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Hello everyone! I've been stalking this forum for years, and now at 19 years old, I finally have a chance to make a post on here myself.
This is my 2012 Chinese built Daihatsu Charade G102 Hatch. 90,000kms, 1 original owner, bought for 3100rmb (that's about £350, or $480). The original Charade was designed and sold in the early nineties. It's very famous in China, as it was one of the first cheapo cars to be built and sold here, under the name Xiali 夏利. It was super common as taxis in the nineties and 2000s.
A few days ago, I bought this one for 3100 Chinese Yuan taxed, inspected and insured, which is about 350 Pounds/480 US Dollars at the current conversion rate. It's my first car, and I have quite a few mods in store for it.
I've been looking for a car for ages now, having sold my camera to free up some funds. At first, I looked at a 2002 Chinese made Jetta Mk2 (with the Passat B4-ish front end and Corrado Dash). It was for sale for 4000 Yuan, but just needed too much work.
After, I looked at a 2012 Chana Star, a license built Suzuki Carry from the 90s. These were also sold under the name Tiger in the US, in small numbers. This particular one looked clean in the pictures, but needed a bit of body work. Still, it was mechanically sound and I paid a deposit. Long story short, the seller was shady af, and the car wasn't able to be transferred to my name. I got my deposit back though.
I was just about to give up searching for a car when a guy from Shandong Province hit me up on Xianyu, a Chinese equivalent to Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace (I spend at least half an hour each day on it, looking at cars and parts). I had put out a wanted ad on the app, for this model of Charade. He lived locally, and wanted to sell the car. These Charades are super rare where I live, in Nanchang. So, after only seeing one crappy picture, I went to take a look at it the next day.
 The car needed a bit of a wash, but mechanically was on point. There was a little bit of fender damage, but apart from that, it was solid. I was so glad to finally find a good car to buy that I just paid the seller's asking price of 3100 rmb. He was a really nice guy, and helped me get comprehensive insurance put on it. He even asked one of his friends to drive me back, as he saw that I was a new driver. Just a random tidbit, but that friend of his used to drive tanks in the Chinese army, and that was immediately obvious from the way he drove, haha! Let's just say he's not a slow driver. And that was that. I was now the proud owner of a Xiali 7101AF4S.   |
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Welcome.
Pics are not loading for me, will check in again in a bit.
Tell us more about your life there, who you are and what you do.
Of course there could be some interesting cars over there too that you could share with us greedy guys on here.
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Jan 31, 2021 10:09:54 GMT
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qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,419
Club RR Member Number: 52
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Jan 31, 2021 10:28:09 GMT
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Cool little car, very interesting to have an insight into the Chinese car scene as well.
Tom
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Jan 31, 2021 10:44:33 GMT
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The day after I bought the car, I took a small road trip with a few friends out to the mountains around the city. With the AC on, lugging three fully grown adults along, the little Charade did great going up and down the mountain roads. It's a light chassis, too. And it has independent suspension all round! So, even with the puny na 1.0 three pot engine, it didn't feel slow at all. It's very fun to drive. We did about 150kms, and it averaged out at around 50mpg equivalent. I was chuffed to bits. 
Because I sold my camera to buy the car, my friend Michael took some great pictures with his Sony.
  IMG_0710
Unfortunately, at the end of the day, I noticed a ticking sound from the engine, and a small whine coming from the front passenger side wheel. So, I took it to the mechanics.
The small ticking noise was determined to be valves that are out of adjustment, and the whine was from super worn brake pads! And to think yesterday we were on mountain roads with this thing... Thankfully, both are simple and cheap to sort out.
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Jan 31, 2021 11:04:20 GMT
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Pics up yes.
Thanks
Well, I do hope you become a regular as it would be great having a better understanding and insight into your world.
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Jan 31, 2021 11:05:36 GMT
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Jan 31, 2021 11:06:33 GMT
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Cool little car, very interesting to have an insight into the Chinese car scene as well. Tom Thanks very much, Tom.  |
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Jan 31, 2021 11:07:43 GMT
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Pics up yes. Thanks Well, I do hope you become a regular as it would be great having a better understanding and insight into your world. I think I will, since I spend so much time here already, hahaha! |
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Del
South East
Posts: 1,450
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Jan 31, 2021 11:10:34 GMT
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This is going to be a very interesting peek into the scene in China.
How do the authorities view modifications? Are there strict rules, or do they turn a blind eye?
EDIT - just saw your point about paying the fines! No blind eyes then...
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Last Edit: Jan 31, 2021 11:12:08 GMT by Del
'I come not from Heaven, but from Essex'.
The Retro Rider formerly known as Silvermac.
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brachunky
Scotland
Posts: 1,339 
Club RR Member Number: 72
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Jan 31, 2021 11:12:39 GMT
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Welcome along young man and to the world of people with cool rides and empty pockets . I do have a question for you regarding the chinese car buying public. In most western countries, the idea of a well known brand being blatantly copied is not something really acceptable. What percentage of chinese knock offs of popular cars are proper licenced productions versus non official copies and secondly, what are chinese car enthusiasts views on these copies? |
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Jan 31, 2021 11:21:45 GMT
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This is going to be a very interesting peek into the scene in China. How do the authorities view modifications? Are there strict rules, or do they turn a blind eye? EDIT - just saw your point about paying the fines! No blind eyes then... It really depends on where you are in China. In the mega cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, the cops mostly leave the modified cars alone, because there are too many cars (that's unless you're reported by someone or street race). The yearly inspections are very strict, but you could always pay some dough to get it passed (and the inspections are every six months if the car is over 15 years old). If you have enough money, you could also get certain modifications certified. I know a local Rocket Bunny widebody Toyota GT86 that is "legal". If the cops catch you, they could fine you 1000 Yuan, or make you return the car back to stock. To me, the main limit of owning a car in China are the emissions restrictions. There are basically no road legal cars from the 80s here. In bigger cities like Beijing and Shanghai, they only allow cars registered later than 2008 on the roads. That makes being a classic car enthusiast rather difficult. |
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Jan 31, 2021 11:38:51 GMT
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Welcome along young man and to the world of people with cool rides and empty pockets . I do have a question for you regarding the chinese car buying public. In most western countries, the idea of a well known brand being blatantly copied is not something really acceptable. What percentage of chinese knock offs of popular cars are proper licenced productions versus non official copies and secondly, what are chinese car enthusiasts views on these copies? Thank you for the welcome! Honestly, when it comes to most people around me, they look down on the knock off stuff. And really, the knock-off cars only represent a small portion of the Chinese car industry. If you look at the stuff Geely, Lynk&Co, and even Great Wall is doing, those cars have pretty great original designs nowadays (although I still wouldn't necessarily buy one). The Chinese car companies have entered the stage where they've made enough money and gained enough good reputation, to start making original and good quality cars. This is something that the Japanese and Korean car makers experienced too. The industry has moved on a lot since that Top Gear episode. Of course, some people still buy the knock-off cars. There are 1.4 billion people in China. In any society, there are inevitably a portion of people with objectively bad taste (of course how big the portion is differs, hahahaha). And so, there is a market for the knock off stuff. In fact, the city I live in, is where they made the knock off Range Rover Evoque, so I've seen a few rolling around. But really, most Chinese people don't like the knock offs, especially car enthusiasts. It is kind of dying off, though. Zotye, the most notorious knock off manufacturer (the one that made the fake Porsche Macan and Audi Q5), went bust last year. |
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Paul
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,001
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Jan 31, 2021 11:45:41 GMT
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Welcome to RR - awesome retro car, awesome thread and awesome to see the appeal of the Retro around the world. I spent some time in Beijing and Xian a few years ago and was amazed to see an old VW Santana being used as a taxi.  That was until I saw another one. And another. And another. And another...you get the idea. Are there still millions on the roads out there? Do you see many other 'obsolete' European cars still doing the rounds out there? |
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Jan 31, 2021 12:25:04 GMT
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Welcome to RR - awesome retro car, awesome thread and awesome to see the appeal of the Retro around the world. I spent some time in Beijing and Xian a few years ago and was amazed to see an old VW Santana being used as a taxi. That was until I saw another one. And another. And another. And another...you get the idea. Are there still millions on the roads out there? Do you see many other 'obsolete' European cars still doing the rounds out there? Haha! Yes, the Santana is still very numerous here in China. A few months ago, I was learning to drive, and the driving school had all these old Santanas! I even got to drive one, but sadly all of them were in terrible condition. 
In fact, the wagon version has become incredibly popular with enthusiasts - there are two guys down in Guangzhou who drove their Santana Wagon on air ride and BBS RSs from China through Russia and quite a few other countries to Worthesee two years ago. The owner is @xanavi22 on Instagram.
The other super popular car is the Jetta Mk2, which was also produced to 2012, but the exterior was changed a few times (I posted a few pictures of it on a previous reply).
Another European car produced here that comes to mind is the Chery Fulwin, based on the Mk1 Seat Toledo. Here's a very early one registered locally I spotted a few months ago. In remarkably tidy shape, too.
 121710674_3411538835555970_370665469989429760_n 122051475_180235437082899_7243182737565825279_n 122013637_1281943478841472_1595164004116502918_nLater, they facelifted it to look more modern. Not great imo.  550x412_A6TFPNG13H7J0008 Here's a rare car that I think you guys might appreciate - a fine piece of British design! A Chinese made Morris Ital Wagon that I spotted on Xianyu (that Chinese craigslist-like app). They only made a few thousand of these back in the late 90s, and this is a rare survivor. Interestingly, in China this thing was badged as a CMC Rover. Sadly not road legal anymore, and the seller wasn't too keen on taking a few more pictures for me to nerd out on. (and when a car is deregistered in China it can never be registered again, so it will remain off the road forever)   118206831_1254813678183342_5935693246079942814_n 118172733_221835415933709_1776911715794390331_n 118086202_184353399746405_5112799561090587496_n 117957007_740843163148800_370429311804875055_n |
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qwerty
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,419
Club RR Member Number: 52
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Jan 31, 2021 14:15:10 GMT
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This may seem everyday to you but this insight is incredibly interesting to me!
I love the Chery Fulwin as well!
I wonder if a classic or retro scene will develop in China.
Tom
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brachunky
Scotland
Posts: 1,339
Club RR Member Number: 72
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Jan 31, 2021 15:59:22 GMT
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Welcome along young man and to the world of people with cool rides and empty pockets . I do have a question for you regarding the chinese car buying public. In most western countries, the idea of a well known brand being blatantly copied is not something really acceptable. What percentage of chinese knock offs of popular cars are proper licenced productions versus non official copies and secondly, what are chinese car enthusiasts views on these copies? Thank you for the welcome! Honestly, when it comes to most people around me, they look down on the knock off stuff. And really, the knock-off cars only represent a small portion of the Chinese car industry. If you look at the stuff Geely, Lynk&Co, and even Great Wall is doing, those cars have pretty great original designs nowadays (although I still wouldn't necessarily buy one). The Chinese car companies have entered the stage where they've made enough money and gained enough good reputation, to start making original and good quality cars. This is something that the Japanese and Korean car makers experienced too. The industry has moved on a lot since that Top Gear episode. Of course, some people still buy the knock-off cars. There are 1.4 billion people in China. In any society, there are inevitably a portion of people with objectively bad taste (of course how big the portion is differs, hahahaha). And so, there is a market for the knock off stuff. In fact, the city I live in, is where they made the knock off Range Rover Evoque, so I've seen a few rolling around. But really, most Chinese people don't like the knock offs, especially car enthusiasts. It is kind of dying off, though. Zotye, the most notorious knock off manufacturer (the one that made the fake Porsche Macan and Audi Q5), went bust last year. Thats really interesting reading your insight and thanks for enriching me! It's all very fascinating hearing something besides politics and 'ol rona from China. Although I'm an old 50 something, when you get time lets see more of CCC (Chinese car culture) |
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Jan 31, 2021 18:46:20 GMT
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Welcome 😁...
Congratulations on the new car!
Really enjoyed learning a bit about the Chinese car scene... Especially the Santana wagon, as I have a Passat estate the same shape, from 1983.
Dave
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retrolegends
Club Retro Rides Member
Winging it.....Since 1971.
Posts: 3,726
Club RR Member Number: 94
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Jan 31, 2021 22:17:15 GMT
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Welcome to RR and what a fascinating first post, please keep the updates coming.
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1974 Hillman Avenger 1500DL1992 Volvo 240SE1975 Datsun Cherry 100a flying custard1965 Hillman SuperMinx Rock N Roller1974 Austin Allegrat Mk1 1.3SDL1980 Austin Allegro Mk3 1.3L1982 Austin Allegro Mk3 on banded steels2003 Saab 9-3 Convertible 220bhp TurboNutter1966 Morris Minor 1000 (Doris) 2019 Abarth 595C Turismo (not retro but awesome fun) www.facebook.com/DatsunCherry100a |
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Jan 31, 2021 22:54:16 GMT
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Really nice to read XieXie
Bring back memories from when I lived in Shanghai. Working for Volvo Cars.
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