Nissan Serena C23

There is some kind of bond between this Nissan with our family, and I only noticed it recently. After having our country so-called Japanese-modified-Malaysia version Proton Saga for 7 years, our family(well, actually my father) traded his Saga for a much bulkier, voluminous and versatile Nissan Serena C23.

Frankly I would say it is the slowest vehicle among the others vehicle on the road. Think of it, a Nissan that weighs nearly 2 tonne pulled by a 1.6 litre powerplant, it is definitely one of the anonymous car that Nissan had ever produced. That leads to another question; Why would your father buy such car? Simple, you see, Malaysia also involved in automotive industry and everyone knows Japanese-made stuff is cheaper and back to the 1990s(even now), Malaysian would label Japanese stuff as "cheap, nice, good quality". So in order for the local automotive to stay afloat, our Government had to raise taxes.

At that time only got 2 brands offer such large car but at price range of RM70k-RM80k which is the prominent Toyota and Nissan. Considered Serena is greater(my father's idea), he decided to go with it and at the time he got his new big toy, I was only 7 years old.

It has since become part of the family, we share our joys and grievances inside this car all the while, whether we going for picnic, shopping...whatever, the Nissan stores these precious memory and moment, silently. As I grow up when I read about all the car magazines, I got to admit, this Nissan don't have the luxury as a Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe, doesn't have the sporty look as a Mercedes SLK, and most importantly doesn't have the mind-blowing performance as a Ferrari F430 Scuderia. After all its just a Nissan.

Who cares about all those fantasies around? Every car has its own niche, you can't really expect it to be really outstanding as others MPVs.

Car journalists always say drive a car that will listen to your command, acts according to your intuition, in fact I do found it. This Nissan Serena is brilliant, it feels your presence as you move it. I just found out when I learning to drive with this car, it has soul.

The more you play around with it, the nicier it gets and I like it. Seriously when you really love your car, its no longer a machine that take you from point A to point B, its your silent partner.....