HauptmannUK

Are you sure it was a Ford? I've seen a lot of the 2.2s but never one with that sort of mileage..

I don't know, he may or may not - but that doesn't change the veracity of my post.

No, wrong. My daughter's restaurant is in a very nice and (relatively) low-cost rural area. She can assist with low cost accommodation. She is currently looking for a couple of shift managers - the pay is well above minimum wage. There just are not the workers around to do these jobs. A lot of these types of roles were previously undertaken by East Europeans and many have left the UK. There is plenty of money circulating around in the UK economy. Her restaurant is not cheap and she's increased prices quite sharply recently but its still surprisingly full most days. Getting enough staff is the issue.

The insurance cover is whatever is stated in the documentation. Its pointless speculating. If you have an accident they will quote the policy wording. In the UK for example, its perfectly possible to insure a car for 'any driver' - but its expensive. UK insurance companies have very sophisticated software to quantify risk - so they take account of how the car is used, where its parked, annual mileage, driver history etc etc - so theoretically the premium paid is very precisely matched to the risk. The Thai insurers take a much cruder approach - often just the car make/model and age. So I guess some customers are overpaying by a lot and some underpaying by a lot. Note that Thai insurance payout limits can be quite low compared to Western policies. If you were at fault in a serious accident the policy might not cover the entire claim amount. Given the relatively low coverage limits I don't think that Thai motor policies are particularly good value.

My wife's house up in Isaan is at least 1km from the nearest neighbour and yet its noisier there than our condo in Pattaya. Roosters crowing, music from distant houses, dogs barking and there always seems to be a noisy internal combustion engine running somewhere. That's not to mention air pollution - Thai's seem to love burning stuff, especially in the evening. My wife particularly loves throwing some plastic on a smouldering fire to create really toxic fumes...

A huge amount is going to depend on where you live and how much your accommodation costs will be. UK can be heaven or hell, according to your location. My wife and I have split our time between Thailand and UK for quite a few years. My wife loves the UK. She has made many Thai friends there. She loves to cook and is really impressed by the quality of free range chicken and the outdoor-reared pork etc. There is an oriental supermarket about 15-20 miles away and she can buy everything she needs - including fresh Asian vegetables etc. We have a house in a village close to a small town. Lots of retired residents - its very friendly and clean. I've no doubt the local schools are good. We go on lots of walks in the local countryside and its generally very pleasant. My wife has invested in a UK business (small hotel) and she's preoccupied with that about four long days a week when we're in the UK so she's never bored. I don't work but I do know that there is a big shortage of labour in the UK right now. One of my daughters runs a restaurant and is really struggling to get staff. Another daughter is a doctor and tells me that there are huge shortages of medical and care staff throughout the health service. I love being in Thailand - weather, sea, travelling around (cheap hotels, coffee shops and restaurants etc) but I think opportunities to earn a good living and bring up children are much better in the UK. Just choose a nice area to settle in - not one of inner city hellholes..

This is a very common pump made by Continental-VDO. Its fitted to the Ranger 2.2, Mazda BT50 2.2 and in the UK there are huge numbers of Transit 2.2 with this pump. New units are around GBP500 in the UK. You should be able to source one from a Diesel parts supplier in Thailand for around ฿20k or buy from China via Aliexpress etc. Search also under the Continental part number for this pump.. A2C59517043 I don't know about Thailand, but in the UK Ford parts pricing has become extortionate in the last few years and Ford parts are frequently more expensive than MB and BMW. The Ford dealer is usually the last resort.

Yes...there are some well built condos. We've rented in a few over the years. Unixx, Base - v. noisy. VT6 - a bit noisy. Pattaya Beach Condo (old condo on Soi 13) pretty quiet. Axis Condo on Thepraya Rd. - very thick walls - no noise from neighbours but noise from road on front side. Park side (back side) is quiet.

What the OP is proposing is extremely foolhardy. Riding in Thailand with no experience, not properly licenced and without valid insurance... Just to give context, I have been riding motorcycles since I was 12 years old - almost 50 years. I have ridden almost every kind of motorcycle, raced motorcycles and for a while I used to import 'grey market' big bikes into the UK. I was also a UK DAS Instructor... The OP needs to know that riding in Thailand for the inexperienced is akin to attempted suicide. Don't do it! Don't ride a push bike either. I have known so many riders come to grief here. My wife's son has a metal plate in his head from a bike accident. Her uncle was crushed to death by a truck on a quiet rural road. Her uncle's 24 year old son was killed on a bike in Bangkok the following year (you can imagine her aunt's grief). Just a couple of months ago a friend was killed in Saraburi - on his regular daily biking route but that morning a car didn't stop at a junction. Thai roads are a war zone and 80% of casualties are on two wheels. If you want to get around and have no biking experience then rent a small car - at least you'll be legal and insured. Otherwise use public transport and Bolt.. Debating Thai legislation on IDP is BS. Thai police want to see it and the major car rental companies ask for one - so yes you need IDP.

I think Pirelli bike tyres for SE Asia are made under licence in Indonesia by PT Astra. I put a set of Pirellis on a previous car I had (Camry) about five-six years ago and they were Thai-made and fine until I sold the car after about three years. Things change all the time though and its possible production has moved somewhere else - or that less common sizes are imported. I think Pirelli are still a premium brand - they are factory-fit on some Porsche, Ferarri etc and still a big player in motorsport. I've never used a Thai brand (Otani, Deestone etc) and tend to stay away from Chinese (Landsail, Linglong etc). Years ago (20 years +) in the UK we used to sell tyres as part of the workshop business but packed it in because the margins weren't worth it. Back then there was quite a difference between tyre brands but from what I see nowadays they all perform well provided you stick to the known European/Japanese/South Korean brands. One thing I would advise it to change your tyres before they get too old, even if they have plenty of tread. The rubber depolymerises and hardens with age. I would change at no more than 7 years max.

Yes.

This car is a so-called 'self-charging hybrid' - it has a small battery pack which is kept charged by the internal combustion engine and from energy recovery during braking. It will only travel a few km on electrical power alone and cannot be charged from an external source. The main purpose of the system is to improve economy and reduce emissions in urban/suburban stop-go traffic. Out on the highway the internal combustion engine will be running most of the time so economy gains from the hybrid system will be minimal. There are also 'Plug-in hybrids' available which have a much larger capacity battery and can be charged from an external charger. These can travel 10's of km on battery power alone and are therefore well-suited to daily commuting etc. without the need to run the ICE within the range of the battery - they basically run as an EV. Whether this particular model is suitable for you depends on the kind of driving you do. If its low-mileage local driving with two people, just trundling to the supermarket etc., then an 'eco-car' like a Toyota Yaris or Honda City would be half the price and cheaper to run.

I'd be happy with any premium tyre... Michelin, Dunlop, Continental, Goodyear, Pirelli. I'd probably go with what's cheapest in your size among those brands.

Your existing wheels are 17" diameter. To fit the 225/50/18 tyres will require you to buy a set of 18" wheels. On typical Thai roads you are better off sticking with 17" - and save yourself some money. Mi่chelin are excellent tyres, but so are Dunlop (in Thailand the Dunlop brand belongs to Sumitomo of Japan). Good tyres. I'd be happy with either.

The Legender is a trim-level of the Fortuner. I believe it replaced the TRD Sportivo model. It has different headlights and bumpers from the standard Fortuner and some other trim/equipment differences. Seems well priced. Likely introduced to maintain interest and sales until the 'all new' Fortuner arrives.

The 2023 model has not been launched yet. It promises to be a significant improvement - based on the TNGA platform and should make the Fortuner internationally competitive.

One of several different starters will be fitted - there are variations according to manufacturing date, engine code and man/auto transmission. You need the VAG part number from the existing starter. The part number will be of the form (example): 068 911 024 G

I'm somewhat familiar with these vehicles. You don't specify age/mileage etc but I think most Thai-market cars used the 1.6 Renault/Nissan H-series engine. As you know, these cars use the Jatco CVT-7 gearbox. These CVT's are rather notorious (although newer units have been improved) and coupled with the 1.6 engine in hill country you are likely to have problems. The throttle position sensor (TPS) along with the airflow meter (AFM) provides a feedforward signal to the ECU for enrichment on acceleration. It also provides fuel cut off on overrun etc. I don't think it is the cause of your problems. I have never encountered one of these vehicles that would accelerate on its own. I don't think its possible due to the way the electronic throttle is designed. My suspicion is that you have CVT problems - probably the transmission is 'flaring' and you are hearing the engine's revs rise and interpreting this as a throttle input. Once these transmissions start to fail its very much a 'death spiral'. Ideally replace with a new unit - repair is not always satisfactory. If not economic then get rid of the car. If you live in hilly country then a Toyota CVT would be preferable. They are about as good as it gets with CVT.

No snobbery implied at all. I am just stating the origins of the vehicle. I have been professionally involved in the automotive industry for a long time and back in the UK we also have a medium sized family business selling and servicing cars. As things stand right now I would be much more confident in selling a customer a used Toyota product than a used MG product. Simply because we know from experience that if we sell a used Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Suzuki, we rarely have the customer coming back with complaints and repair costs will be minimal. Some brands we basically no longer sell or repair (JLR) because its more hassle than its worth. At the moment we don't really know where MG will sit because their current model range is too new and most vehicles still being looked after within the MG network. Residual values (in the UK) are not great, which is a concern.

MG is a brand of SAIC. Much/most of the technology used by SAIC is derived from GM - mostly the old GM Europe (Opel) and most chassis and drivetrain is designed/developed by European subcontractors and manufactured in China. China does not have the engineering design capacity or IPR ownership to produce internationally competitive vehicles, so most of their cars sold in export markets make extensive use of components with foreign IP, and made under licence in China. The MG Extender is a rebadged Maxus T70 (itself an updated T60) also sold with an LDV badge in certain markets (Aus/UK). The 2.0 Diesel is a re-worked GM/Opel unit and the petrol is the GM/Opel LGE engine. SAIC use a variety of transmissions. I believe the manuals are a Hyundai TRANSYS design and the autos come from Aisin, Bosch (CVT) or Punch. I think the 6-speed auto in the Extender Diesel is a Punch unit made in China (Punch are a Belgium-based powertrain company). EPAS is a TRW design I believe. No idea how good they will prove in the long term. Speaking personally it would be Toyota every time for me.

A lot of condo blocks are pretty quiet at the moment. My condo block is very quiet. A lot of cars are parked in the car park with a thick layer of dust on them - haven't been moved in over two years. I wonder if some owners returned to their home countries and died from Covid. I know a couple of elderly owners from before Covid - their mail boxes are jammed full of post...

LOL! Talk about getting things backwards - the whole point of the IDP is that its a standard format and therefore police don't need to read English! For any doubters out there someone sent me this very recent YouTube video. An English guy getting fined ฿500 on Pattaya Beach Road for no IDP. The relevant bit is at 10:36

I didn't see any suggestion they should only charge ฿20, but rather something more realistic than ฿1000. Keycards are consumables for a hotel. Buy a box of 100 and the cost falls to something like ฿12 each. They take seconds to program. I have a programmer - cost me about ฿600. The lock readers are around ฿400-600. This is not expensive technology.

฿1000 is greedy. The common re-writable 125kHz RFID cards are around ฿150 - 200 for a pack of ten. So no more than about ฿20 each.

Worrying too much. I've transported desktop PCs multiple times between UK and Thailand and UK and China. Just put into the cardboard box the tower case originally came in and check it in as normal. Never been stopped or questioned. Once too 25 PC motherboards to China in a cardboard box, along with loads of cables, PSUs etc in a big box. Over the years flown into BKK (mostly with Ermirates) with tools, power drill etc, trolley jack, couple of bikes, couple of HiFi systems, part of a car exhaust system etc etc. Been asked a couple of times 'what's in the box?'. Answered honestly and no further checks. Amazingly never had anything damaged in transit either. Only had trouble in India (they confiscated two Melton Mowbray pork pies) and Nigeria (confiscated a souvenir mug they said was a potential weapon!).