IF you think those locally sold vanity plates are expensive, think again.

In Abu Dhabi some vanity plates fetch as high as $7 million and are treated by rich car owners as a major investment.

Just recently, a total of $56 million was collected from the auction of 300 various vanity plates. The most expensive was the one numbered 11111 that sold for $300,000. A group organizes the bidding in behalf of the government and a major part of the proceeds goes to the soaring number of traffic accidents in the region, a benevolent charitable project that the rich and famous don’t miss out on.

The most expensive vanity plate ever sold in the region was one with a No. 5 mark on it, which was won by one Abu Dhabi businessman for $6.8 million. Just like other investors who collect vanity plates that are more expensive than their cars, the businessman attached it to his new Rolls-Royce, which he bought at a price that was 10 times lower than the vanity plate.

“I have treated this buying of expensive vanity plates as a good investment through the years. Imagine, I bought a plate [which had a] No. 8 [on it] four years ago for $350,000. I sold it recently for $4 million,” said the businessman who expressed his willingness to participate in the next bidding when the No. 1 plate will be auctioned off.

When asked how much he is willing to pay for the coveted vanity plate, the businessman, without batting an eyelash, said he is prepared to offer from $15 million to $20 million. Yes, indeed!

IF the government is really keen on saving funds in order to help the people, it should first look in its own backyard.

Profligacy by people in government occurs on a daily basis and these are flagrantly done before the very eyes of ordinary motorists. Those occupying top-level positions in the government seem to be taking the lead in wasting taxpayers’ money.

And we are referring to the extravagant use of government cars by top officials who have lots of bodyguards riding in several “backup” vehicles. My wife and I, together with our youngest kid Migoy (who is a true-blue car buff), could not help but chuckle when we saw a big group of men leaving the party of my wife’s relative somewhere in Quezon City one night. Just as we had sat down at a table, the relative came and related that the man was a top Customs official who had 12 bodyguards.

By golly! Did he say a top government official with 12 bodyguards?  Yes, we saw the said official board his ultra-luxury SUV while his “wide-bodied” security people were compressed into two passenger vehicles with red plates to boot.

How can one justify the use of those three (yes, because even the ultra-luxury SUV of that official could be government-owned) vehicles at night when the government office hours are only up to 5 or 6 in the evening?

That incident was one of the thousand of others that happen every day and are being witnessed by citizens on the road. One can see government officials riding a luxury car or an SUV with a plethora of armed bodyguards onboard a convoy of vehicles speeding and even going against the flow of traffic almost every day.

Another example is those motorcycle cops who no longer do their job of maintaining the smooth flow of traffic but who have instead resorted to “escort” services. Every police district has its own set of motorcycle cops just like in other law-enforcement agencies. But almost 100 percent of them have turned into “escorts” of political figures, motorcades, parade on the streets, street events and even of funeral convoys. Yes, they get extra pay from those who organize the event.

An ordinary citizen knows fully well that these motorcycle cops are being paid by the government to maintain smooth traffic flow. When the ordinary man on the street sees them escorting a funeral convoy or any street event, you can see them very disgusted and even cursing to high heavens how their taxes are wasted by those sons-of-a-gun.

You want more of how many government officials with government-owned cars are wasting people’s money? Go and pass by those brightly lit nightclubs on Roxas Boulevard or in Quezon City at night and you could see many red-plate cars on their parking lots. There are also lots of luxury SUVs assigned to top government officials that don’t bear red plates but they can be identified by parking lot attendants because they are frequent customers. I remember a parking-lot boy I talked to when I fetched my van from a night of merriment in one nearby big club that was parked beside an elegant black Mercedes-Benz. “Kay sir po ’yan na taga-Customs. Diyan lang ho muna namin nailagay dahil wala nang paradahan. Bilin ho kasi sa amin na ilagay du’n sa hindi masyadong makikita,” said the boy with a smile.

In all those examples, how many barrels of oil do you think are wasted? And who pays for them? Who pays for the regular maintenance of those cars?

The government must see who among its people are wasting money before thinking about other ways to raise funds!

DEVELOPING a product well beyond its design and styling limits is something that many carmakers dread or feel inferior about.

THE Chinese New Year is upon us and the time has come to look inside ourselves and ask how our year will turn out. Will we make tons of money? Will our bosses finally give us that raise or promotion we have been waiting or asking for?

Impreza Impresses So Much

THE trouble mostly with new cars is, they are good.  And it’s hard spotting the difference between two competing models.

Is this one better than that?

Once a year once-over

YOUR vehicle may arguably well be the single most expensive item you’ll ever buy. Only the purchase of a home will top the number of pesos you’ll spend on an automobile.

Blade is a cutting-edge car-accessories store

WITH the addition of more than 100,000 new vehicles into the country last year and the continued operation of millions of others on the street, the rise of the after-market car-accessories industry comes as no surprise.

Eyes on the Road: Extravagant spending of people’s money

IF you think those locally sold vanity plates are expensive, think again.

In Abu Dhabi some vanity plates fetch as high as $7 million and are treated by rich car owners as a major investment.

Full Tank: Alfred’s Chinese stars

I FIRST learned about it during the groundbreaking ceremony to launch Lexus in the Philippines.  I refer to the projected construction of the tallest building in the Philippines.

Attention, Parents!

EVERY year thousands of young children all over the world are injured or killed in car accidents.  Many of those casualties can be prevented if the victims are in car seats.