We have started shopping for a car. The used car market in HK is impressive. It’s driven (no pun intended) by the number of expats leaving and the local HK people not wanting to drive a car that has been superseded by another model. This means there’s a lot of nice, new-ish cars at prices that are generally half of what we would expect to spend in Australia for the same thing.

As well as liking cars off the showroom floor, HK locals prefer what is best described as ‘luxury vehicles’. An average car park would shelter Bentleys, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, Audis, Saabs, Mercedes and BMWs with the last two being the more common. They are the HK equivalent of Fords and Holdens (though I’m not sure which would be which). The only everyday type car I have ever seen is a Toyota – that’s what all the taxis are.

Showrooms are only for new cars. They are generally located at the bottom of office buildings and are minimalist in design.

As space is at such a premium, used car yards are not out in the open and are difficult to find. We have been to Automall, a car park that doubles as a used car yard. Each section is run by a different company and is full of salesmen that are as flashy as their cars. We’ve been picked up at the Ferry Pier by another car salesman and taken for a test drive. We’ve also been to a smaller car yard where they had two vehicles on display with the rest stored somewhere cheaper.

Mr Shallot has done an extensive amount of research on the internet to find which car would be best for us. We’ve decided this is one time in our lives where we can be a bit frivolous and not so practical with our car choice (normally everything is pretty planned out so the irony of planning to be frivolous is not lost on us!). Over our time together, we’ve had a sedan, station-wagon and a hatchback. It’s time for something different; it’s time for something sporty. It’s time for a convertible.

We’ve settled on a BMW. For some reason they are cheaper than a Mercedes so this is why I’m not sure which would be the Holden or the Ford equivalent as these two are more on par. We’ve been in a few now and are just narrowing it down to which model and the best deal. Then there’s the final decision.

Which colour?

* Thanks to The Sherman Brothers for the title to this post.