anon210

Always on Thonglor a funny little Mitsubishi Minicca Toppo. Looks like Mickey mouse...

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A simple trick we always use to avoid issues with our thai shareholders/directors: we have them sign in advance resignation letters (without date) as well as share transfer agreements with no name and no date. Get your lawyer to get his wife to do that right now and you should not have sleepless nights should he or she be somewhat crooked.

Thaicruze, if it is for that, I also see plenty of Pajero Sport around... But only in BKK. Which is to say the feeble reliability of this finding (could not even distinguish between the year of production just by the sight of it).

And I hardly see any Cruze around. So, I have some reservations on "selling like hotcakes".

Regarding the "loss in power", can you explain better what you mean? How do you observe that? Re. fuel economy, do you drive in the same manner? Have you been more frantic on the pedal since you bought it?

Most likely Isuzu. I think you can find a thread of a happy owner of an Isuzu... In general, it all depends on luck, but you could have one as quickly as one week after your order... or three months after!

Isuzu is first in terms of reliability, and having sat in one of them, I can confirm it feels really nice and modern. Better than Toyota, and its reputation for reliability is definitely confirmed.

I used to just put the hand set down next to the phone, after saying can you wait a minute. Then go back to the TV.

Yeap done that myself a few times in the office, gone for a cup of coffee and a smoke outside...

I find it strange that now my pension plans are coming together I keep getting calls from someone in an investment company in BKK.

How the xxxx do they know my number ?

I was also cold-called by a guy from De Vere (the worst possible guy who insists to have a meeting and does not take "no" for an answer). He managed to pocket two to three guys of my office with his technique and persistence. Me, I just told him firmly that I handled my investments myself and was not interested at all by his services. He stopped.

Update: Sent a mail through the website of Mitsu Thailand. Was called within two hours by the call center who took good note of my observations and said they would contact the dealership to help (also for the manual and the tobacco odor). They asked if I had notified the dealership after receiving the car (which I did by mail). So far, thus a good point for Mitsu corporate (I think it was MRO who observed their quick response and that they addressed the issues precisely and to the fact).

Well, at 250 K km, I trust a number of parts will have to be replaced.

For starters the automatic transmission as it hits the 100 K mark, no matter which brand of car is concerned, right? It is obvious that as a car gets older or has driven over a long distance, that the parts will start getting more and more used. The real question is whether you will be hit with quality issues (over minor or major parts, as also finition). Please keep us posted on it.

As to the peasants, I guess that they have at least some financial common sense:

Keeping a car for eight years, rather than five, can reduce median ownership costs significantly to just $7,800 a year on average. This is partially due to lower depreciation costs, and partly a result of keeping the car for a few years after the loan has been paid off.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/06/what-that-car-really-costs-to-own/index.htm

Did you sort the smell out or does it still smell like an ashtray??

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The smell has been reduced a little bit... I guess the time for the tobacco to evacuate from the conduits.

But of course, they said they did not smell anything (and everybody else does). So, i'm writing to Mitsu headquarters to get sorted out 1° Owner Manual; 2° Roadside assistance (did not provide me anything!); 3° Smoke smell.

Ok, so last week-end, I had to do my big move! I changed condo, and it was the occasion of experimenting the versatility of the Pajero and its space.

The foldable seats made it perfect for me... I could load up the car and transfer a lot of stuff at once. The funny part was that at the new place, one of the staff asked the other from where all these things kept coming... The guy answered (in Thai!) "this is is a Pajero!".

Further to that, the car remains very easy to park and maneuver into very tight and confined spaces (getting more confident now about that), and a pleasure to drive.

Driving experience... well, I get occasionally to experience the turbo lag when having to overtake or change lanes quickly. Not that serious, as the total delay is less than a second, but still perceivable.

The motor keeps at under 2.000 rpm even when accelerating (I never really have to "floor" the pedal), which is good, but in city, the consumption increases a lot... I guess we will not be very far from the figures of a previous poster, with exclusively city driving.

Road irregularities are absorbed with ease, but the counterpart of this is the way the car bends in a curve, I guess. Corners are taken very tightly, but you feel the car inclining in the driver's seat. Nothing alarming, and you just need to adapt your speed. Brakes are always faultless.

Overall: very happy with the car.

well, if the traffic is going, then follow, but if you're stopped at a red light and your light turns green, for god's sake do NOT go. LOOK first. Lift your foot off the brake slightly and when you SEE everyone stop, THEN you go. Red doesn't mean stop here, it means go really fast and follow the guy in front of you.

actually if it's bumper to bumper traffic you have to use your car to stop the flow of traffic. otherwise they will never stop.

When I sell my Cruze I'm getting one of these

Actually, it seems weird, but it is also safe driving, Thaicruze.

If you are at the red light, and a car is following you too closely at speed, slowing down at the signal might get you rear-ended and catapulted in middle of the "racers" starting off at the green light. My driving instructor warned us thus to always adapt to circumstances. Orange light = prepare to slow down and stop, but only if you have nobody tailgating you at speed. In those cases, the best conduct, safety-wise is to keep speed and get through the signal even if it becomes red in the meantime. Just be careful of the bikes that tend to zoom ahead at green light.

The lesson at green light is indeed to start off smoothly and not accelerate madly at once. Keep eyes open, because occasionally, I've seen a biker run through the red light at speed just in front of my car. Had I accelerated any faster, I would have been t-boned, or hit the biker.

Other simple lesson: always put the gear on P (or "N" for manual), and handbrakes at red lights. Should avoid you being pushed too far ahead in case of rear-ending collision.

And generally: slow down wherever you see u-turns or intersections and WATCH OUT!

Re. the blind spots, I now have the reflex to look by the windows for the position of any car before attempting any lane change or direction change. I also try always to keep track of the position of the various cars and/or motorcycles relative to my own, and try to predict their intentions...

For further safe driving learning, here are some resources:

http://www.liikenneturva.fi/www/en/liitetiedostot/Pidapelivaraa_engl.pdf

http://www.2pass.co.uk/awareness.htm#Anticipate

And here is the first picture of the "Elephant"!

So far, appoaching the 1000 km mark...

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Are you sure that a Fiat participation in Chrysler is synonymous with quality?

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Hi Thaicruze. I arrived on this forum way after your first posts. it is good to read your first year user account.

However, the Cruze may be a good car, but I would have been pretty reluctant to buy anything like a Chevy due to its past reputation.

This being said keep posting about your experience and try filling us in objectively in on the long-term ownership.

The important is that YOU are happy with your car.

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That is one of the reasons that got me to buy a SUV instead of a sedan or similar car. Went to Hua Hin last week-end, and the irregularities were absorbed at speed in stride.

It could also mean that most motorcyclists drive very dangerously, as was the case in this accident.

Today i took a picture from the inside.

Nice, but you were asked a picture at night.

Well, simple safe driving precaution: slow down at intersections and red lights, don't zoom through traffic without keeping your eyes wide open for crazy people.

It might seem strange, but I was very relieved he was not dead, because he was not wearing a helmet and I almost couldn't break before hitting him (so my speed was still around 80 kms/h).

I need to drive on the same road every day and on 1 year time I have seen several dead motorcycle riders (so many that I stopped counting). I am seriously thinking about moving my house closer to the school of my son. After the accident, and while the police was there at least 3 other motorcycles passed the red light (and the police was yelling at them and pointing to the bleeding guy on the road).

Thanks for the advice about staying in the background. I am still at bit struggling with this because this is not the way things are generally done in Thailand.

Sorry to hear of the unfortunate event.

Whereas you were strictly respecting the law (within the speed limit & passing at green light), my personal opinion is that in this crazy country, it is not sufficient to abide by the law. You should slow down at intersections, or any junction where another car or bike may join in.

Even though that may appear callous, keep well away from the guy at hospital. Any sign of caring would be interpreted as guilt and could lead you to being pressured for more money. It is best left to the insurance. And do not forget the advice often given to install a dash cam in your car... In such a case, it would be the "silver bullet".

Not quite very fresh news, but here is the closest I found to an official source exposing the level of tint acceptable: 40 %... But law not applied since... 1998!

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=437&dat=19980204&id=vdQtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_TEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6270,910113

Pick the best old tire for the spare and you can sell the “new” spare to the tire shop….

I shall keep the original spare as spare. It has been under cover for almost all of its life unlike the 'runners that are exposed to sunshine.

Many tyre manufactures advise tyres should be replaced at a calender life of around six years regardless of tread condition due to weakening of the compound due to exposure to weathering and especially UV rays (actinic degradation!) but I would have to be a real believer to do that!

You will start believing once you finally fit the old out of date tyre to your vehicle and it then explodes at high speed.

No, you have missed the point. Keeping it as a spare means that it would be installed only to replace a punctured tyre that would beproperly repaired and refitted. Meanwhile, I would be driving conservatively knowing the possible risk. Your comment of high speed indicates that is how you drive but I do not. I am retired and in no hurry to go anywhere so, even on long trips, I keep to the national limit or 100 kph where it is reasonable. Meanwhile other Fortuners blast down the outside lane at terminal velocity. If that's what they want it's up to them, just don't run over the top of me to do it.

Well, not retired, but I concur on driving at reasonable speeds.

I prefer arriving a few minutes later, or even an hour or so, than living through an accident and being injured or (worst!) injuring or killing someone because of my selfish haste.

It is very easy for a Thai to borrow some of the money needed from a friend, buy a used car/truck/motorbike, go straight to one of the hundreds of "car loan" companies and borrow a lot of money against the car/truck/motorbike at 1.25% interest per month, pay back their friend, and have a vehicle on "finance" where they could not normally qualify for finance through a dealer.

These "car loan" companies do not worry about your income etc. the loans are purely secured against the vehicle.

And that is one of the primary reasons for second hand motors being so high, i know this because one of these companies rent's one of my shops!

hmm perhaps true. I dispute the last paragraph, despite assurances that me being married, work permit, have Thai Credit History for over a decade in good standing etc etc would not need a guarantor by the car salesperson, the finance company came back and said 'need'. Granted this was through a proper finance company and not a loan shark.

Just the wrong finance company, probably. SCB (to take an example) are more flexible, and if your credit history is faultless and you have a work permit, there is not even need of being married. In my case, whenever a dealer mentioned the word "guarantor", I just walked away. Playing on competition helps to get the good financing company. Now this being said, I always applied for very short finance periods (2 yrs max), so I was probably a low risk.

I've got my tint.

POP05 on sides and POP20 on back and front.

POP05 is 90%

POP20 is 80%

http://laminafilms.c...ilm&cate=ps

On the front ?

Well... He wants to drive with no visibility at all. His call, his life.

I just hope I will not share the highway with him, considering that he is also prone to speeding and seems to have troublesome brakes (see post on dysfunctional brakes).

I've been trying that. I've visited Honda and Mazda and called Nissan with no luck. I'm sure there are people here that are more knowledgeable of the local car market than I am. I know there are bigger cars that are available but I'm looking at the Suzuki Swift, Mitsubishi Mirage, Honda Brio, and Nissan March type of cars. Anybody else out there that can possibly be a little helpful.

There is the tax rebate on first car which is affecting the availability of those eco cars. I doubt you will have a lot of ease to find this type of cars readily available. All you can do is get in line... And then maybe they will contact you if a customer rejects one model.

As for changing cars, I guess that is another perk of the company car scheme. I do however think we have a reasonable view as to what is coming down the line, the 2013 Accord has already been revealed for instance. Going forward it looks like the SUV option will be the CRV so my choice will be between that and the Accord.

CRV of the latest years has been described as a gas guzzler and poor quality build. So, not sure that is a good choice. I had the chance of driving a very old CRV (2002-2003 model) , and it was incredibly imprecise in steering and brakes were at best vague. The build quality, instead was rugged and solid (a bit like today's PJS). Nevertheless, I always felt so in danger within that car, even if I only drove it in the city... It is true that this imprecision in the steering makes it precisely so well adapted to women.

As I am a lawyer, I was wondering if you paid taxes on your company car and fuel allowance? I guess that is what the 17 K correspond to...

As to gas consumption, I was carrying three people, but the car did its job without penalizing me on the gas, but I accelerated slowly instead of speeding up radically from stop. Provided you give it time, the motor can take you up to speed without even going beyond 2.000 rpm. This is the key to saving gas...

Answering some of the points raised...

- Turbo lag: it is true that you must really put the pedal to the metal to get your acceleration. Not a big deal for me, as I prefer driving softly, and the motor has been responsive when I called upon it (without going beyond 2500 rpm).

- Brakes: strangely, they have been very responsive and reactive and smooth for me... Are you perhaps braking very hard and triggering ABS? I tend to try to predict braking, and hence to smoothly slow down the car, but whenever I needed to do it quickly, they have done the job.

- Noisy engine: that is true, especially when accelerating quickly. However, here again, not a big deal for me, as I want a reliable and durable engine, even if less comfortable.

- Wallowing: at speed, sudden changes of trajectory are indeed paid back with this wallowing. It all depends of the speed, but at 80-100 kms, faultless cornering for me. Above, I guess it is a bit dangerous for a SUV with a high centre of gravity.I believe other SUV (CRV, Escape to take two names) have less of this issue.

- I regularly drive over the Rama IV rail crossing as well... And it is true it absorbs very well any road irregularity.

- Consumption seems a bit on the high side (even for the city). Is it your driving style? A tank is normally 70 ltrs...

- pros and cons to owning a sedan vs a SUV; if you are mainly in city, it may make sense, but your road visibility is going to be seriously reduced. Further to that, the road irregularities may be tough on you. In terms of prestige, the SUV is definitely better here.

Within 2 yrs, I don't know what will be on the market, so difficult to predict. We will have to appraise by then, but I don't wish to change car every two years. Unless there is an excellent price at resale...