Cruisin in the Kluger Grande

Start of the school holidays and the long weekend – a weekend away was definitely due!
Finishing work at 1pm on a Saturday afternoon, the girls and my partner were all ready packed and ready to go, they waited for me at Galleria Toyota parking lot 1 o’clock on the dot.

Our Destination: Port Denison/ Dongara

Departure time: 1pm
Arrival time: 4:30pm
Vehicle: Kluger Grande 2WD
Passengers: 2 adults & 2 kids

Entering in the address of Port Denison Beach Resort into the Kluger’s SATNAV, our route was set, our journey begun!

This was our first road trip with my daughter, accompanied by her best friend Amy. I was quite unsure of how the girls will handle the longggg drive , but …surprising they were rather good . (a part from the unavoidable “are we there yet ?” “how long till we get there” “are we there yet?” “are we there yet?” “are we there yet?” any parents reading this will definitely get my point) ......


DVD PLAYER, omygod !!! That’s like the best thing ever invented for a family car! The Kluger Grande came standard with a DVD player and cordless headsets for the back rows. The girls were entertained with Kungfu Panda, which kept them quiet for a good hour and a half.

The Kluger Grande comes standard with 7 seats, but we only used the middle row, and folded down the 3rd row simply because we didn’t need the extra seats, therefore we had heaps of cargo space to pile our stuff. The cargo mat came handy as we didn’t dirty the third row seats, and cleaning the car afterwards was so much easier, we just had to take the cargo mat out and banged it to get the sand and dirt off.


The drive was extremely pleasant, very smooth on the road, because we were traveling at 110kms for more than 200Kms the tripnometer gave us a good indication of the range we getting out of our fuel tank. I was impressed we were on 9.7L / 100kms, for a V6 3.5L engine, now that’s impressive. We were overtaking a lot of trucks and campervans , the Kluger has plenty of power to do so , good pick up and acceleration , I cant fault it.

Downfall: we got pulled over by the cops as we were doing 123Kms in a 110Kms zone OUCHHH …yes!!!! But we’ve only got ourselves to blame. So the rest of the journey was set on cruise control. We’ve should of used the Cruise Control from the start! ohhhh well lesson learnt for our future trips.

Klugers are very popular family car nowadays and I can understand why, its safe, comfortable, good fuel consumption and plenty of space for the whole family! Not too big for mums to drive, easy to handle, even I can drive it without any dramas, the rear camera was great when reversing, the air-conditioning vents went right through the back so there were no complaints from the kids . Just the right height, getting in and out for myself and the kids were easy. Our trip was fantastic, we had a lovely break!  We got back to Perth safe and sound on Monday afternoon ….and now the girls are constantly in my ears again ….school holidays …oh don’t you just love it ! (Grinning through gritted teeth) …

Looking forward to our next road trip, any suggestions? Where should we go next? Do you know of a place that you can recommend us for our next family road trip?

The "other" side of me

Part 1
the other side of me ...no it does not mean i have a split personality , so no need to worry. What i meant is there's another "life" or side of me that is "normal", normal as in I have my friends and family , and bills to pay, and a "social" life other than work . Some times being in the car industry you feel as though you only have 1 lifestyle - WORK! hence our slogan underneath our logo "we live here too " ... trust me you will understand what we mean if you work the hours that we do , just as an example 8am to 9pm on wednesdays. Luckily enough I work with a lovely team , everyone get along with one another , it does make our job alot easier and more pleasant coming to work everyday.  And I'm sure most of my colleagues feel the same way.
Having said that I'm lucky in the sense that I have very understanding Managers who take into account my "hectic" life with my 6 years old daughter, being in this industry you do sacrifice alot of family time , time spent with your kids, time spent with you family . Im lucky enough to start later than the trading time and also finishes earlier so I can have time for my lil bossy princess.  I'd never realised how much homework a year 1-ner gets, reading, writing, maths , every single night a good hour and a half is "study" time . and it never ends, some times I feel the teachers do it deliberately , pile them with loads of homework , in a way its good for the kids i guess ...it just as a parent it means you have to spend extra time every night to sit and go through it with them . ( which already there's bath time , dinner time , bedtime ...as you can see Im running out of "time" to fit into a evening) and then ....that's when I get to have "my time" . which by then Im exhausted so bedtime is my top priority! Im sure alot of you can relate to this.

Today was our first trip to the dentist! Alana was every excited for her first dental visit , for the past week she'd been counting down every single day , until this morning when she was told she have 4 wobbly teeth , she started to panic and started asking questions such as , what do they use to take the teeth out , will they use a needle ? How come Im not a dentist? why cant I be a dentist? How do dentists become a dentist etc .etc. and so on , again if you have kids around this age group you will know this "question and why" game quite well . But the good outcome from today's dental visit is that now my little one have now changed her career path , she have now given up on becoming an astronaut , and decided to be a dentist when she grow up. I asked her why? she said because you get to have lots of stickers ( she was given a sticker for being such a good girl at the dental clinic) . Well I wont complain since dentistry is alot closer to home than being an astronaut!

So now Alana is very excited because she was told walking out of the clinic that the tooth fairy will visit her soon , and quite regularly too , since there are 4 wobbly teeth waiting for the tooth fairy to come and collect. In my culture we never had toothfairies , I didnt even knew they existed , so thanks to the internet and phone calls to other mums , I am now a fully qualified fairytooth mother! :)

What is it like? ....to be Me!

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be a saleman Liars? Deceiving? Sharks? Untrusting! even statistics have put car salesman as third on the list for the most untrusted work status, just incase you're wondering second runner up are realestate agents and the top of the least are lawyers.
Previously i've worked for Estee Lauder, soft selling I called it. But i loved it! When I left the cosmetic counters and joined the car industry , what i wanted to take with me into this job is the "personal" touch . I remembered customers would just come in to buy a bottle of foundation, but I sat them down and did a quick makeover for them in just a couple of minutes, and their faces would lit when they see their own reflection in the mirror . those moments are worth the job!

I try to do the same in the car world, I want to help , I want the clients to be happy with what they've bought, I want them to feel "right" ! I get alot of comments from customers, "Wow i've never been served my a woman in a car yard before" .."what is it like to sell cars? " ... to me it is the same as selling any product! You are the buyer and me... well Im just assisting you with your purchase! I've seen mums, I've seen couples, young and old , I've dealt with all different sort of people ,from all different backgrounds and ethnics, some you get on like a house on fire, and some ...well ...you know just to back right off . But at the end of the day , you do your best to provide the best customer service . Service is important ,  there are thousands of hairdressers, thousands of restaurants , shops and more shops around the corner , everywhere!!, car yards and more car yards, everyone has the same product, its the service that makes the whole purchasing experience different! . That's what I want to achieve , I want to make that difference , change the perspective on salesman , we are not sharks , nor hungry lions waiting to pound on you as you walk into our yard .
It always suprise me when I greet the clients , they shook my hands yet you can tell they're unsure about it all.
Maybe they dont like car dealers but have got no choice but to step into one. or maybe, they were greeted by a female salesman which is pretty rare in this industry and so they are even more confused. As a saleman what do I do ? Smileeeeee ofcourse!!! After a few minutes most clients relax and just enjoy the experience. Its rewarding when clients turn around during the test drive or at some stages of it all and say " it's nice dealing with a female, it's not pushy" .....well ....like I said , Im here to assist you , to make your experience as enjoyable and pleasant as possible , and whether you decide to buy the car right there and then , it doesnt matter, or whether you come back the next day , or the next week , or you might found the car might not even suit you , It doesnt matter . I have clients whom sent thank you cards after they've picked up their brand new car, I have clients who hugged me and thanked me for selling them the car, I have clients whom brought in their puppy to visit me when they brought their car back for the services. I have an elderly lady whom I would catch up for coffee and she tells me about her endless trips overseas, I have a little girl that would run up to me for a cuddle everytime her mum brings her into the dealership, I appreciate those simple momments because I know they've trusted me , they've remembered me! and I do see some of them again quite soon for a matter of fact because they brought back their family and friends , they've even recommended me! I feel proud and happy of myself , because that tells me Im doing my job right,  doing what I've always believed in....Customer service ! THAT is what makes our dealership different to others ! :)

Blogging

Today is one of those days where the last place i want to be is sitting infront of my computer at work . My throat is sore ,my voice come and goes, my eyes are tired , i look like a zombie just woken up from his grave. The last thing i want to do is to talk to clients. ( hope my manager is busy and not read this :p )
Well now im glad i sat infront of my computer , because i've found many interesting blogs ( http://aussiemummybloggers.com/), and amazed at how many mums out there are also blogging , beautiful stories i've read that really touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes (http://savemumsanity.com/2010/07/16/my-boy-with-the-crooked-smile/), i love reading blogs , you can feel the warmth and imagine up a character of the writer who you've never met before. its nice , it's lovely! people put out their time to write their memories, thoughts , its precious! You also see photos of their family, loved ones, and the photos of their kids ( http://coffeekidschaos.com/2010/08/02/my-favourite-bit-of-home/), Mr2 and Mr3 and the names that they call their kids by , it is really gorgeous! like mine , i call mine lil miss bossy! ....
Its sunny outside ...beautiful weather ...today isnt so bad after all!

BLUETOOTH CONNECTION

Ok so you might be in the market to buy a new car , ANY new car , and you may hear the salesman mentions about the bluetooth , what is bluetooth ?
well in simple terms bluetooth is like a wireless connection that can be made from you phone , most phones nowaday have bluetooth . You will find it under Settings/Connections/Bluetooth. Bluetooth comes quite handy, for instance if you have a photo on your phone that I like, I can get you to send  that photo via bluetooth to my phone, that is a free service, and its instant! instead of sending it as a multimedia text message on your mobile.
Now back to the bluetooth for the car. The bluetooth connection will enable you to connect to the car audio unit for your mobile phone, so you can use the phone "handsfree" . If someone rings you it will ring through the speaker, you answer and talk as if you're having a conversation with some one in the car. Especially now it is illegal to talk on your phone while driving , this bluetooth function comes quite handy ! it will definately save you from $250 fine and 3 demerit points! Ouch! (unfortunately I learnt it the hard way) ....hence my advice to you ... CONNECT YOUR BLUETOOTH.
Below are 2 short simple video clips to show you how to do it. One was using IPhone , the other a Nokia phone. The vehicles we used were on the Camry and Corolla . Oh by the way you will get to meet Kristy in the video clips , she's a colleague of mine, we are the two females in the dealership selling cars :)

$15990 Yaris !!

Ok so everyone must be bombarded with the tele ads on the Yaris 5 door driveaway price at $15990 . My thoughts on the Yaris .... hmmmm.... i Loveeeeeeeeeeee the Yaris, i had the Yaris as a demo car few months back , and i loved it!

they call me the "worse driver" at work , 1) being a girl 2) being an asian driver 3)the guys say i cant park . And NO im not those asian drivers you see on the road wearing the gloves behind the wheel. anyhow ...i love driving the yaris , its small and neat , i can park it anywhere, front reversed, parallel, you name it! it fits into ANY parking lot!  i had the yellow colour one , YELLOW ...its a pretty colour for a girl i named the car Bumble Bee , the car definately stand out! i had no trouble finding it in the carpark.

things i love about the Yaris

1) its small hatch back , yet plenty of space

2) cheap to run $50 bucks fills up a full tank and last me for over a week

3)has 3 glove box , and bluetooth for my mobile handsfree...no more fines ( i learnt it the hard way)

4) its zippy for a 1.3L engine

5) the digital dashboard, i love it! some people dont like it , simply they havent gotten use to it, but i found it so clear and more "modernised" its a great look!

things i didnt like

1) if you have alot of passengers in the car ALL the time , then i wouldnt suggest the 1.3L hatch,  you need a bigger engine car

well nothing else really cause i really liked it!

overall its a good zippy small car to drive around, i can see it more for the girls ...but the BLACK colour would suit any gender. you just have to cleannn more.

So there you have it , if you're looking for a small cheap run around car, give the Yaris a try!

Welcome

Another day at work, sitting in front of my computer i thought .. how about i start a blog today! always loved blogs but never had the chance to really establish one. So here it is.
here's a basic intro about myself for those to come across my page. im a female working in the car industry, i've been working at Galleria Toyota for nearly 2 years, i have a little girl she's 6 years old, who i occasionally drag into work when i cant find a babysitter, for her its a day of adventures!

First of all the reason why i want to start this blog.

1) i want to put together a page of all the "how to ..." video clips and tips in  basic terms that we all can follow and do our ourselves. all ofcourse will be related to cars, and obviously the cars will beToyotas
2) a different perspective to the car world , so other females can relate to , and males to change their point of view
3)and most important of all , just for anyone who stumble across this page to find it useful

Please leave your comments and show me your perspective!