This is going to sound completely obvious, but did you know that choosing a car is mostly a matter of taste?

You did? Well, why didn’t someone tell me? I’ve recently begun the search for a new car, because accompanying JT on test drives has admittedly got me a little car lusty.

Furthermore, my car’s also due for a change sometime this year or the next, because it just turned three; given that the lifespan of cars in Singapore (what with plummeting depreciation, the 10-year lifespan of car licenses, a constant influx of new car models and so on) is probably a little shorter-lived than your average Hollywood movie starlet’s career, once my car turns four next year, it’s going to cost an arm, leg and a half to change it.( As opposed to an arm and a leg, now.)

What was a ‘cute’ and barely sensible choice back then, of getting a Volkswagen New Beetle has turned out to be rather silly, because it looks like its won the race of Fastest Depreciating Blob of Metal by a mile, since.

Which leaves me with fewer choices and a fairly tucked budget with which to explore the models, but so far I’ve narrowed it down.

What was my original point? Oh, right—taste. I realise, having run my car choices through several people, that everyone has something bad to say about some car, and others are unshaking supporters of the same. Whether it be a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth, or simply a lesson in making up my own goddammed mind, I think I’ll have to make a decision for myself amidst the haze of car-related opinions.

So yes, choosing a car is mostly a matter of taste. I can’t convince people to like my choices, nor can I continue to be appalled that people should think my current car is a ridiculous one. But I am excited about the change.