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Tafadzwa Zimoyo Senior Lifestyle Writer

Driving a car brings freedom and travel convenience be it over a long and daunting journey or short, but most importantly social or business errand.

Being more affluent affords one status in society, while facilitating personal control and autonomy.

This explains why Zimbabwe’s most talked about socialites, celebrities, prophets and musicians, among others, have taken turns to exhibit their hottest collection of wheels.

Controversial man of the cloth Passion “Twabam” Java and businessman Genius ‘Ginimbi” Kadungure have taken turns to flaunt their classy cars.

The duo has sparked debate on social media as to who between drives the best cars and has amassed more wealth and their fans argue over the issue.

The long and short of Ginimbi and Twabam’s “competition” simply points out to the fact that cars have become symbols of success in society.

The young and old alike have a penchant for buying a good ride the moment they pocket a significant amount of money.

Another businessman and Nash Paints group chairman Tinashe Mutarisi has caused a stir whenever he drives around town with his Tesla, while other business moguls like Frank Buyanga have raised eyebrows with their latest ranges.

Most of the top range rides we have seen rolling in town cost hundreds of thousands of United States dollars and this is where a social gap exists between the haves and the have “nots”.

The majority have been seen driving in some ramshackle cars that bring them more problems than convenience.

To borrow street parlance — they spend more time underneath the cars than inside them.

However, car dealers have come to the rescue of the ordinary man through availing quality yet affordable vehicles.

There are a lot of car rentals and car dealers in the country, who have made a name by making people’s dreams come true.

They include Impala Car Rental, Sam Limousine Car Rentals, Ximex Car Rental, BigBossman Moves car rental and Cost Cutter.

This is in spite of the fact that most car dealers have been accused of treating their clients roughshod.

Exevia “Wezhaz” Maoneke, the chief executive officer for Wezhaz Executive Cars, a top car dealership situated in Harare’s Milton Park suburb, said cars were a lifestyle and it is important for one to drive a ride of their choice and status, if the funds allow.

“Cars are the toast of life and it is no coincidence that whenever we talk of success we always want to enquire on the type of car the person involved is driving,” he said.

“Even lovers always spoil each other with special rides as a toast to their love for each other.

“While it is not everyone who has got a liking for expensive rides, we all love to flaunt our wealth and for the reserved, cars do the trick while the more outgoing have been seen dolling cash in bars around town and on social media.”

The Wezhaz Cars Boss, who has been in the car industry for close to two decades, said it was with the social gap in mind that his car dealership has embarked on cars for all business arrangements through importing quality, yet affordable vehicles.

“At some point we were only specialising in top of the range vehicles that were fit for the well-heeled, but we have deliberately started importing the affordable ones as well,” he said.

“We now have a wide variety of vehicles, some quality, yet efficient sedan and hatch back fuel savers like the Honda Fit, Toyota Allion, Toyota Runx and Mercedes Benz, as well as the mid sport utility vehicles (SUVs) like the Nissan X- Trail, Rav 4 and Honda and trucks like Isuzu and Toyota double cabs, Mercedes X-Series.

“Other ranges include Lexus, Land Rover Discovery, Range Rover as well as the Toyota Land Cruiser and Toyota Fortuner.”

Moaneke revealed that their 2020 “Tyaira Yako, Drive your Own, Tshayela eyakho” promotion was a welcome initiative that will go a long way in bridging the social gap.

“We have everything for everyone and it is our hope that our 2020 promotion will see the majority of our clients driving vehicles that are in sync with their pockets, yet serving the purpose,” he said.

“It is one thing driving a car and another driving a car that can safely take you from point A to B.

“At Wezhaz Executive Cars we specialise in bringing premium driving experience and convenience to our clients.”

The Wezhaz Executive Cars boss, who has experienced the pitfalls as well as the highs and lows of car dealership, advised car buyers to be on the look-out for some crooks who can sell a stolen car or one that has not paid import duty.

“Not everything cheap is cheap,” he said.

“Car buyers must avoid cutting corners. If you can’t import a car of your own, make sure that you buy from trusted car dealerships so that you avoid losing money.

“We have some unfortunate experiences where we would buy cars from ‘trusted’ connections only to realise that they were not appropriately cleared with authorities after having made a sell.”

Maoneke revealed that they give their all and make the necessary checks with Zimbabwe Republic Police and ZIMRA before they acquire any vehicle locally, though the majority of their cars are direct imports.

“There is nothing as disheartening as losing your hard earned money in your quest to acquire a car for your convenience, autonomy or status and we advise all would-be car buyers to make the necessary checks,” he said.

“In the very few occasions that we buy local cars or do a swap and top, we always make sure that we check with the relevant authorities so that we avoid inconveniencing our clientele.”

With the unpredictable rainfall patterns continuing to take the public by surprise, while travel costs continue to gallop beyond the reach of many, cars do the magic and one joke says it is important that husbands buy their wives cars to avoid the “inconvenience” of having your wife flagging the “wrong guy” for a lift.