WarpSpeed

As for me, this is one of the things I like Thailand for. If someone really feels the need for a sports car with a huge engine and fuel consumption, he should pay a hefty premium for it. Still, I do not think Thai roads (quality or traffic wise) are made for sports cars, trucks are the way to go.

Sports car? Or Muscle car, there is a difference.... Sports cars do not have huge engines, but muscle cars do.

Really??

Hennessey Venom GT the fastest car in the world at the moment.. Yes, faster then the Bugatti Veyron. And not just in a straight line, lately I've seen a lot of videos of the Buggati's getting their tail kicked on the low end up to about 200Mph. Not even close..

^ I can only imagine?

Assuming you do mean sports car as opposed to super sports (which would be out of your budget) you can look at some roadster options. Second hand, such as the Mazda miata, BMW Z4 or even Mercedes SLK if you don't mind a slightly older car. All should be good fun to drive.

Unlike some of the comments above I think Thailand is a good place for a sporty car, there are some nice roads and beautiful scenery in many parts of the country. Also long stretches of highway, where if you're not careful you could easily go over the speed limit which is of course a very bad thing to do, plus you'll be hit with a huge fine of 1,000 Baht, so obviously not worth it lol ;-)

There are also good roads that can turn into sh*t very quickly and you have no choice but to keep on driving with your muffler dragging in the dirt.

Probably. The cars I mentioned will be fine on most normal roads in Thailand unless you drive in the village somewhere "upcountry" on unpaved roads and then yep, get a Hilux or whatever.

I've driven around the country for 5 years now, never felt I needed, or wanted, a 4x4 or high clearance vehicle.

Agreed..

Assuming you do mean sports car as opposed to super sports (which would be out of your budget) you can look at some roadster options. Second hand, such as the Mazda miata, BMW Z4 or even Mercedes SLK if you don't mind a slightly older car. All should be good fun to drive.

Unlike some of the comments above I think Thailand is a good place for a sporty car, there are some nice roads and beautiful scenery in many parts of the country. Also long stretches of highway, where if you're not careful you could easily go over the speed limit which is of course a very bad thing to do, plus you'll be hit with a huge fine of 1,000 Baht, so obviously not worth it lol ;-)

Yep, there are some mountain roads that just scream for a nice sports car as well as some nice stretches of highway. It'd be hard to tell the guy in an R8 that passed me well over 150 on 7 south on the way to a race at Bira one weekend that a sports car is no fun in Thailand.

Here ya go, in nice used condition or buy new, up to you.

http://taladrod.com/w20/Search/CarDet40.aspx?cib=1541899

Even has a moon roof, though the interior color does not inspire me there are several to choose from.

http://taladrod.com/w20/Search/TbMktPrc_FS.aspx?mk=26&md=364

I believe most of the cars are sold around 30% below used car prices.

I checked taladrod for prices on the 6 series beemer, and their prices were very similar to the auction prices, while the 350Z prices were 20-30% lower than listed taladrod prices, although some newer 350Z's were almost priced the same as these older 350's.

http://taladrod.com/w20/Search/TbSch3F_40.aspx#mk:6+md:445

http://taladrod.com/w20/Search/TbSch3F_40.aspx#mk:34+md:435

So sounds like the original owners would likely have gotten a discount in buying them back? Having avoided a 300% plus tax. especially for the more pricey models it may be a significant discount.

That ferrari is beautiful but it's unnecessary to mess it up with those two girls in front of it.

I agree and they have the ugly end of the car open to view instead of the most attractive end.

Maybe park somewhere further away like a market or mall next time and take a taxi would be my suggestion. I do that when visiting the Embassy, park up the road at the hotel and walk or across the street in the building that houses Homeland Security if it's early and spaces are available.

Not necessarily, if they never paid the original tax and thus the are confiscated, the auction goes to the highest bidder that doesn't necessarily cover the tax owed, they usually just want to get whatever they can. If the tax has to be paid in full first then that is another story. But when the tax and other fees exceed triple the cars cost anything less then that would be a discount.

My wife was able to get a loan without guarantor if you pay at least 50% down sometimes even less, (she actually got down to 35% on one car but we passed on it for other reasons, probably why she was considered for the 35% because it had mechanical issues) and you have a work permit, not sure how this applies to you since you didn't say anything about your status in your OP but if not you, then maybe it applies to others seeking advice as well. Most won't offer this service voluntarily you have to pursue it vigorously as they want cash instead and feel that farang can pay it in full so they'd prefer you do that, it's also less hassle for them to pay cash and we know how they shy away from hassle and a bit of extra work even for a sale.

We tried to trade in 2 cars for a new diesel Focus a few years ago, A SEAT worth about 120,000 and a classic Crown I've mentioned a few times, they wouldn't even entertain the Crown and the SEAT was not much consideration either, I was willing to take $100,000 for the SEAT but wanted 170,000 for the Crown, BTW it was a special edition Cal look trim and interior features as well, probably the only like it in Thailand. It all worked out in our favor though as I ended up getting 240,000 for the crown and 130,000 for the SEAT when I sold them just before leaving. Might not have even gotten that much for the newer Focus. Som nom na. their loss, our gain..

Meaning the original owners probably ended up bidding and winning most of them back only likely at a discount. That's probably their work around, possible if you have enough money to do which it is likely the previous owners of these cars have no problem with.

I agree with the "over regulated" portion at least..

OSD more like..

^That was never a problem for me. Always give them the right of way regardless, if nothing else it's the considerate thing to do, I don't need a law to tell me that.

^ Not to mention there are wires behind most A pillars, pretty good possibility to cut through one of them causing all range of potential issues that may happen over time through rubbing, besides permanently scaring the molding. No up side really..

LadyBird, take a cruise around, DC, LA, NYC, Miami, Hotlanta, many others, than get an old lady cry back to us.

Planet Earth, friend, adjust.

Most incidents on this thread could be exchanged with young women in the US talking or texting on cell phones and octogenarians driving through store fronts and entering on the exit sides of malls and shopping centers! Men who talk on cell phones are not any better but since men generally talk on the phone far less they are less guilty.

Yep, beat me to it, without question as I just posted before reading the whole thread and it isn't just women as you mention, I'll take Thai drivers over black drivers any day, of course that'll label me racist but when it's a fact it's a fact regardless, mentioning Thai drivers is in the same vein, black drivers are the most self entitled, rude, unthinking, arrogant drivers on ANY road without exception.

Here are some of my favorites...

'I've waited long enough, I'm entitled to pull out now.'

'I'm sorry, but my time is more important than yours, let me invent a new lane here because I am special.'

'Let me throw my door out into traffic, there's almost no chance there's a motorcyclist driving by that I could kill.'

'Oh you made a bad decision to pull out, I'm gonna flash my lights at you instead of slowing down.'

'That old lady crossing the road better hurry up, cause my Mia Noi is waiting and I don't want to be late.'

'Let me see how close I can drive to your bumper.'

'You can't see me behind these tinted windows, so I'm gonna drive like a complete maniac.'

'Sure this area is heavily congested and chaotic, but if I slow down, I decrease my fuel efficiency. I'm saving the environment, bro!'

'That U-turn is far away, I'm just gonna drive down the wrong side of the road.'

'Sure I've got a entire Burmese city in the back of my truck, but I need to see if I can get this thing on two wheels.'

There's gotta be a bunch I'm missing, have at it.

Here I was thinking that if you added texting while driving you'd have a complete list save for the Burmese in the truck bed, but it wouldn't be Thailand................................... It'd be back here in the states. But since most haven't back to "civilization" recently you wouldn't know how bad it is, a fact that I have been reminded of all too often since returning, I've never disputed the fact that driving freedom would be the thing I missed most leaving there, at least you can take your piece and not have to allow others to do so like you have to do here on the off chance that the one time you do the cop will put down his doughnut, give you a beating because he didn't get laid last night and write you a ticket for it ..

I have to say though, if I was driving super car class with an 8, I'd think very seriously about a 20b instead of a 13b Renesis.

But the wipers and such don't change just because it's right drive, the model of car is the issue everything else is the same just on the wrong side, those parts are interchangeable.. Cooked you're so right, back 2 years now and longing for the freedom of Thailand riving again. What irks me most is that the drivers here feel entitled to be rude, inconsiderate, ignorant and out right break the law but SHOULD know better so by my following the laws I get really irritated with the ignorance and especially with the inconsideration as IMO they should know better and that's what I expect. There I just accepted it and went with the flow, did my own thing without too much worry regarding breaking laws etc., that's not to say I broke them at every occasion or even intentionally I just didn't stress over it so much like you have to here and get irritated when it's all around you and no one is getting pulled over when you know the first time you did it, you would and it would cost you big time.

Great! So what class was it in? How modified was it? Never mind, I Googled it, it's a fully prepared race car, must have run the supercar class? It's very clean and well done, Not all that nonsensical, heavy aero I see on so many cars in Thailand that few have a clue how it works, most of it just extra drag, how did it do? It looks like it should have been competitive if the driver was ok with the tight Bang Saen course.

Actually I meant to substitute 'troll' for "soul"..

No laughing matter, I figured as much..

I've seen RX7 drift cars here but I don't know if they are registered here.

I know some guys who build race cars here that race at bang saen. Last race they had an new RX from Japan in full race spec. I will send them an email and see if they can help you. Send me a PM with your info and I will see if I can help out.

Thanks, I'm just doing some investigating at the mo, it's still a bit premature to make concrete plans things are still being negotiated as to whether or not we want to race in Thailand or China, honestly my preference is China, it's a much bigger market and foreigners are not hassled so much in fact they're welcomed, the events are more professional as well, I've heard of people having guns drawn on them at some Thai races. I know quite a few people involved with racing in Thailand too including the top guy at RAAT who I spoke with a couple years ago. That was an Rx8 they had? Or 7?

This little pink shop next to Bangkok bank, the one painted pink is BMW/Merc parts supplier, I watched them grow over the years AFTER I sold my Bimmer, still got my brake fluid and such from them and they got much more organized and carry a lot more parts, I'm sorry I can't do better then this as they don't seem to have a sign with a phone number on it, but they are adjacent to Don Muang airport off of Srong Bra Pa rd. you didn't give any location so I don't know if that'll help or not?

https://www.google.com/maps/@13.926033,100.590011,3a,75y,188.67h,98.94t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sXc4jbZdhzFNIGhIf2gJHZg!2e0?hl=en

Then there's this place just under the Mo chit station, it's located on a side street now, and I don't see any signs he just moved here from around the corner, I believe he carries BMW as well, I think he can get anything, the old mans son speaks English, nice people, quite accommodating I used to get all my VW parts from them. Actually if you go to the shop just below, tell the son you got a reference from an American guy that used to buy a lot of parts for SEAT's and VW's and recommended him from the states, via Google, that'd be a hoot and I'd like to hear what he has to say about it? He should remember me I did a lot of business with him and there can't be THAT many Americans going there? Who know's he may give you a discount too, he always did me, but I did quite a bit of business with him.

https://www.google.com/maps/@13.794501,100.549733,3a,75y,328.66h,87.5t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sy6N33DSUPk00ba1J4AnT6A!2e0!6m1!1e1?hl=en

Just around the corner from him is another shop, looks like crap but also carries a lot of parts and can get most anything, but their attitude is crap so I seldom used them except in a pinch and usually drive right by to get to the other shop but they also speak English.

https://www.google.com/maps/@13.794795,100.549897,3a,75y,27.1h,77.64t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s1HlKqk2J4SDsCxhVAZwirQ!2e0!6m1!1e1?hl=en

This is literally the entrance to get to the other shop above, this is a one way street and you pass this shop to get to the other shop, you turn in here exactly one block past the other one, you can give them a try if you want, but I'd check the other shop first because they deserve the business if you can give it to them, this shop has an attitude like you're wasting their time or they're doing you a favor and they seem to farang price as well.

Hope one of these is good for you, good luck.

The shop is just down from the Saphan Kwai BTS station, not the Mo Chit station, right?

As memory serves it was up the road from Mo Chit, but same road, the name of which escapes me at the moment. Mo Chit is in front of the park if I'm not mistaken yes? They're both directly under the next station up, if that's Sapan Kwai?

Maybe good service, don't know personally as I do all my own work but NOT reasonable prices, had to buy a chipped key and some door light switches and they were nonsensical, price wise. They were also quite perplexed that I wasn't going to wait and have them install them at the their high prices, but actually do it myself which was about a 10 minute job, but was on different cars as well.