Men approach relationships the way they do cars

Cars fascinate us. A lot! Most young people, especially men would excitedly agree when a bank approaches them for a car loan. In most cases, they are aware that the liability would shackle them to frustration but the allure of comfort and the respect a car earns a man lures them to take the risk nevertheless.

We have seen cars being repossessed in the most controversial circumstances that hurt a man most. For example, when the tracking company selects a weekend when big boys are rolling hard in Naivasha pleasing women to disable and tow away one's vehicle. It is humiliating for a man when he has to loan his girl to another Subaru owner to drop her to Nairobi. His confidence is not only dented, the chances that he has lost her lass are high up there. Just like that!

I would sound wise to reiterate the lesson that every basic economist has shared before - that investment in a car is largely a liability whose necessity must be vetted properly beyond the superficial excitement it elicits. Men, especially, must listen to this for the umpteenth time, especially with an inner eye that sees beyond the physical V8 or Porsche Cayenne they admire in the showrooms. There are cars and cars can also be likened to the other gender. The gender that men claim has caused them piles of agony through ages yet they do not learn a thing one generation after another.

Let's talk about the choice of cars for example. Once a man has made up his mind to acquire a machine, his next big challenge is variety. The market is laden with options ranging from Japanese second-hand SUVs to locally assembled vehicles that are deemed to be unblemished, more like virgins.

Japan on the other hand is not only reputable for manufacturing reliable vehicles for the African mass market but also exporting used cars in their near-perfect conditions that Africa treats as new. Those in the know however are able to tell that there is a big difference between a new car purchased from Asia and a new car locally assembled at a plant in Mombasa Road. In fact, even their number plates are designed differently by KRA to emphasise the fact that the two are not the same. Some people know this, but many do not!

Men on the other hand intentionally play dumb by deciding that everything branded as new is new in a real sense for as long as they are driving it for the first time. Previous users are not taken into account for as long as the engine starts and the dashboard has no obvious dent. There is also the third option of buying cars used in Kenya by Kenyans on the Kenyan roads. Some of these cars are on their fourth Kenyan users. Their exteriors have been kept spotlessly clean to show no obvious dents.

Facts are stubborn though, they don't go away easily. Facts are ostensibly more nagging than a woman looking for a reason to leave a man. You see, once you buy a used car with many previous owners who misused it, you have to acknowledge that you will not be the only driver. The car will often be driven by mechanics to try and seal the leakages from some of the most intimate corners of the engine that the naked eye cannot see. They know where to touch it because they have been fixing it long before the current buyer acquired it.