licence-number, denied even being at the place of the accident. You always doubt whether you might have made a mistake in remembering the number, but a few weeks later the police acknowledged that it was his (or actually: her) car that had caused the accident.
| In August 1999 I
managed to get the Neon damaged again. This time it was
my fault as the person in front of me abruptly braked for
an orange light. I braked too, but skidded (it was a
rainy, slippery road) into his back. Because I braked,
the Neon was tilted and slid under the bumper, crumpling
up the hood. While the other car only had a slight dent
in its rear-bumper, the Neon had $7.000 damage! This as
Chrysler parts are incredibly expensive ($1.000 for a set
of headlights). Being the law-abiding citizen that I am, I reported the accident (something which is compulsory when the damage is over $1.000). To my astonishment I was presented a few weeks later with a traffic infringement for ‘driving without due care’. This while probably the other party hadn’t even fixed his car so beside me there was no other ‘victim’. On top of the $100 fine, it also costed me 3 demerit points. |
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In Australia you get 12 points on your licence. For each traffic violation you loose a specific number of points (for three years, after which they are given back). When you loose all your points, your licence is revoked for 3 months. So I am down to 9 points until September 2002. But so is Lisa as she was caught driving through a red light (dark orange in her version of the story).
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