thaicruze

All New 2012 Mercedes-Benz B200 1.6 turbo engine here in Thailand, same sort of price as the BMW X1

is it a better option ?

2.5 million and ugly as hell. and I'm sure that's just the STARTING price.

ข้อมูลทางเทคนิค

มิติ (ยาว/กว้าง/สูง) 4,359/1,786/1,557 มม.

เครื่องยนต์ เบนซิน 4 สูบ 16 วาล์ว

ความจุกระบอกสูบ 1,595 ซีซี

กำลัง 115 แรงม้า ที่ 5,300 รอบ/นาทีี

แรงบิดสูงสุด 250 นิวตัน-เมตร ที่ 1,250-4,000 รอบ/นาที

เกียร์ อัตโนมัติ 7 สปีด

ราคา 2,499,000 บาท

You guys. Stop trying to pretend you're rich. Just get everyday GOOD cars that give you comfort and reliability and save your money for when you get old and you can't work. or better yet, take the wife on a nice vacation.

....may I suggest to get actually back to the OP question! My opinion on the Volvos. Before getting my Golf GTI i was also looking at the C-Class and the s60.

Test drove both. Liked the Volvo quite a bit more. Felt better to drive, seemed to have good oomph, the C-Class seemed to have a bit more lethargy or less accelerator feel. This of course is just from a 10 min test drive, so might not be the last shout on it.

Loved the seats in the Volvo and the overall feel. True is that resales will be lots less than a C-Class.

But I am answering the OPs question.

His original question wasn't about Volvos. His question was if we had suggestions. Should he get the Diesel ot Petrol X1.

My answer is, neither one. They're both overpriced, cheap plastic, crappy ride shit and that he should take the money and get the top of the line of something else. But not pretend like he is rich and get an X1.

'thaicruze' the problem is we all here choose to live in Thailand, so must accept the prices....

In UK the new Daewoo Kalos opps Chevy Sonic, cost less + is full of airbags and has ABS cost 2,500 GBP less then the like for like Ford Fiesta....

even a Toyota Yaris in the UK has more options + has a 5 speed Auto or 6 speed manual and cost less....

As for the Cruze like for like cost some 100,000+ baht less in the UK

As for the BMW X1, no myself if i wanted a BMW would go for a 2nd hand X5 for the same price.. much better and more class.. everyone is different, need said car for a different reason.

Myself the pickup is renewed every 3 years, the car well did buy a new Jazz when they arrived in Thailand, but early 2008 sold it and bought a 10 yr old Audi A6, so is now almost 15 years old.

You STILL don't get it.

Every car here is marked up. The issue is, are you getting what you pay for?

A Titanium Focus in the US fully loaded is 830,000 baht (around), here it's 1,079,000 baht. Marked up? Yes. Do you get what you pay for? YES.

X1? Cheap in the US, marked up as a premium luxury car here in Thailand. Are you getting what you pay for? NO.

A Focus Titanium will give you more luxury and technology than the X1.

Sounds like this?

When you say whirring sound is it like this?

I bet it IS the battery. Throw it away and get a good one. Honda batteries are shit.

Just to set the records straight, the X1 isn't imported from China or India. It is assembled locally in Thailand.

Yea. Which makes it even worse.

Don't take my word for it floks. Just sit and watch

I particularly like the part where he says the steering is so awful you'll end up with "forearms like popeye" and the part where he starts banging on all the hard cheap plastic.

2 million baht my ass.

The idea is you get the most quality for the least money. Here you get the least quality BMW can give you for a super inflated price. The Focus has a much better interior than this one, it throws in technology the X1 doesn't have, it stops if you get too close to the car in front of you, it parks itself and you save a million baht. Titanium Plus or Sport plus top of the line makes out at 1,079,000. It's much more car than the X1 and the people in the back will probably be more comfortable.

Seriously what is your problem? Some people like to buy nice cars and can afford to do so. Your extreme jealousy of those people really shows in this thread!

Let him be. Some people r just jealous.

Any owners of a X1 or a C200 here?

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Rics, nevertheless, his comments on the interior quality of the X1 should be heeded, I believe. I believe that when you pay top money, you are entitled to some quality in the finition of the car.

Buying a car, paying a premium because of taxes and then having something that is inferior to a Japanese car in terms of interior quality is not really gaining more face... Just a bad financial decision (esp. as Thais all know that X1 is the "'BMW of the poor"). See also reviews that seem to talk about poor comfort on bumpy roads (you will have a lot of these in Thailand!).

In terms of driving experience, better not move only according to the price, but test-drive it for a given duration, and see if it fulfills your expectations. That's the best advice anyone can give you. In some of the reviews I read, they complain about the sitting position and view on the road, the mirrors, the difficult view behind etc...

Try all this and see if it affects you, or if you feel comfortable (and take it for a long drive on bumpy country roads!).

Thank you. That's what I'm trying to say. The X1 is a $30,000 car!! Like a Toyota or Honda quality. That's the REAL price. Doesn't matter how much it is in Thailand. And the cutting corners continues under the good because it is built in Thailand.

An you're right about being the "poor man's BMW". It's a sucker mom car to drive her kids to their Bilingual school and have the other moms look at her.

I would never buy an X1 unless I was in the USA paying $30,000 bucks, which is what I paid for the Cruze.

If you can't afford a luxury car, DON'T BUY ONE. The OP Cant afford a real luxury car, he just wants to pretend he can. If you want to buy a real luxury car here you're looking at 5+ million baht price tag.

The best decision for him is to buy a nice car. If he wants big, Fortuner, Pajero, Captiva, and save the rear of your money.

Get a Fortuner.

Seriously what is your problem? Some people like to buy nice cars and can afford to do so. Your extreme jealousy of those people really shows in this thread!

It ISN'T a nice car. Not 2 million nice it isn't.

If you want a BMW, then it looks like a pretty good deal for Thailand.

Would you pay 2+ million for a Ford Focus?

Not only is it NOT worth 2 million, but if its assembled in Thailand the cutting corners to save cost continues.

If it is in Thailand, they probably put an old transmission and /or a gas guzzling shit and underpowered petrol 2 liter engine that will be drinking benzene like a raging alcoholic. And I'm sure it doesn't take Gasohol either.

It's a bad investment all the way.

This is the quality of a 2 million baht car (in reality)

not the wall of cheap beige plastics that hit you when you go inside an X1.

Think you may have become muddled ?? The CLS550 cost a little more than 2 million... well a lot more...... 15.5 million, so one would expect the interior to look better, you would be paying over 13 million more baht. !!

You still don't get it. The CLS is closer to a 2 million baht car in REALITY because the CLS is just over $70,000 in REALITY.

The CLS is the quality you would expect from a $65,000-$70,000 car.

Are you guys really not getting it? Come on.

The CLS is the 2 million baht quality. THAT'S the quality you should expect from a car that expensive (regardless of how much they charge you in thailand). Thai price aside, the CLS is a 2 million quality because that's the real price of the car, not 15 million. 15 million is the inflated Thai luxury price. 2 million is closer to the real CLS price.

X1= $30,000 not $65,000. The X1 is a 900,000 baht quality in a 2+ million baht price tag. The CLS is a 2+ million baht car with a 15 million price tag.

Please tell me you get it. I've explained it about 29 times already.

Point is, you're getting a Toyota ALTIS/Honda Civic quality with the X1, not 2+ million baht quality yet you're PAYING 2+ million for it.

Yes. I was telling her about sealed batteries for almost 6 years. She had never seen one. Every car here has these old batteries.

This is mine

This is the quality of a 2 million baht car (in reality)

not the wall of cheap beige plastics that hit you when you go inside an X1.

A Ferrari isn't a nice car off the track. or practical. It's a show off car that stays in the Garage most of the time. The OP isn't that guy.Your comparison doesn't make sense. You're comparing the quality of a Ferrari (and over paying for a Ferrari) and the quality of an X1 and paying over twice the price.As I said, the issue with the X1 is that you are getting a $30,000 car for $65,000. A car that costs $30,000 and one that costs $65,000 are in 2 different leagues.

This doesn't happen in a 65,000 car, but these are X1 pictures.

In order for BMW to keep this car at $30,000 bucks (with full options you can easily get a mid-size Ford at this price), BMW has to cut corners. You aren't getting a $65,000 car is what I'm saying. That's it. So, why would you pay luxury car price for a mid-size full spec Ford price?

Plus, the dream that the X1 comes directly from a german plant and you're getting german engineering is bullcrap. This is a Chinese built car (or indian built).

I've been inside the X1, and although it is a nice car, it is obvious that this is a $30,000 car. There are plenty of hard cheap looking plastic painted parts. It really doesn't look like a $65,000 car.

If you are rich, then i understand overpaying for a Ferrari or a 911. You're getting THAT quality of a car.

For example, same mall. Mercedes was showing the CLS. Overpriced, sure. Would I overpay for that one? Yes I would, because you are getting that quality of a car. Have you ever been inside one? now THAT's quality.

Get inside a decked out CLS. That's closer to the quality for the price they're charging you for an X1 here.

Hey _rics21. I'm sure you're trying to rationalize this. It's a nice car. I've been inside the X1. It was at Central and I went in to check it out.

I just can't believe your wife agrees with this. You must be filthy rich.

Even if I was filthy rich, my wife would slap me in the face just for mentioning it. She would rather I just buy her land. Our house here, 150 sq. wa close to Bangkok. We bought it for 3.3 million. It's now over 6 million (6 years later) and climbing because the sky train will be about 5 minutes from here.

Just think, you'll end up selling this eventually for a lot less. Your pretty X1 will end up in a junk yard in a pile of recyclable scrap.

We wanted to go bigger than a 2005 City. It was getting shaky and uncomfortable. So, we bought a Cruze. Obviously not a luxury car. 875,000. It's already about 300,000 over what I would've paid for it in the USA. 875,000 is about as much as I would pay for a car. SUV or Pickup, up to 1.2 million. MAYBE. And that's a huge stretch.

Also, the bigger the car the bigger the fuel cost

Also, the fancier the car (BMW) the fancier the repair bills.

When the pretty X1 starts with the issues and the repair bills come you'll curse the day you bought it.

The best car is the one you can pay for Cash comfortably.

If I had the cash, and I wanted Big, I'd get the Dmax Z prestige with navigation. There's no car better than cash in the bank.

I would much rather a driver. Really rich people don't drive.

Really rich people won't buy a Chevrolet.

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Really rich people wouldn't be so stupid as to spend $65,000 dollars on a $30,000 car.

And if you are truly rich, you wouldn't even think about buying a car. Only people pretending to be rich pay $65,000 for a $30,000 car just to look rich. It's ridiculous.

I've been doing some homework since finding out about the huge import tax fees as I plan to buy a car and bike when I move here next year. More decent bikes are being made here now so should have plenty of choice but not so much with the cars. Volvo's prices don't seem as inflated as much as BMW or Benz when you compare the prices here to here in Germany for example. Any reason for that?

Yes. Like the other guy said. If they don't raise the price by 500% it means its built here or in Malaysia. Like the Peugeot is built in Malaysia.

The X1 here is probably Chinese or Indian.

TC, thanks for all your advices. But I do have some spare cash and I guess its nice to make myself comfy and get myself some face.

What's wrong with spending more on a german car? Been driving the Japanese cars for years, tried the American cars.

Both types of cars can't be compared to the German design and technology.

I have got the PJS while my wife is driving the vios. I just feel that its time for an upgrade from the PJS to a benz or BMW.

I went thru the 2m price range European car. I guess there are only the X1 and the C200.

The C200 is somehow a small sedan with almost 180hp while the X1-18i is with 150hp. Both models r there for quite some time, will, there be a facelift?

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No. That's not the point. You're not spending more on a German car. The point is you're getting a $20-$30,000 quality car for $65,000. That's the point.

What are you going to do when all the interior plastic paint starts peeling off? That's not supposed to happen in a $65,000 car. You can get WAYY more than an X1 for $65,000. It's not worth the money.

Get a nice car (Toyota, Honda, Isuzu, Mitsubishi) and take the rest of the millions burning a hole in your pocket and buy your wife good land in a great location and invest in the future.

Even if I had millions sitting around doing nothing, if I tell my wife I want to get a big BMW for BIG face she'll say I'm an idiot and won't let me waste money in something as stupid as a car.

Take 1 million. That'll buy you a really nice car. Take the other million and give it to me. I'll flush it down the toilet for you.

Its like 7.1 km/ litre for me. The PJS is draining diesel like 6 wheeler.

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This is NOT good. I'll never get a big car if that's a common thing.

I want to know how much you drive a week and how much it costs you in Diesel

I drive 80-90km per day. Combined highway and city driving. I fill up the Cruze (1.8L) once a week. About 1,800 a week.

Have you ever replaced the battery?

Honda Jazz/City/Civic batteries are absolute shit. Maintenance free my ass. You still have to pour that battery liquid in there like when I was 14 and my dad had a Toyota Tercel.

Until I bought the Cruze my wife had never seen a sealed battery.

If you've never replaced the battery, take it to B-Quick and get another one.

My City started acting up weird also, changed the battery, problems solved. The Honda batteries are so crap. The dealer told me I should change it every 1 1/2 years or so.

I would much rather a driver. Really rich people don't drive.

2 million baht doesn't get you a "nice ride" in thailand. It gets you a $20,000-$30,000 quality ride depending on the car you get. That's just for suckers.

You start paying these ridiculous prices for $20-$30,000 quality and this is what happens

That's your 2-2.5 million baht car.

Meanwhile, the 800,000 baht Focus is awesome and probably looking as good as it did when it came off the lot.

I had a friend who went to the car show to check the new 2012 BMW 3 Series. He said he opened the back door and he saw the back of the center console was all peeling off. The paint was all peeled off and the black plastic underneath was showing. Just from people going in and out of the car as they were checking it out.

Same issue on the plastic on the doors. And one of the door controls you could push up and down with your finger. Like you could push the controls right through the door.

That's a 2++ million baht car.

Bullcrap.

That's much more sensible. 800,000 on a focus. 1.2 million on a PJS.

2 million and you get 2 nice cars instead of a 2 million over priced car.

It's not about the money. It's about buying a car that is really a $20,000 car for $65,000. For $65,000 you want the highest quality. But you're not getting that. You're getting a $20,000 car quality for $65,000. That's what I'm saying.

My Cruze is closer to 600,000 in the USA. I paid 875,000. That's a markup, but I'm still getting the expected quality of that price range.

In the case of the X1, this car starts at about $33,500. Here in thailand $65,000. You're paying $65,000 for a $30,000 quality car.

It makes 0 sense.

I owned a City for almost 6 years. When I sat and checked the Brio it was exactly my 2005 City. Only the dash and some things looked different. Other than that, it was exactly the same car. Same hollow plastics. Same crappy welds. Same everything. Opened the hood, it was identical.

There's a running Honda AD in Thai newspapers with all their models, then a blacked out silhouette of what they call a "mystery 1.2L" car. What's that?

This Brio Sedan opens up another option to would-be Nissan Almera buyers..

The Almera is a big car. The Brio Sedan is a 2005 City.