Merv Chats: KGM SsangYong

"It just warms up your hands, just warms up the cockles of your heart."

Why do you drive a SsangYong?

I drive a SsangYong because I do a lot of driving, and particularly with the show, the Fishing Show, we're towing caravans, we're towing boats, we're driving long distances and I just wanna be comfortable and I wanna have peace of mind knowing that I'm gonna get there.

What's the best feature of your Rexton?

The best feature of my SsangYong Rexton, is the heated steering wheel. How good's that in the middle of winter, you get in, your hands are a little bit cold. I'm getting a little bit old, I'm a little bit soft now. And you turn the heat and it just warms up your hands, just warms up the cockles of your heart.

How many km's have you driven in your SsangYong?

The simple answer to that is not enough. Just get in, they're very comfortable. Just drive all over the place. So, drive up to Wagga, onto Mudgee, up to Glenbourne is the biggest trip that, that we do. But, picked up a SsangYong hadn't had it that long and drove up to Wollemi from Melbourne, which is about a five hour drive towing a boat, and you just get in them and you just wanna stay in them. You can nearly live in one.

What do you tow?

I tow caravans. So for the fishing show, we go all over Victoria into New South Wales, over to the South Australia border. So we can be towing anything up to two and a half, three tonnes. So to have the knowledge that it's got three and a half tonnes towing capacity, that's fantastic. Tow my boat around, which is a 5.3 metre Quintrex Renegade, and just tows it easy. So it doesn't matter where you go, whether you go up, you can beam over the hill there. Driving up the Hume Highway over the Dividing Range, it's just easy.

How does it handle?

Well, either the Rexton or the Musso, I haven't had a problem. So you jump in and to be honest, it doesn't matter what you're towing, you forget you're towing just does it that easy. So if you're going over a mountain range, if you're coming down the other side, you just don't notice that you have the trailer. And some of the things we tow, some of the caravans we tow are up there, so they'd be two and a half, three tonne. You can hardly recognise it on the back. It's just such a comfortable car to drive.

How much can you fit in the back?

Mate, seriously, get a couple of cats, not just one cat, a couple – but RSPCA – we can't do that. Mate you can fit loads in there and to be honest, I had the choice between the Musso and the Rexton and because we go away fishing a lot, we've gotta store stuff in the back. I just chose the Rexton and the storing capacity it has is fantastic. So just throw everything in there, easy.

Have you taken your Rexton off road?

Yeah see I'm a bit of a city yuppie. Off road once I've parked it up on the nature strip out the front of my house.

Do you have a name for your Rexton?

I call my Rexton 'Mr. Reliable'. He's just good. I just love him.

What is SsangYong like to deal with?

All the dealings I've had with SsangYong have been fantastic. So when I first got introduced to SsangYong, didn't know too much about it, learned a bit about the background, and funnily enough, as I was introduced to SsangYong, a mate of mine was looking at cars and just doing the online check of all the cars. He come back and said, SsangYong they're a good car. Get into those, they're fantastic.

What accessories do you have?

Genuine accessories I have on the Rexton? Mate, I've got the tow bar and I've got the electronic brake system. That's all you need. That's all you need. Bang! Tow a caravan, tow a boat, off you go. But not at the same time.

What would you drive if it wasn't a SsangYong?

I wouldn't drive. I would just walk everywhere. It would be pointless jumping into another car. SsangYong my friend. Drive long.

Guys, thanks for chatting all things SsangYong. And remember, get out there and drive long knackers.

Thanks for the chat Merv!