I knew this would happen

I do not know if they have a button or if they just always run about 30% faster than they should. You can see it on the kilometers on the meter when you know the distance to where you are going. Or maybe I am just unlucky and often get a rigged meter.

one way to tell is the KM expressway markers , compare 1 KM to his meter 1KM and see if they match......

A smartphone may help too, much more convenient. Google maps or any navgigation app tells you the distance traveled and also counts down the distance.

The bigger problem is: What can you do? Reporting the crooks doesn´t seem to have much effects after all. We have reported 3 guys to the DLT, but will that really change a lot?

And confronting the driver directly might not be the best solution too, maybe it´s your lucky day and you end up with some maniac high on drugs. Chances might be slim, but too much stuff has happend here.

When I plan to drink and know in advance when and where I will be going, Grab TaxiPpremium or UBER is my choice. 9 of 10 cars are clean and comfy with great drivers. Even had an older lady once, was like beeing driven home by mom

Our hotel is only 4000B a night, 4 **** directly at the Sapporo station. Seems quite new. I think this is ok, not totally overpriced compared to BKK. There were other options in 'ok' hotels for 1700-2000Baht, but I'm having holidays Going to have a good dinner with wine/beer ususlly ends up at 1500-2000Baht, we don't spent less at restaurants in Bangkok. Cheaper and good options are availabele, food prices seem reasonable. Maybe there is Japanese racism too (sadly its everywhere) but then it is much better hidden than the Thai one these days and thats a real relief. Working in Japan might be totally different and could be unpleasant sometimes due to the extremly strict rules in this society, maybe a real downside. A Japanese guy asked us why we choose Japan. He couldn't understand why someone from Europe might be interested in a place where they cannot take long holidays and have to work like robots. He then said: Germany must be the same, he couldn't believe when I said: compared to the Japanese we are lazy and rude. 14days vacation are offensive he said We used to take 4 weeks off in Germany lol. The amount of respect the Japanese show for each other is great, it might be partly fake because it is ingrained into them since birth but still it's nice. I really like it, but I have to admit that some might just find it boring here. Maybe I'm just fed off from smog, rudeness and chaos in BKK.

Used my Iphone, might have even more error than usual lol

Is Thailand a failure? Never been to Japan but from what my friends have told me I'd say it's the other way around. Unless you measure success by technological development rather than happiness.

Japan is the biggest disappointment I have experienced in all my travels. I was so excited to go to Tokyo,but had a horrible time. The people are racist and rude. Nothing is easy to find for transportation and food.

The work ethic there is insane and they are almost impossible to do business with. Japanese people are not happy overall. They actually have a term to describe working yourself to death. I am much happier to be here in Thailand working. I don't think I could stay in Japan long term.

japanese racist and rude? I thought the popular notion was that they are very polite.

We are in Sapporo right now, everyone is extremely friendly and helpful. Lots of smiles, everyone makes us feel welcome and they are trying their best without expecting anything. Just like Thailand used to be.......long ago...... This part of Japan really impressed me and we will come back for sure. Tokyo might be different, but how could it be different when it is such a mega city?

Right now we are considering to spent more time in Japan and leave Thailand to the Thais.

OP, this is a new one on me as well.

For posters who say time between services is equally as critical as miles/kms driven, I say bullpucky.

The important thing is that the 30K "service" is more thorough than the 20K mile so you will be getting more.

However, they cannot have it both ways, the 30K mile service requires "replace engine air filter" and "replace cabin air filter".

It does not say "inspect and replace if necessary".

Hold them to it.

Hmm yes and no, if you don´t use your car a lot and have a very low mileage your fluids, belts and whatever is on your car will still continue to age. Maybe not as much and fast as when you do a 100 miles everyday but it happens anyway. Somehow Toyota warranty has to cover all different kinds of drivers and then it might seem for some that their car doesn´t require service yet while another has covered a lot more miles and is in need of an oil change already. The schedule is based on the worst case scenario I´d say. As a customer you have to follow their rules as long as you are in the warranty time. Maybe not all of it make sense yes. Maybe the cabin air filter is still fine, maybe not. A good dealer might apply some common sense to what they change and what not and the service plan would still be done according to the rules.

After that you´re on your own and can do as you please, though continued following of the Toyota service plan will make them more open to future "good will" actions if something goes wrong after the warranty period.

Hmmm....No.

I knew there would be that guy who would have to try and lecture...and you are that guy.

Please tell me how many years the warranty is on this Tundra in Thailand. Is it not three years? If that Tundra sat in a garage for three years and was never driven, the belts would not have dried up and fallen off. The fluids would not have lost their ability to perform--well, the windshield wiper solvent might have evaporated some. The motor oil would even still be good. OK, the battery would be dead and need replacing. Have you never stored vehicles? The events that you are talking about are more like 5+ years.

And the OP had his last service less than a year ago and the vehicle is less than two years old so those worst case scenarios you talk about would not have possibly happened short of a manufacturing defect.

And I did not say the OP would not have to follow Toyota rules in the warranty time, in fact, I stated clearly that he should insist the rules be followed and the rules call for a replacement of engine and cabin filter and that is not left up to the determination of a visual inspection. It is called out for specifically in the maintenance schedule service for 30K miles. This dealership does not get to pick and choose what it will honor.

LOL, service your Tuna or leave it, I don´t care

Your post really didn´t sound like it´s a good idea to follow Toyota´s advise. You said time is not as critical as distance travelled, I agree with that! Where did I deny that?

But at the end it´s Toyota´s recommendation, not mine and not yours.

OP, this is a new one on me as well.

For posters who say time between services is equally as critical as miles/kms driven, I say bullpucky.

The important thing is that the 30K "service" is more thorough than the 20K mile so you will be getting more.

However, they cannot have it both ways, the 30K mile service requires "replace engine air filter" and "replace cabin air filter".

It does not say "inspect and replace if necessary".

Hold them to it.

Hmm yes and no, if you don´t use your car a lot and have a very low mileage your fluids, belts and whatever is on your car will still continue to age. Maybe not as much and fast as when you do a 100 miles everyday but it happens anyway. Somehow Toyota warranty has to cover all different kinds of drivers and then it might seem for some that their car doesn´t require service yet while another has covered a lot more miles and is in need of an oil change already. The schedule is based on the worst case scenario I´d say. As a customer you have to follow their rules as long as you are in the warranty time. Maybe not all of it make sense yes. Maybe the cabin air filter is still fine, maybe not. A good dealer might apply some common sense to what they change and what not and the service plan would still be done according to the rules.

After that you´re on your own and can do as you please, though continued following of the Toyota service plan will make them more open to future "good will" actions if something goes wrong after the warranty period.

Perfectly normal, as you said: The service schedule is based on a kilometer OR time limit, whatever comes first counts. In your case it would have been time for a service before you reached the 20.000 km as 12 month had passed already. Your warranty and free service work is only valid if you have the car serviced according to the conditions of Toyota. So in therory they could refuse to help you when something is broken because you didn´t follow their maintenance advise, but it seems like the dealer wants to help you out and put everything in order again.

What might be a little confuesing for many of us are the very tight service schedule most car brands have in Thailand. In Germany I could drive 2 years between recommended services, hereiI´m at the dealer almost every 6 month just as stated on the Toyota website. Guess it must be the climate and thougher conditions in general for the vehicles here.

I understand food better in Thai language than English description.

I asked in Thai what was some food.

He described in English and I was confused.

I asked in Thai if food was green curry pork.

He said something in English and I was still confused.

Finally a lady spoke Thai to me.

I said thank you (in Thai)and I asked for the food I wanted.

She smiled

Everyone was happy.

I asked in Thai about

How true, I love Thai food and when the menu is in english, it´s hard to guess what dish it could be, specially when there are a lot of variations. Food is always one of the first ways to discover a language and even the culture/country. But that´s the same everywhere, it´s kinda hard or confuseing to describe a local food in another language, even more when they are worlds apart.

Why would Thai people (except for a few criminals) mind when you can speak their language? At home we´re also ranting about "the immigrants" not being able to speak our language.

It goes like this... when you speak/reply in Thai, first you see this hesitant, kinda lost look on their faces:

what just did this farang said? was that Thai he was speaking to me? and after 2-3 seconds... yes, it

was Thai he was speaking to me, now.. what did he said ? yeah, I can actually understand what he

said to me, WOW, this farang can speak Thai.... and just like that, with shock and awe look on their

faces they proceed to reply to you.... still marveling at our ability to master their language...

But they reply to you in English. So you answer back in Thai, then they come back at you a second time in English ... and so on. Back and forth. I encourage it - it's deliciously wicked when you observe other people listening in. They get a bemused look on their faces and don't know what the heck is going on.

Yes that happens quite often and I´m having trouble to understand the reason. Sometimes it might be poor Thai skills, but it also happens to people who are very good in Thai.

Guess it has something to do with the expectation that not many foreigners will learn and speak Thai. Like the brain is on autopilot when seeing a foreigner and always dictates: english, english, english.

I´ve made the same experience with english speakers that could speak german very well, I suddenly fell back talking in english for no reason

Why even start such a topic. Someone will always feel offended and "racial science" is thin ice

That´s definately the case. When you live in a place where you get stuck in a traffic jam very often or when there is a lot of traffic, then an auto gear box will take away lots of stress while you´re driving. It´s just a lot more convenient. I really hate automatic cars, driving a stick shifter is so much more fun. But for Thailand it´s a wise choice to go auto.

-Almost every car in Thailand does have an auto gearbox as standard equipment, only the base models are available as a manual. Most cars even are not available as a manual at all. Most cars and pickups will give you the auto gearbox already when you upgrade just one trim level. They are alomost forcing you to buy an auto or you are stuck with the most basic models. There are exceptions like the Toyota GT 86, but I wonder how many will opt. for the manual (which is so much better)

-It will be more easy to resell, more people are interested in an auto gearbox. As a wild guess I´d say 75% of the driver´s or more wouldn´t like or get along with a stick anyway.

-Fuel efficency, you still may lose a little power and a few km of range, but that is nothing compared to the huge increase in comfort. The overall economy won´t sufffer in any noticeable way.

-Why go against the market and the local preferences?

Not sure your post even borders on accuracy, have shopped for many cars and trucks all offer manual or automatic, automatic usually costs between 50000 and 75000 more than a manual and worth every baht.

Yes, you are right. My fault! Seems like I have missed the tenor of this thread. It seems like all others were saying: Automatic? Nope, manual ist he way to go in LOS. Thais love it and the car makers have adjusted their program accordingly offering most cars and top models as a stick shift

The OP wants a City: There is an S manual and an S AT, the rest (V, V+, SV, SV+) are all automatic! And this is the case with almost every car on sale here! The Yaris isn´t even available as a manual and the Jazz again only in the S trim. Some exceptions exist, I agree, but if you really like to buy a manual car your options are quite limited in this car market.

Automatic is much easier to drive for any new driver.

Additionally its much easier to drive in heavier traffic.

IMO: These days manual shift is for driving enthusiasts in sportier cars.... If all you are doing is going from A to B then the additional effort of changing gear yourself is really unnecessary.

Automatic in a track day car = Silly... Manual in a City Car = Silly...

In the traffic jam in BKK an automatic is really better......

That´s definately the case. When you live in a place where you get stuck in a traffic jam very often or when there is a lot of traffic, then an auto gear box will take away lots of stress while you´re driving. It´s just a lot more convenient. I really hate automatic cars, driving a stick shifter is so much more fun. But for Thailand it´s a wise choice to go auto.

-Almost every car in Thailand does have an auto gearbox as standard equipment, only the base models are available as a manual. Most cars even are not available as a manual at all. Most cars and pickups will give you the auto gearbox already when you upgrade just one trim level. They are alomost forcing you to buy an auto or you are stuck with the most basic models. There are exceptions like the Toyota GT 86, but I wonder how many will opt. for the manual (which is so much better)

-It will be more easy to resell, more people are interested in an auto gearbox. As a wild guess I´d say 75% of the driver´s or more wouldn´t like or get along with a stick anyway.

-Fuel efficency, you still may lose a little power and a few km of range, but that is nothing compared to the huge increase in comfort. The overall economy won´t sufffer in any noticeable way.

-Why go against the market and the local preferences?

Pilot Super Sport ,and Sport 3 are for Hi performance vehicles. Your7700 Bht isnt in the same class, bout the same price as a quality Mich truck Tyre here..What Cars it for.?.

You might want to read the reviews AOP. This is a high performance tire with a Y speed rating. Certainly someone had to test and certify the tire, not just some made up sales jargon as would be the norm here in the land of made up specs/tales.

Only downside I see to this tire is it wears out quickly, but I don't drive that much, but when I do, I do.

But this downpoint doesn´t matter that much as it seems not so good to keep tyres in LOS as long as we would do in EU/US. I always used Michelin Alpin as my winter tyres as everything else just wore so fast and I loved them for their durability.

New tyres every 2-3 years is better than having the "best" tyre for 5-7 years in LOS? Michelins aren´t the best in wet conditions anyway and when they get older this doesn´t improve

Part of a current article in Consumer Reports magazine regarding Chinese Tire Brands sold in the USA. Maxis is a brand from Taiwan, not the PRC.

Tires are a global commodity, and many of the major brand names that Consumer Reports tests are manufactured in China. But those tires are designed and manufactured to quality standards dictated by the original manufacturers. Chinese tire brands don’t have that oversight, and some may not have the marketing foresight to design products well-suited to the specific requirements of the U.S. consumer. While we can’t address specific tire build quality, our all-weather tests show that these tires simply don’t measure-up to most of the well-known brands. The tested tires from Geostar, Sunny, and Pegasus finished at the bottom of our ratings.

The Geostar GS716 was the most well-rounded of the three, offering excellent dry braking, very good handling, and average tread life. But wet stopping performance was just average, and snow traction and stopping on ice was only fair. At $114 in our 265/70 R17 test size, the Geostar tire might appeal to a cost-conscious buyer. Better known brand-name tires average about $150. The cost savings is attractive, but we’d caution you to not gloss over the performance shortfalls, as the Geostar mustered only an 18th place finish out of 20 models tested. The cheaper Sunny SN3606 ($89) and Pegasus Advanta SUV ($95) came in a dismal 19th and 20th, respectively. These tires stop reasonably well on pavement and offer impressive hydroplaning resistance, but they have poor snow traction and just fair ability to stop on icy roads. Both models have a stiff and noisy ride, plus they wear quickly, too.

Aside from the performance lows, if value is a high priority, consider that the Pegasus cost about half as much as a top-scoring tire, the Michelin LTX M/S2. But keep in mind that the Michelin will last almost three times longer. Factor in the cost of buying two additional sets of tires, plus mounting and balancing, and you could save hundreds of dollars, not to mention get a better all-weather performing tire, if you choose the Michelin.

It is true that there are some trash tyres out there which even couldn´t hold a Tuk Tuk on track. But many Korean, Taiwanese and even Japanese (long ago) started as underdogs and were rated as crap. But now these tyres are brand names and can keep up with their western counterparts. I had some Hankook on my BMW´s and they did very well. Years ago my rubber dealer just had a blank stare at me when I ordered a set of these Now look how far Hankook has come, Hankook Ventus Evo 2 is usually in the top 5. Hankook is from Korea, so is Nexen. I think Koreans know what they are doing. Their newest N´Fera looks very promising, I think this company is developing forwards very well.

I NEVER try any tyre at random luck, as I already posted, I only buy stuff that has been tested in Germany by reputable institutions. And when even they agree that some cheaper tyre is good, I will give it a try. ADAC (german motorist association) and Autobild Sportscar magazine both tested this tyre with good results, and they are usually a little biased towards brands, specially our own ones come out at the top. Oh and they too run horror stories of dangerous chinese cheap tyres that can kill you, but Nexen are not there anymore.

These trucks without ABS are quite dangerous.

It's not just ABS.. Try just going forward in an unladen 200HP RWD truck on a wet road

Or try flooring it in a roundabout, corner, curve.

My ESP kicked in far more often in my RWD car than I´ll like to admit.

I don't get why some people post absolute nonsense such as this. Doubtless you can give an example of any 2014 car that is sold here without any safety equipment as standard. Don't bother, you can't, save your brain power for your next fairy story..

Chevrolet C Cab 2.5LS1, no ABS, no Airbag The higher specs even get ESP though.

Most Toyota and other Pick up base models don´t have ABS too, but two airbags.

If you´re a shitty driver like most of us (compared to professionals) then missing ABS and ESP can decide if you will have an accident or not. That´s neither brainless nor a fairytale. Of course Warpseed would have been able to avoid this accident with his pro driving skills, I might have f***** up when my wheels locked, so would the most of us when there is a moment of shock and lack of experience with dangerous situations.

The problem I have with my Garmin , Is spelling Thai place and street names, too many variations of the same word.

Thai adresses can be totally wired sometimes, it doesn´t matter if I try to enter it in Thai or use the Roman Alphabet.Often it´s impossbile to enter what´s written as an adress, even when you copy it directly from the original Thai.

I love when it goes like "some street 99" in "sometown 10150" and et voilla you will find your destination. But not here!

I also guess it is not about the shortest route (where Google will probably be right) but about the "best" route in terms of street condition, amount of traffic.

But still up to you how much you trust your BL

I use the built in GPS from BMW and it is pretty useless around Bangkok. It just refuses to put you on the tollway. So it'd send you across town. Google has a lot more sense.

Usually its only the last few km of the route i need so i just code it in and leave it on, hit the tollway and just use it to home me in at the end.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

I loved using the satnav back home, but in LOS it´s such a big disappointment. Nothing works, finding places and entering an adress is a real pain. It can help to reach a destination but it is far away from the comfort it could actually provide.

Why not stick with the approved route of a local? Navigation can be helpful in Thailand if you are totally lost and no help is near but otherwise I wouldn´t count on it.

I´ve used navigation in BKK to visit someone in the outskirts of BKK. The satnav sent me on a path that was like a road from the camel trophy with very steep wooden bridges, narrow streets with HUGE potholes going through a jungle like area. After our visit that guy showed us a street on the backside of his house leading to the city which was like new But the satnav insisted that we use they jungle path again. Too late, already scratched my front bumper.

With a Fortuner this would have been fun though.......

Speeding up to follow that guy with your family on board is quite a poor decision. Passing on the left (while tail-gating of course!) endangered several others in that video. No enforcement of traffic rules in Thailand so that type of thing is unlikely to cease. Just have to stay away from that kind of behavior and keep your own road rage controlled.

The OP has already the chosen a headline that fits, idiots This could also have ended worse, lucky guys.

I don´t get it why they sell cars in 2014 that come without any standard safety equipment. Maybe the EU is bureaucratic monster, but they also enforce good stuff like every new car HAS to have ESP. We got daytime running light, soon automatic rescue call will join this list. Something good beside all the other nonsense.......

Race trucks, LOL. Embarassing, huge smoke clouds, tractor sounds, whenever I´m overtaken by one I´ve got to

I recently tried to use my Sygic app to navigate with my Iphone 5. I have also used this app with my Androids and previous Iphone 4 and it usually did a good job.

But this time I´m really disappointed, it seems like my phone never achieved to get a good GPS lock or find it´s position. My arrow just kept jumping through the map, just a few times I had the chance to acutally follow the instructions. My first thought was that the phone is broken, but sometimes it seems allright and then suddenly goes back to beeing very inaccurate.

-I don´t have tinted windows

-I removed the bumper

-The phone was in a craddle near the windshield

After I calmed down i tried the 5S of my wife with the same app and it was like night and day. No lane jumping, no poistion losses, I even just put it in the middle console with the bumper on too.

Is the Iphone 5 this bad? How can it be that the 5S is soooo much better? Or is something wrong with mine? I had a fresh install with IOS 7.1.2 just two days before, so everything should be ok. I haven´t used my 5 for navigation so it´s hard to compare if it got worse or something is wrong. I used it with google maps from time to time when we were walking to find an adress and it did ok.

Time to get an Iphone 6 ?

We could get an upgrade from 9M to 13M with a simple call, but it became more expensive, not cheaper. There was no promotion that would have given any advantage at that time. Maybe they would like to give you an entirely new contract or something like that is the problem here. Or just try again, different person, different result

If you want to "play" around a little bit and do some simple diagnosis I can recommend the BMWhat application for Android or IOS (Iphone)

It´s cheap but works very well and even allows some coding of options. Of course not what the OP is looking for but it is a nice to have thing. I´ve got the android version and a cheap ebay bluetooth adatper (10$). No need to carry the laptop anymore

For the 245HP, listen to Woodsie or Mortenaa, their ideas seem good, specially the dyno run. Why not check with what you start before you plan the next step. Maybe BMW just said: Screw these Thais and their tax rules, we´ll just put a 220HP sticker on and that´s it. +/- 10% are not our fault and are in tolerance levels

After a bit of research, the 10th digit of the VIN number should tell you the year of manufacture. For 2014 the 10th digit should be the letter E. If it's a D then the model is from 2013. If you search for Wikipedia and Vehicle Identification Number this will tell you more.

And for the anoraks: What ? You think I had this information stored in my head ?

Many car makers or car forums provide a VIN decoder, it´s quite easy to check your model online. Just google your car maker+vin decoder, there should be plenty of results.

Just two month ago some guys tried (failed) get my wife´s bag, so let me be the first to say: Hang them high!! (as an example for all the others)

So because they tried to snatches your wife's bag, they should start to execute people???

What kind of guy are you????

In the post where i mentioned the death penalty, i wanted to say that i know that hard punishments don't stop criminals, but specially against foreigners, noone seems to fear any consequence. Now that they want to lure more tourists, make some fine examples of good police work and give them a reason to feel safe.