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Which speed do you guys drive on the highway? While driving my Raum, it shakes when I go past 100 speed. The highest speed I have ever reached is 110 and I be scared like it’s a crime😩 I see Subaru and Premio guys over taking buses😭😭

Uganda’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation has announced plans to seek restriction of spare parts importation to allow the country’s indigenous car making company, Kiira Motors expand its local market share. Good or bad idea?

I have a deep obsession with old SUVs 😭 Just look at the quality of these cars 🙌🏾 The prices are a bit ridiculous but they look like they’re in immaculate condition.

I would like to thank the Japanese for making the Toyota Mark X… what a machine!!

I would like to thank the Japanese for making the Toyota Mark X… what a machine!!

If your mechanic still tells you to service every 5,000 km, he is not protecting your engine. He is protecting his rent. The 5,000 km rule was written for the mineral oil your father used in 1995. Modern fully synthetic oil is engineered to run cleanly between 7,500 and 10,000 km in Kampala conditions. Toyota officially clears most modern engines for up to 16,000 km on factory-fill 0W-20. Your mechanic knows this. He just needs you to come back more often. Here is what your car actually wants from you. Engine oil on full synthetic, 7,500 to 10,000 km. Sooner if you sit in Kampala traffic five days a week. Stop-go traffic punishes oil faster than long highway kilometres do. Air filter every 15,000 km in clean climates. In Kampala dust, inspect at 10,000 km and replace whenever it looks grey. A choked filter quietly kills fuel economy long before it kills the engine. Brake fluid every 2 years regardless of mileage. It absorbs water from the air over time. Old brake fluid is the reason your pedal feels soft on the Entebbe expressway when you really need it not to. Transmission fluid on automatics, 60,000 to 80,000 km. This is the one nobody does. Mechanics rarely recommend it because it pays them less than eight smaller services would. Then your gearbox starts slipping at 150,000 km and you are quoted 8 to 10 million for a rebuild on a Harrier or Noah. The about 300K transmission service you skipped becomes the 10 million repair you had to find. Service smart. Not scared. Your mechanic is a professional. He is also running a business. Both things are true...

Mujuzi calling this textbook is actually the most honest description of why most mechanics in Uganda are making car owners with newer models hate their beloved vehicles because they simply refuse to do research... Here is what textbook actually means in this context. It means the information was researched, tested, peer reviewed and documented by engineers who built the specific car in question. The mechanics who dismiss this as textbook learned their trade on old outdated carburettored engines, mineral oil and distributor ignition systems. That knowledge was genuinely valuable for the cars it was built around. The problem is that those cars are increasingly not the ones sitting in their bays. Modern direct injection engines, CVT gearboxes and GDI fuel systems operate on completely different tolerances and fluid specifications. The mechanic who learned by cramming and never updated is not dangerous because he is dishonest. He is dangerous because he is confident. He has done this for twenty years. He has never read a service bulletin. He does not know that the transmission fluid specification for a 2018 Noah CVT is completely different from the ATF he has been using since 2008. He finds out when the gearbox fails and the owner is quoted 10 million or more for a rebuild. Calling us textbook while defending mechanics who stopped learning when the internet existed and chose not to use it is not a flex. It is a description of the problem. The cars in Uganda are getting newer. The knowledge servicing them needs to get newer too. That is not textbook. That is just basic respect for the machines people have spent their savings on...

The Vanguard first. Nobody recommended it because it is a Toyota RAV4. Literally. Toyota sold the exact same car under the Vanguard name for the Japanese domestic market between 2005 and 2013. Same chassis, same 2AZ or 2GR engine options, same reliability, same parts availability. If someone told you to buy a RAV4 or a Harrier, they were already in Vanguard territory without saying the name. The recommendation was there, just wearing a different badge. The Forester is a more honest omission and here is why. The Subaru Forester is a genuinely excellent car for Uganda. AWD that actually works the way AWD should. A boxer engine that sits low in the chassis for better weight distribution. Good ground clearance. Spacious interior. Practical. The car is well suited to these roads in ways most sedans are not. But Subaru ownership in Uganda comes with a specific tax that most buyers discover too late. The boxer engine, which is what makes the car special, is also what makes it expensive when something goes wrong. Head gaskets on older Subarus are a known issue. The engine layout means labour is more intensive than a conventional engine. And most general mechanics in this country will attempt a Subaru repair with confidence and deliver results that require a second opinion. There are good Subaru specialists in Kampala. A handful of them really understand the platform. But finding one before you buy the car is homework most people skip. So the real answer to your question is this. The Vanguard was being recommended all along, just called a RAV4. The Forester is a great car that nobody recommended because they didn’t want to explain the asterisk that comes with it. If you want the Forester, want it with open eyes. Find the right mechanic first. Then buy the car knowing what you’re signing up for. It rewards careful owners and punishes careless ones…

Head of department 🤣