Kia Motors, Cagayan de Oro
After my hit-and-run accident with a Kia 2700 that was driven by an unlicensed security guard working for Kia motors, and my agreement with Kia Motors of Cagayan de Oro City that they would fix the damage to my vehicle at no charge to me, and waiting for the August holidays to pass, inclucing the annual Saint Augustine’s Fiesta, which culminates on September 28th, I dropped my Isuzu Vehicross off at Kia Motors and was lent a Picanto to drive for the duration of the repairs.
Because of the nature of the repairs to my Vehicross, patching and painting the plastic cladding that goes all the way around the vehicle, and the fact that this is the rainy season, I ended up keeping the Picanto for ten days. I put 1400 kilometers on this Picanto during this time, and it saved me money as it only eats about 1/3 the fuel of my Isuzu Vehicross.
Saturnino Bual, Kia Motors of Cagayan de Oro General Manager standing next to my “like new” Isuzu Vehicross.
This particlar Picanto had manual roll-down windows and manual door locks, and was equiped with a 1.0 liter, 4-cylinder, 12-valve engine, which produces about 80 bhp at 5600 RPM. Redline is at 5700 RPM, and the vehicle is equiped with a rev-limiter at redline, so if you hit redline, you lose power, the engine will just cut out on you, telling you to reach for the next gear.
I turned over my Vehicross on Monday, September 3rd, 2007 and took possession of the Picanto. That coming weekend I had a Level III ISPA PPSA firing match to attend in Iligan City, This handgun firing competition had 18 stations or courses of fire. Champion shooter, Gaw Ansell Ladra and I went there on Thursday, September 6 and were able to complete 5 courses of fire. Ansell’s rear sites were off and the next morning we paused at the Camp Aligar Firing range to zero in his sites before returning to Iligan. We completed 12 courses of fire on Friday, and were about to start our final course about 5:30 PM when the range was closed. We were the next two shooters, quiting time is quiting time. Thus we had to return to Iligan the next day to complete the final course. Neither Ansell or myself trophied at this Level III national qualifier competition.
I drove to Iligan the first two days, and Ansell drove home both days. On the final day, I let Ansell drive both ways. For a Filipino, Ansell is not only the best shooter I have met but the best driver also. He saw how I ran that Picanto ragged, and followed my que and we made excellent time on each trip. Ansell did not know about the rev-limiter until I told him how it worked and that made for a few awkward spots on the trip, but otherwise the Picanto performed admirably. We rarely used 5th gear at all.
The next day, Sunday, September 9, 2007, Marissa and I, along with Gen Saar, took off for Davao to attend the wedding of Jeedo and Ann, two of my top employees. The trip, from my house in Cagayan de Oro City, to the hotel in Davao took 4 hours and 20 minutes. We averaged 71 kph, and drove non-stop. Hardly anyone could believe we made it in just 4:20 hours. Taking a bus, the trip normally takes about 8 hours. No one passed us on the way to Davao.
On the trip back from Davao, Gus rode with us and we took a liesurely pace, stopping to take pictures on the way. You can see the photos of the trip and Jeedo’s and Ann’s wedding here.
The Picanto was given to me with a quarter tank of gas, which I pointed out to the people at Kia Motors and promised I would return the vehicle with a full tank, which I did.
I filled the Picanto’s tank on the first day, and reset the trip meter to zero. I only did city driving for the next three days and filled up the tank before Ansell and I went to Iligan for the first firing. City driving with the air-conditioning cranked up, I used 23.362 liters for 245.0 kilometers, which equates to 10.5 km/liter, which is 39.75 miles per gallon. My 2nd fill up was 216.9 km later and required 16.51 liters, which is 13.14 km/liter, or 49.73 miles per gallon. This was running the Picanto redline to Iligan and back. The next fill up was 245.5 km later, and used 22.007 liters. That’s 11.16 km/liter or 42.22 miles per gallon.
The 4:20 hour trip to Davao, between feulings was 311.9 km and used 11.68 liters per kilometer, or 44.22 miles per gallon. The return trip from Davao, which was much slower paced, but which packed Gus’s 70 extra kilos into the vehicle, was 308.6 km and used 21.34 liters, which comes to 14.46 km/liter or 54.74 miles per gallon. Total driving time for the return trip was 6:55 hours. We stopped at Mindy’s in Malaybalay for lunch.
One thing I noted about the Picanto compared to the Vehicross is on Velez Street, one of the main streets in Cagayan de Oro City, which is pot-hole patched from end to end. In my Vehicross, with it’s stiff off-road suspension, I drive Velez Street at about 20 kph, but in the Picanto can do it at 60 kph, without rattling my bones.
In the end, I want to thank Kia Motors of Cagayan de Oro, especially Saturnino Bual, for making the repairs of my Isuzu Vehicross as painless to me as possible. Also note they repaired my leaking power steering problem, which turned out to be a hose with a hole in it, for 1500 pesos. My Vehicross now looks brand new even though it is 10 years old. These guys are honest, forthright, and they deliver on their promises. I will likely buy a Kia 2700 4WD Double Cabin truck from them in the not too distant future.