josephbloggs

16 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

A car called a Seal or a Sealion. How woke can they get? Will we be getting the Petal, or the Tiara any time soon?

Is it just me or is "woke" the most overused term on this form? It is unimaginative and dull.

Anything that is potentially good for the planet is "woke". Anyone left of Donald Trump is "woke". If you drive an EV you are "woke" rather than just enjoying the car for the benefits it brings (performance, comfort, technology etc).

But no, woke woke woke. Zzzzzzzz.

11 minutes ago, retarius said:

tf, course, They have a hybrid option. Toyota decide years ago that Evenly were not going to be viable and invested solely in hybrids. They were the only company to do so, and now all the other manufacturers are playing catch up. 

Righty ho. Of course. 

1 hour ago, LennyW said:

The EV brigade are like the Vegans of the motoring world, always forcing their opinions on others whether asked or not!!

That is nonsense. As motdaeng says the EV owners on here are constantly saying that EVs are not for everyone.

If someone comes on here and asks for recommendations for an SUV what is wrong with giving recommendations on a new SUV? The first EV owner to respond gave his opinions on ICEV vehicles and didn't even mention EVs. 

The rest of the time the EV owners usually only pipe up when someone comes along with totally wrong (mis)information like "There are no charging stations", "EVs are worthless after xxx years", "They always catch fire" or other nonsense. Then the thread can be hijacked but it is never started by the EV owners in my opinion.

To use your analogy, imagine if someone asked for restaurant recommendations and someone recommended a great Indian vegan or vegetarian place. Fair enough, take it or leave it. But then if all the meat eaters piled in with lies about vegetarianism or veganism they would be right to point it out. A vegan restaurant is still a restaurant. An EV is still a car.

I don't see anyone forcing anything, only the anti-EV brigade forcing their lies down people's throats which may have a negative influence on the OP reflecting on what their choices are.

 

31 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

Price comparison for similar performance: 

 

 

 

Ah, I said which one I would "take". If I was being made to pay for them no question: it's the Seal, hands down.

18 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

That damage doesn't come with speeds of a fender bender for sure. The car was travelling well over the speed limit.

Not necessarily. The speed limit on that road is 120 kmh. Hit anything at that speed and you are doing serious damage.

Also that is a pretty old Merc - looks like a W123 so over 30 years old; unlikely that would get over 120kmh.

Unless he had a high speed blowout it's safe to say it was being driven very badly, but I wouldn't immediately conclude it was over the speed limit.

God this thread has become really really boring.

11 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

So basically you still get priority lanes just in the normal passport areas. It is a nothing story. Actually worse, it is an incorrect story.

5 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Good to see that you have joined in on this month's cherry 🍒 harvest.

Toyota has had a 30% market share in Thailand for many years, but 2024 is one of their strongest years with 33-34% market share.

Yes, absolute numbers are down, but that is for the entire auto market in Thailand. Toyota is doing better very well in a shrinking market.

The ginger 🫚 Aussie is pumping fake news again and his lemming followers happily copy/paste every bit of his propaganda 😀. 

I don't have as much time as you guys with nothing to do but go through numbers every single day, nor do I really care, but it is clear all vehicle sales are down this year. 

You are cherry picking that Toyota market share is up? Normally people provide links.

How is Toyota's market share for ICEVs compared to their rivals' BEVs? What are the trends? Where is the growth? That should be telling.

Sukuzi are leaving Thailand so no-one is buy their celeriacs (only transam seems to like them). They have dropped from 8k units a year to only 1k units. Therefore market share for other ICEV makers increases.  Subaru are also exiting Thailand so no one is buying their cars.

Trying to claim Toyota are getting stronger is laughable, especially without providing a shred of evidence. Where is your evidence please?

43 minutes ago, Flyguy330 said:

I did a contract for 3 months in Santiago, Chile in 1988. Loved the place. Dead safe (still under Pinochet rule), friendly people, great food, amazing wine, and the female talent was amazing.

I considered a side trip to Brazil, but all the Chileans I mentioned it to were aghast and strongly advised against it. I took their advice and visited Valparaiso instead (which was great).

A mate of mine who did visit Rio was held up at gunpoint in the street.

The internet these days is full of videos from Brazil of the most cruel and horrible murders being regularly committed there. I'd love to have seen the Carnival, but no way will I go there now.

We were so paranoid about crime that when we finally landed in Rio we hid ATM and credit cards in our socks and only kept minimal cash in our pockets so if we we car jacked or held up we would still have our cards. Then on our first day we went up the mountain to see Christ the Redeemer but didn't take our cameras as that would make us a target for robbery.

We felt pretty silly afterwards and of course we didn't have any photos of that amazing view. After that we behaved normally and never felt unsafe for the rest of our three weeks in various parts of Brasil. I did get pickpocketed once in Pelourinho during carnival but I was insanely drunk so was probably a very easy target - that was foolish of me.

38 minutes ago, Cameroni said:

 

Mostly because it's fantastically overpriced, considering the fact it's just a Volvo. It's an OK SUV, but at the end of the day, it's a Volvo. The price tag is almost comical. 

 

You can get a used Porsche SUV for the money Volvo is asking. Which would be a much better choice. 

That's why I was suggesting a used Volvo. Top of the range low mileage XC90, 321 bhp for a decent price within the OP's budget.

Agree that in the current market new Volvos are overpriced, but they are great cars, great spec, not just an "OK" SUV. . A good second hand one with a warranty is worth considering. My XC 40 has a lovely interior, good responsive 2l turbo engine, Harmon / Kardon 13 speaker sound system and more safety tech than you can shake a stick at.

A year or so ago I was driving down Sukhumvit at night, I indicated to move to the right lane and immediately my car made warning noises, swung me back to the middle lane and told me it had avoided a collision. At the same time a motorbike went speeding down my right hand side with no lights on. The tech saved his life.

Two days ago I was stopped waiting to turn right. All of  a sudden the seatbelts pulled me and the other occupants tight, hazard lights went off, and parking brake was applied - it detected I was about to be rear ended - thankfully the car missed, but only just.

My friend spent way more on an Audi Q series. Better looking (especially on his 21 inch rims) but lacking in tech, inferior sound system, no self parking, no active safety to speak of.

Anyway, would I buy another Volvo today? No. Are they fantastic and well specced cars? Yes. Just that today you can get better value for money with the Chinese brands. I do love the EX30 but I wouldn't buy one for the money now.