REVIEWS BY IAN PAUL: 1999 Mercedes Benz E Class – skip this one

If you are not a very rich Ugandan, and I mean an insanely rich Ugandan, it’s hard to live your dream car fantasy without starting from the bottom. For this article, starting from the bottom will mean purchasing the most cheaply locally available model year and make of your dream car, and moving up the chain by upgrading to a newer model whenever you can afford it.

Currently, chances are you can’t afford your dream car and if you are an average Ugandan, you’ll probably never afford it. Do not feel like I am disrespecting your hustle, it’s a global thing. Over 90% of car owners can’t and won’t ever afford their dream car. We all almost always have “a dream car” and a “realistic dream car.” The realistic dream car is your favorite one of what you, your bank account and your future financial projections can afford first.

The disadvantage you have as a Ugandan is that even if your fortunes finally balance your bank account, you need to save a lot more because the tax man (URA) probably wants 150% of the car’s purchase price in taxes. This explains why the car purchase culture is buying locally used cars from those who have upgraded, or those whose problems cost more than their income and the car has to go.

Now, throughout car buying history and manufacturer loyalty, and the reason car makers release new models of their cars every year, is to give the loyal fans of a particular type of car an upgrade.

For example if you bought a 2006 Toyota Mark X today and you fell in fanatic love with it, chances are when it’s time to upgrade, you’ll move up to a later model to continue enjoying the Mark X goodness but in a refreshed interior, styling and technology.

It’s a theory of “the manufacturers attract you with one model year, and keep you hooked by providing you with upgrades of something you deeply love.”

As a Ugandan Mercedes Benz E Class admirer, if you follow the tradition of starting from the bottom, your most cheaply available E Class is the W210 E Class. That’s traditionally our entry level E Class. Unless your budget is big enough for the W211 which have become very common and relatively attainable.

Personally, I am a Mercedes fanatic. In my opinion, they make the best cars in the world and I’ve said this countless times. The best in terms of what is practically necessary, safe, luxurious, durable and reliable. They also make beautiful cars.

However, in that lineage of beautiful Mercedes cars, there is that one that’s the ugly duckling. And for the entire heritage of Mercedes cars, it’s got to be the 1999 Mercedes Benz E Class. It is truly awful to look at especially when you realize that it’s a Mercedes. Where credit is due; it perfectly set up the design for the W211 which is often considered the best looking E Class until their latest one – the W213.

Its 2021 now and my honest recommendation is that you skip the 1999 Mercedes Benz E Class. It’s not worth it today. It has not aged gracefully in styling, comfort and enjoyable driving experience. And with how steeply it has depreciated, it does not hold any value for the money you are going to put in to purchase and maintain it. In the unfortunate event that you have to sale it, this particular one is guaranteed to bring no profit.

I can’t remember smiling once the entire time I drove this car. Moments where I was consumed in conversation with the owner I forgot that I was driving a Mercedes because it lacked the special feeling driving a Mercedes car gives you. The overwhelming atmosphere of my review was that I was more aware that I was driving something really ancient than anything else.

The interior is old, visibly. You can’t help feeling like you are in 1996 driving around in your grandmother’s sitting room. Which you probably are, they were making these cars then. That feeling offers no comfort because the sitting room in your grandmother’s house today is probably a more modern place to sit. So for the sake of not insulting your grandmother, you are left comparing this to driving around in a history class.

It is horrendous. The long bonnet and wheelbase even today where mid-size sedans have become larger than life still have it looking a little too long on the road. Unattractively so. It lacks the modern appeal of a similarly longer Toyota Crown from a few years after and this is Mercedes.

We however, have to acknowledge that Mercedes future proofs their cars and we can always count on that German reliability. Therefore for where you find one that’s been fairly maintained, you can count on that too. The perks of it being a Mercedes are of course obvious in that regard.

Despite the history lesson experience of driving it, it feels sturdy and well built. The cabin is firm even as you thrash it on our terrible uneven roads. It still lives up to the Mercedes reliability and build quality and that has got to be the only good thing I found about it.

It handles like driving around in an arcade on wheels and unless you are driving in a straight line it’s terrifying when you speed. Nobody watching you driving this car will envy you, even you don’t feel special enough to be envied. The feeling that you desperately wanted to own a Mercedes today by buying and driving this car quickly becomes embarrassing when you realize how bodabodas and taxis don’t give a sh*t for this particular Benz.

They will scratch you, I tell you! They scratched me while I was driving it. I expected to get the same level of “you don’t get close to a Mercedes” that I get the few times I drive my old Man’s W203 C Class. I was treated like I was driving a Toyota Ipsum.

Where it lacks is where it matters. It doesn’t feel like you are driving a car from the inventors of the automobile. We can argue that it’s a fairly old car and driving it now and reviewing it comes from a very biased point of comparing it to what later Mercedes cars feel like. But I’ve driven the W202 C Class, the baby sister of this car from the same timeline and it’s a much better place to sit and a much better Mercedes to drive. So what happened with this one?

Do I recommend it? The 1999 E Class is not a car you’ll park, lock and look back at it when you walk away. If you do it’ll be in regret of driving around in something this unattractive in 2021 and wondering if people will understand the few German advantages of having it. If you have to start from the bottom with the E Class, skip this one.

You’ll find better comfort, Mercedes driver satisfaction and local market value for your money driving a C Class from that generation.

REVIEWS BY IAN PAUL: 2002 TOYOTA PROBOX – sort of!

What’s fairly the best upcountry road I’ve driven on is the road from Kagamba, a small town in Ntungamo district to Ishaka District. It’s new tarmac, very well built, reasonably wide, with very few cars and it has the most beautiful scenery for a lazy afternoon drive.

It is the sort of road you need to experience behind the wheel of something capable, something moderately fast, something that handles well in corners as well as it does on the straights. 

This is a back road built for sports cars. Of course, it was never intentionally constructed for this type of car, but by design, it unintentionally became the perfect proving ground for such cars.

The drive on this road was unexpected. I was heading to Mbarara and wanting to avoid the very annoying humps on the Ntungamo – Mbarara high way, I asked some locals if the route through Kagamba would eventually lead me to Mbarara. And it did. I had the time and fuel, and with my trusty Google Maps, I embarked on this adventure.

It was a lazy afternoon, the sun was just about setting and the general mood of the atmosphere was warm and calm. A few minutes into the journey, I was astounded by how well built the tarmac was. And it will last because the road barely has any cars. The stones used offered very confident grip from the tyres and although the tyre noise was a bit more than usual, I’d be happy with that trade-off – grip is everything!

As I drove on, it became apparent that this tarmac was my treat for the rest of my adventure. I turned off the AC, opened the sunroof, put on my shades and with my well-curated 2010s RnB playlist; I got comfortable and put my car through its paces on this beautiful road.

The scenery along this road is breathtaking. Surrounded by farmlands, swamps, forests, small bridges and a couple of small towns, it was a tranquil environment for my unplanned detour. With the easiness of the late afternoon, a gentle cold breeze blew into the cabin from the sunroof to further enhance the experience.

The setting sun peered from the clouds at a distance, occasionally flashing which I took as a smile of approval for me and my adventure. 

The corners were spectacular and in plenty and why I said this road is the perfect proving ground for sports cars. The agility with which the car responds when you thrust it in a corner at a reasonably fast speed and the sense of control it leaves you with is frankly unexplainable. You’d have to be a car physics geek to understand this unusual thrill.

Driving through corners is an experience that many under-appreciate because we never intentionally go out there to hit corners with the sort of cars that are built to make that a satisfying experience.

On the straights, where I pushed the pedal, the car eagerly raced to the next corner. For me, all of this was the Christmas vacation experience I didn’t know I needed. The corners and towns made sure that you don’t over speed allowing the car to operate optimally and have a relaxed cruise, almost like it was equally having a time of its Christmas vacation.

We arrived more relaxed than when we woke up that morning – the car and I. It remains the best back road I’ve driven through until I find something better. 

Driving through the towns, I noticed that most of the businesses were retail shops and a lot of the cars were Toyota Probox cars. At what seemed like a major retail shop, 3 out of 5 times there was a Toyota Probox parked outside. 

This confirmed what I’ve always preached; this particular Estate is the sort of car you buy when you own a retail shop.

I’ve driven one before, not intentionally for a review, and it has all the space. It’ll carry all your shopping, it’ll ferry your many children and extended family and the church choir with all their instruments to the church in one trip and if it’s raining outside, your children can still have their football match in the boot. This car is for the buyer who only cares about space. 

Do I recommend it? Do you have a retail shop and a very large family? Then yes. If no, you have no reason to drive around looking like a shopkeeper from Ntungamo.

REVIEWS BY IAN PAUL: 2005 Toyota Harrier (Kawundo)

One of my most frustrating fashion moments was a time I purchased striped sweaters (about 3 of them) from a shop in downtown, and I boarded a taxi and went off back to school in Nkozi. At school, I was confidently rocking my sweaters and looking so damn good while at it. One weekend, I came back to Kampala to visit my family, and I was shocked to find a whole crusade of people wearing my exact sweaters.

My frustration did not come from how common they were. It came from the realization that with how common they were, they must be affordable as well. I’d been charged an arm, a thigh and a leg for them and seeing every street vendor and bodaboda rider wearing them made me realize that pricing depends on who you are and how much you look like you are willing to pay.

It did not change the fact that they were well made, very accessible and everyone that could afford one didn’t look elsewhere.

Now, when you jump in your 2nd generation 2005 Toyota Harrier locally known as Kawundo, reality hits on two fronts. One; before you leave your compound, you are the coolest person to ever buy an equitably expensive car. When the moderately weighty doors close and you can barely hear the noise outside, you are filled with pleasure from how high-end that feels.

All of this quickly comes to a spluttering halt when you finally hit the main road and suddenly, you’re driving with mirrors all around you. Everywhere you look, everyone appears to be driving your car. How frequently you see the 2nd generation Toyota Harrier is immediately obvious in awareness you simply cannot ignore. They are my striped sweaters from Nkozi.

But once you get comfortable with that, you move on to the good stuff.

Two; You realize that the reason you were able to notice all the other Harriers on the road was that you sit very high from the ground. The sitting position is imposing both from the driver’s seat and from whoever is seeing you from outside. Its ground clearance is its party piece. You can get around just about any pothole and visit anybody in Kira and deep in Buwate without ever scratching any bumpers or the undercarriage.

For a mid-size SUV, the Toyota Harrier is very roomy with enough head and legroom for even your tallest friend. This should not be surprising, the car looks really big for a “mid-size” SUV and it is. The size is even felt when you are driving it. My “beef” with SUVs is solely about size and stability. I love the space, I love the ground clearance but 9/10 times I’d choose a sedan over an SUV.

It is a properly designed car. Compared to the older model, it is an upgrade worth calling an upgrade. Drivers in Uganda love it and everyone that can afford a mid-size SUV gets one. No doubt it is a beautiful eye-catching car, and that beauty on the outside is skin deep. The 2005 Toyota Harrier is equally as beautiful on the inside – interior.

This particular one is equipped with heated leather power seats – let’s face it, no one uses heated seats in Uganda, if anything, we really need to start buying cars with cooling seats. The seats are very comfortable, although I personally don’t find leather seats comfortable at all. They are often too hard. The ride quality is superb but a bit too firm when it’s really bumpy so you are thrown around. The spacious cabin provides for easy reach-ability for all the buttons, cup holders and anything you may need to reach for.

The steering wheel has a wood accent, and when you put the key in the ignition, the steering wheel pulls out and elevates into your driving position. When you remove the key, it withdraws back towards the dashboard, as if to get out of the way. You never get used to how sophisticated it makes the car.

The technology is above standard; reversing camera, ABS, dual-zone climate control, automatic headlamps, Adaptive Front-lighting System, daytime running lights, electronically adjusted mirrors and an onboard SAT NAV that is mostly in Japanese among other gizmos depending on the options fitted. The sound quality of the factory speakers is great. When properly balanced, your passengers will not want to get out because the sound contained in the cabin is very satisfying.

This car commands respect. There are places I took it and I got treated better than when I show up in my 22-year-old sports sedan. Driving around in it, you look rich, important and on the way to an event or meeting that will pay for your next trip to Dubai or rent for your side chick. Locally, if you’re a young male and you drive a Kawundo, you are stereotyped as a playboy. If you’re female, you’re just successful and killing it.

Performance is where the Toyota Harrier underwhelms. The puny 2.4 liter 4 cylinder engine is like when you buy yogurt and the supermarket cashier gives you a soda drinking straw to go with it. It gets the job done and you still get to fully enjoy your yogurt, but the enjoyment happens really slowly. You’d have been more satisfied with a spoon or a milkshake drinking straw.

At acceleration, you feel the inadequacy in power as the engine growls to the revs trying to deliver the power you seek. You wish it had more punch at acceleration and why not, it is a fairly large car and you expect that level of power. Once it picks up though, it’s really fast until it is limited by the 4-speed automatic transmission or your will to live.

By the way, the 2.4 liter is not a 4-wheel drive.

Despite how aggressively most people drive them, I failed to get comfortable enough to thrust it in corners at speed. You get the feeling that you could easily flip it and this makes it very uncomfortable to drive fast especially on unfamiliar roads. It is however, shockingly very stable and swiftly responsive with a very light steering wheel.

Do I recommend it? YES. Despite my feeling towards SUVs, this is one I really love. It is a good car, with good value for money and it will give you a reputation you’ll exploit in many ways. Space, the ground clearance, the implied opulence, the noise suppression and how easy it is to live with are all pluses. Repair is fairly affordable and most credible mechanics will do a good job and given that it’s a Toyota, it is reliable.

However, if you care about performance, get a spoon to go with your yogurt – the 3-litre version that comes with a V6 Engine, a 5-Speed automatic transmission and 4-Wheel drive.

Why Owning a Car in Kampala Doesn’t Make Sense anymore

Convenience, affordability, luxury and comfort; these are the reasons a lot of people buy cars. Of course we have the other lot that buys them for status and the ones that just love motoring and they simply must have a car to fulfill the Fanaticism. 

The ban on cars that are 15 years old has been both good and bad. Good because, the environment needs to survive although frankly I don’t know anyone that really cares enough for the environment. Many of us care, but not enough to pretend by making it our life’s mission to make the entire world change how they treat the environment. Anyway… Bad because, cars are so bloody expensive now. 

Even the used ones, the ones we buy off someone selling, they are virtually unaffordable these days. Occasionally you’ll stumble on a decent deal. A well maintained car with low mileage and in decent exterior body condition at a reasonable price. I always advise people looking for cars to take their time and get the best possible deal.

As it turns out now, owning a car and driving it in Kampala has become a punishment. The horrible roads, the massive traffic jam and the murderously irritating bodaboda riders have decided to punish you for working hard enough to afford some level of commuting luxury. An honorable mention to the dust and “kasana” for the squad that believes they are saving fuel by not using AC.

Arguably, driving is justifiably cheaper than using public transport. The comfort, the space, the silence in your cabin, control of your time and even the privacy all make the extra cost of daily fuel sound like a bargain. Well, until now!

You spend so much time idling in traffic jam, and if you’re the type that runs on AC, you leave it running as you idle, and in that moment, you consume more fuel than on an average trip where you are barely meeting any traffic. If the cost of fuel is not your issue, the time you spend/waste in traffic jam is another factor.

When I realized how much time I waste in traffic jam, I adopted educational podcasts, where I can learn something. I use my traffic jam time to learn something on my drive home. I spend nearly 2 and a half hours in traffic jam daily and that’s time I can never get back. So I use those 2 and a half hours to learn something and it has been a great experience, something I recommend to you all.

All of the above sorted and not in consideration, there is the unsolvable issue of the state of our roads. The roads in Kampala are in the worst state they have ever been in. They are narrow and the potholes – new and unprofessionally repaired ones eat up more tarmac than the good bits of the road. In less than a year, I’ve had to overhaul my car’s suspension twice. Our roads are just the worst for any car that is not an SUV or Crossover SUV.

Factoring the amount of time spent in traffic, the cost of fuel from the idling, the cost of repair when our horrible roads inevitably damage your suspension and the occasional repair job from when a bodaboda scratches or cracks one of your lights, owning a car in Kampala is just too expensive in terms of money and time to make any sense anymore.

But as a culture, we never let these things inform our next actions, we shall all still drive to work under the same conditions and encourage our friends to buy cars and join the hustle. At the end of the day, our public transport system does not offer a better option and there aren’t too many safebodas with those “umbrella thingys” on top to act as a quicker, much cheaper and a little more comfortable option.

REVIEWS BY IAN PAUL: 2006 Toyota Allex

When the bear minimum is averagely enough. For the average person.

Earlier last year, due to an unfortunate event with some business partners, I put a hold on import consultations and deliveries I was doing for clients that needed to purchase new cars. As expected, this took a toll on my revenue stream from something that is not just a business, but a hobby and a passion. It was a situation to let me step aside and recoup, and get back into this when I have the right partners and a better understanding of how this business works.

But before that, a friend had reached out about saving money to import his dream first car before Christmas. We’d agreed that once he had all the money, we’d scour the internet and get the best possible deal we could find. 

A few months ago, he reached out and told me that he had achieved his financial goal and he was ready for us to sit down in front of a laptop and find him his dream first car. I told him how I got my fingers burned and that I’d put this business on hold. 

The details of the story did not discourage him. He talked to me and motivated me to get back into it by offering to be my first new client. It took him a lot of convincing, but I eventually allowed to have another go at it. He said the fear from what happened should not stop me from pursuing something he knows I am very excited about – car business. 

I took about 3 weeks to research and find new partners for this business, and once my new network was meticulously established, I sat down with him and we found the best possible deal. We placed that order, made the payments and our shipment was well on its way.

A few weeks ago, it finally arrived and I did the honors of inspecting and picking up his 2006 Toyota Allex to deliver to his house where he was anxiously waiting to receive it.

My thoughts; it is the only memorable time I have driven a car where the bare minimum is averagely enough. There is nothing too fancy or too exaggerated about the Toyota Allex and everything it is equipped with is to a quality that is acceptably above average. This is judged from what the common folk would want in his car. If you’re even the tiniest bit fancy, this is way below average. It is not an exciting car in any way. Speed, luxury, technology, accessories… it is as interesting as your least favorite comedian.

The interior reminds me a lot of the 2004 Toyota Spacio, the texture, the nobs and buttons placement and the general feel of the cabin. It is a familiar feel and it is immediately obvious they are from the same timeline and also, obviously, the same manufacturer – Toyota.

It offers tolerable power at acceleration. It can be very boring as soon as you bury the paddle asking for power, but once you get it going, with very slow progress, this Japanese Hatchback eventually really takes off. Once you get it going, it is impressively noticeable especially given that you’re driving a Hatchback that is nowhere in the top tier of the available competition from its generation. The grip is also assuredly comforting, it is a light car but it does not wobble all over the place even when the wind picks up at speed. 

It, however, gets earthquake shaky when you speed and the wind picks up. Therefore, do not attempt to race anything heavier than you when you drive the Allex, you might not stop as well as it does.

With a 1.5 litre engine, this little 4 Cylinder engine gives incredible fuel economy. This is the sort of car where horsepower and torque don’t matter because if they did, you’d have bought a Golf. 

The Toyota Allex despite how compact it looks is surprisingly well spaced, the legroom is better than you get in whatever compact cars most people are driving in Kampala. This is a very surprising thing about the little hatchback.  

What stood out negatively was the amount of wind and road noise. The car is light, the material is cheap and thin you can hear a lot of things on the outside. This I found particularly disturbing. If your daily driver is a reasonably quiet car, this can be quickly very irritating. If you’re moving on from our old and wonky taxis or the wind and noise of boda-boda, this will offer some relief. Otherwise, it is frustratingly noisy.

Practicality is sufficient. Let’s be honest, we need to get into the culture of buying cars with a purpose. If you buy a Toyota Allex, you must be well aware that space is not your top priority. The trunk, the cabin, they all have sufficient space for a person that buys this car as a daily driver, weekly shopping carrier and has a small family with little luggage for those upcountry trips. 

For you who are reading this, if you’re considering picking up one, I considerably recommend it. It is reasonably raised in terms of ground clearance, they are quite common thus cheaper to source parts for repair and above all, it is a very beautiful car, one of the very few hatchbacks that I love. 

But if your taste and budget allow, perhaps a Golf. I’d buy a Golf.

“Horsepower” Corrupts People

One of the absolute best feelings in the world of motoring is the arrogant confidence a good car gives you. Good in terms of driving and not necessarily in luxury or price. This can be best demonstrated when you pull up at traffic lights and next to you is another zealous driver.

When the lights go green and you both burry the pedal, the feeling of satisfaction from how quickly your car gets off the mark can only best be described by the look on a child’s face when their Christmas present is exactly what they hoped for.

It is sheer pride. You are left so proud of your car for stepping up to the task, killing it at the task and mostly, for making you look so good that the competition drowns in murderous envy.

The more horsepower you have, the bigger your ego, the bigger your cahoonas and most definitely, the more willing you’re to prove it. Driving around in a car with dependable power if you have a general understanding of different car’s capabilities, gives you the opportunity to show it off.

Even unprovoked, you comfortably drive around knowing that if it came to it, ‘humiliation’ would be kind when describing what happened to the competition.

All of this is the power of your horsepower.

What is horsepower: The power produced by an engine which translates into speed. The more horsepower, the faster and quicker you get up to speed.

bryantmotors.com

REVIEWS BY IAN PAUL: 2004 Toyota Rav4 – (The very Best Standard Car for Kampala)

Life is a journey, quite obviously! This is both implied, and literally. One of the things we all experience at the end of the day is going to sleep. And waking up to a brand new day to continue with the journey or start a new one.

Waking up with birds chirping, refreshingly cool air from the gentle morning breeze and generally, what looks like a typical day where the problems you went to bed with have not solved themselves. Universally, we all wake up to worry about life’s journey and what the new day has to offer.

We are not gifted the same however, some cups are bigger than others. There is a special faction of people that deal with life’s journeys more assuredly. This is the band that own Toyota RAV4s. They sleep differently. And when they wake up, they do not have to worry about tomorrow’s literal journey. They have places to go and they have the best basic tool for the job.

The 2004 Toyota RAV4 is the sort of car that ticks each and every box of what matters in a car. Especially for Kampala and Uganda in general.

Even when measured on the most meticulously curated checklist, the Toyota RAV4 checks all the admissible boxes. I was left thoroughly astounded by how it kept wanting to do more even when the task was a little “taunting.” It was giving me it’s all, and delighted to keep giving and with an attitude of “there is more where all of this is coming from.”

I should note that the test drive wasn’t an extreme exercise where i tasked the car to reach deep down within and show me everything it’s got. It was a reproduction of what you’d typically use your car for on a weekend of errands and visits to friends in the suburbs.

The 1994 first generation (XA10 series) was an ugly car if we can all be honest about it – Reviews by Ian Paul

This model is also known as the XA20 series, the second generation of the RAV4 name plate and the one that finally, gave us a good looking RAV4. The 1994 first generation (XA10 series) was an ugly car if we can all be honest about it.

My mother has one, and even before she bought one when I was about 12 years old, I always saw them on the road and I thought they were shapeless and nauseatingly ugly. They looked like a science project where they asked the children to mold a rock. The shape of your rock didn’t matter as long as it looked like a rock!

This beautiful, redesigned second generation was first available for the 2000 model and it was an instant hit. This was mostly due to the fact that the RAV4 had already made its name as a robust, hardcore midsize SUV and the very best in that class. With the second generation, that hardcore machine was tweaked and fitted with a lot of luxurious options and this made it even more appealing as it covered more than just durability and dependability. It became a car for all seasons.

The RAV4 is not a performance beast. It has just about perfectly enough power. My review unit was an automatic 2.0 Liter inline four VVT-i engine producing 150 horsepower. The kind of power in a midsize SUV that isn’t built for the heavy foot driver that makes every journey a race. This is built for the civilized human that wants to drive the perfect basic car.

It is a 4-wheel drive as well, therefore you will not be getting stuck in Mbalwa when it rains just before you leave your in-laws house. They’ll respect you for that. It has the most capable 4-Wheel drive system of anything I have driven besides the 1998 Grand Jeep Cherokee.

Your in-laws will also most certainly be impressed when they get into your car and discover all the luxuries Toyota built into it. A six speaker music system, heated seats, electric sunroof, power windows and all of this is before the safety features. Which include; electronic stability control, anti-lock braking system, cruise control, airbags, and a whole bunch of other stuff that my mother’s old model does not have.

The XA20 series 2004 Toyota Rav4 – Reviews by Ian Paul

I could go on and on about what this RAV4 is packed with but it’s not why you are here. You’re here to know what it feels like to drive and it is by all standards the very best of what your basic car could have. This not meant as a demeaning description of how awesome it is. This is purely meant to sound as genuine as possible and to mean that it’s not leaned towards performance or luxury. It is perfectly balanced to be just enough.

If you’re looking for a mid-size SUV with performance, this is not the car. If you’re looking for luxury, it isn’t the one either. Your options here are spread out to Honda, Mazda, Subaru or the more recent models of the RAV4.

The 2004 Toyota RAV4 just keeps on giving. The ground clearance is more than adequate, the size of the car is dead on – it’s not small or big, it’s just adequate. It is supposed to be, and it is indefectible and it satisfactorily rises to every occasion. Leg room, boot space, head room, size of the cabin… everything is just ample unless, all your friends are “ballers” (basketball players) or sumo wrestlers.

To sum it all up, the 2004 Toyota RAV4 checks whatever box you have on that shopping list for the perfect car for our troubled city. Fuel consumption is more than average to even the rising gas prices, the air condition to counter the hell imitating heat, the ground clearance to effortlessly climb in and out of the roads in our potholes and generally, a good looking car that befits owners of all social classes.

Maintenance and repair are extremely affordable too as it is a very popular car that is richly available on our market. And it’s a Toyota, any good mechanic can correctly diagnose and cheaply fix it.

In my enthusiast and driver’s opinion, the 2004 Toyota RAV4 is the very best standard car for Kampala, and one that makes your life’s literal journey a bit more guaranteed thanks to it’s tried and tasted dependability.