GEELYS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY – AND FATHER-IN-LAW
A year ago Pretoria pensioner Hendrik Breytenbach bought yet another new car. In his 74 years, the brand new Geely LC 1.3 was the retired Krygkor official’s first set of Chinese wheels. Little did he know what an impact his retirement purchase would have…
Living in eMalahleni on the western edge of Mpumalanga, he and his in-laws, the Steenkamps, are now the proud owners of no less than four Geely MKs – all different derivatives of the popular car that helped Geely make its mark in South Africa.
“Mr Breytenbach and the Steenkamp family are living proof of what Geely stands for in this country – good quality cars at an affordable price,” says Henri Meistre, managing Director of Geely SA, in reply to the news.
“Skoonpa” bought his LC 1.3 in March last year, but it was not the first Geely in the extended family. “My son-in-law bought one back in 2008, so the Chinese brand wasn’t completely foreign to us,” said Breytenbach.
On retiring last year, Abrie Steenkamp followed his father-in-law’s example and upgraded to the MK 1.5 GT for his wife, Maria. The new car had a sunroof and a host of the comfort features these cars have become popular for. “My wife works in Middelburg, but she is part of a car pool. Every fourth week the Geely is commandeered to take four adults to Middelburg and back to Witbank.”
The performance, package and especially the value for money the Steenkamps enjoyed from their new Geely, quickly rubbed off on their children, both studying locally as teachers. In October last year 23-year old Henk received a Geely MK 1.5 GS, and his sister, Marica, the GL version of the same model. “Although they were demo models, I had no doubt about their reliability,” said Steenkamp sr. The cars had 35 000 and 45 000 km between them on the clock, and were spotless.
“I decided on these two cars as I had first-hand experience of their reliability and economy. My son and daughter loved the modern looks and were both very impressed with all the standard spec – airconditioning, airbags, etc – as well as all the space. They really are big – the cars, I mean…” said Steenkamp, adding that they haven’t added a single extra as the cars “have it all”.
“We are very proud of our Geelys, and don’t regret them for a moment. We frequently receive compliments about them, especially their looks. People call them ‘cute’,” said Steenkamp.
Between “Skoonpa” and Abrie Steenkamp on the one hand, and his son and daughter on the other, none of them have any issues with their cars. “Park assist would have been nice…” was their only comment, adding that he misses an on-board clock.
