some sweared that it is absolutely safe as long as you do some
basic precautions and practice common sense. one such person is the
editor of wheels magazine (that $2 big thin mag you find
everywhere), he wrote an article about this recently.
others sweared that it is an absolute no no to go up north.
my thinking:
(-ve)
a. the march costs something like a whopping RM$140K there, its an
expensive car by their standard
b. the march is very flashy, cant avoid not noticing it
c. if you are not familiar with the roads and traffic, like
customs, may be quite challenging, unless you like challenges
d. the car thieves there are omnipotent, they can steal any car
with any security, as long as you are targeted. the methods can
include hacking your security systems, hack your locks or even
towing or lifting your car entirely. car can be gone in 60
seconds.
(+ve)
a. there may be no market yet for car thieves on this model, the
popular ones i read are harrier, lexus, some mpv models and the
more ex ones (some cheap ones they also want though)
b. the march is too flashy to be stolen and move on the road
c. the elegance model has slightly more advanced security due to
the RFID/proximity stuff, letz hope the thieves dunno how to crack
yet. they used to be able to scan and duplicate the laser or radio
frequency of ordinary remote controls nearby when the owner presses
his beep-beep.
if you have to drive up, can do some basic precautions like:
a. get steering lock
b. park IN someones house you know
c. park head in with wheels completely steered to one side and lock
the steering wheel (to avoid towing)
d. if go short break like dinner, esp night, make sure you have
line of sight of your vehicle
e. when driving, dun go too fast (driving is standard
practice)
etc etc
can find more if you search up www.mycarforum.com.
i have been up north very frequently and so far nuttin happened
(touch wood). only stares (i hope its admiring stares and not those
from the thieves)
