Info on crappyness of MG in Thai

[bearpolar]

Hey guys, we're about to change cars. We're probably going to end up with a X-trail but she keeps getting dragged in by the price of the MG + a good test drive.

 

Men are always wrong so do you guys have proof in thai that MG will end up costing us a fortune in time and money?

[transam]

New-ish on the block here so not really answerable "yet"...

[VocalNeal]

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/mg-motor/gs/verdict

[canopus1969]

MG service is good - take a look at the new MG ZS

[fredob43]

I happened to be behind one MG3 at some T/Lights last night. I turned my dip's to side lights as they must have been blinding the peeps that was driving.

 

Just down the road they pulled over to the slow lane. As I went past I thought that they might have had their side light's on as well. Turned out as I got passed that it was their dip's. Pore wasn't the word more like a M/C candle. If that's what the rest of the car is like build quality wise I would steer well clear.

[fertilizer]

We had a close look at the MG GS a few months back including one long test drive as my wife intended to change her car. Found it to be a nice car in most aspects at a good price. Yesterday MG ZX came out on the Thai market, another nice mini SUV at a good price. She finally decided to buy another brand that has been on the Thai market since many years back - but it was a close call.

I am old enough to remember the days when Japanese cars were introduced into Europe and was frown upon by plenty of people. The same now happens with Chinese cars. But my guess is  Chinese cars will succeed in the same way Japanese cars once did and Chinese made mobiles are doing just now. 

It is more difficult to guess if MG itself will stay longsighted as a brand.

Volvo has had Chinese owners since quite a few years back and are now doing very well in introducing new models and they are selling well in US as well as their main markets in Europe.

Edited November 15, 2017 by fertilizer

[gmac]

9 minutes ago, fertilizer said:

I am old enough to remember the days when Japanese cars were introduced into Europe and was frown upon by plenty of people. The same now happens with Chinese cars. But my guess is  Chinese cars will succeed in the same way as Japanese cars once did and Chinese made mobiles are doing just now. However it is hard to guess if MG itself will stay longsighted as a brand.

I remember that as well but when they first arrived the quality was very poor.  They have since probably become the most reliable vehicles around. 

 

I suspect the same will be true of the Chinese MG's, trying to get a foothold with low prices but possibly low quality to match.  Probably best to wait a few years and see how they fare.

[transam]

27 minutes ago, fredob43 said:

I happened to be behind one MG3 at some T/Lights last night. I turned my dip's to side lights as they must have been blinding the peeps that was driving.

 

Just down the road they pulled over to the slow lane. As I went past I thought that they might have had their side light's on as well. Turned out as I got passed that it was their dip's. Pore wasn't the word more like a M/C candle. If that's what the rest of the car is like build quality wise I would steer well clear.

Gawd......

[DavisH]

The new my zs in Thailand has a four speed auto. ...they aren't:t exactly on the cutting edge of technology lol. As new it may be ok, but I'd worry about long term reliability.

[Kinnock]

I think they look good, but unfortunately in Thailand the resale value (which is a major part of the total running costs) will be poor compared to Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

 

If you want an SUV style car, then I reckon the HR-V and X-Trail are your best bets.  There's also a new Queshq .... Quishq ..... Quashwai .... Quashwk .... Mini X-Trail due soon.

[JoeW]

I would say give MG a few more years to get their act together. However there have been horror stories on Thai message boards from people having to wait a couple of months for a replacement windshield (a part not made in Thailand, but in China). If they can sort out basic repairs together with decent quality then all should be fine.

 

 

[NanLaew]

Why is resale value so important to some?

 

When you buy a car you like in America, Germany or Britain, do you ever factor in the resale value? If a commercial traveler where high mileages would be expected, there's leasing. But for the average 9 to 5-er or retiree with a bad golfing habit, what's the imperative here? I can't imagine a guy in the US going into the 'vette store and picking a shiny red one and thinking, "I'll get around 22 grand for that in 5 years time if I look after it."

 

I know that new car prices AND second-hand prices in LOS are generally higher than one would expect for what one gets but if one is not planning flipping cars every 2-3 years, what has resale value got to do with the initial purchase decision?

 

 

[Will E Vormer]

Steer clear of MGs with the old 1.5 and 4 speed. Ancient drivechain. You get what you pay for, cheap and probably not a good long term bet. 

[Sam Lin]

5 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Why is resale value so important to some?

 

When you buy a car you like in America, Germany or Britain, do you ever factor in the resale value?

 

Absolutely! Resale is the single biggest financial factor in car decisions. It's the only variable you have complete control over before you even buy the vehicle, and as you'll see below, it's throwing away a huge amount of money if you ignore it.

 

Look at the Edmunds data here, the percentages are pretty close here in Thailand despite the prices generally being higher:

https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/best-retained-value-cars.html

https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/top-10/top-10-cars-with-the-worst-residual-value.html

 

Using 5yr data, the best resale keeps ~70% of value. The worst keeps ~30%. On a $20000 car, that means you can lose an additional $8000 in 5 years by ignoring resale in your purchase decision. That's more than all your fuel, maintenance, and insurance costs combined.

 

Sam

[TheMekon]

Buy a Mazda, Nissan or Merc. Chinese brands are best avoided until they have more experience and market history.

It's cheap for a reason.

[NanLaew]

2 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

 

Absolutely! Resale is the single biggest financial factor in car decisions. It's the only variable you have complete control over before you even buy the vehicle, and as you'll see below, it's throwing away a huge amount of money if you ignore it.

 

Look at the Edmunds data here, the percentages are pretty close here in Thailand despite the prices generally being higher:

https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/best-retained-value-cars.html

https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/top-10/top-10-cars-with-the-worst-residual-value.html

 

Using 5yr data, the best resale keeps ~70% of value. The worst keeps ~30%. On a $20000 car, that means you can lose an additional $8000 in 5 years by ignoring resale in your purchase decision. That's more than all your fuel, maintenance, and insurance costs combined.

 

Sam

Thanks for those links.

 

I was a Ford T-bird and subsequently a Dodge truck owner in the US. The former, like my mate's Chevy Malibu, were relatively cheap, mid-size sedans that nobody really considered as an investment. Interesting to see that America's most popular/best-selling truck, the Ford F-series doesn't feature in the linked 'best value' stakes either. If they're selling more of them but nobody's rating them as keepers, maybe most of them are only featuring in the recyclers yards or otherwise expendable.

 

From your links, a top-end, mid-size sedan like the Toyota Camry or Avalon would be the best bet. In the UK, the marques that offer low-end but affordable luxury tend to show a precipitous drop in resale value. I have a used Chrysler 300C back in the UK that was bargain when I got a 3-year-old, low-mileage, top line one for about £11,000 about 5 years ago. The list price new back then was (I think) around $22,000 and up. Chrysler pulled out of the UK car market earlier this year so interesting to see how that impacts their second-hand prices. I may 'trade up' to a newer, used one.

 

I consider a car purchase as a necessity more than an investment. Land and houses are investments, cars are just expensive consumables with how much you are able to 'throw away' being the criteria on what you buy. Some can only afford sub-compacts on finance while others can pay cash for a Benz or a Beemer. You would think that the artificially high new and carry-over used prices in Thailand may cause the average Thai owner to look after their 'investment' better but not sure if most do.

 

The Thai market is what it is.

[Langsuan Man]

I never purchased a car in the US with any expectations of it being worth anything when it came time to get a replacement

 

Thailand's re-sale values (of popular brands, Toyota & Honda) make it a whole new ball game here

 

For instance,  I just bought a new Honda HRV and the 200,00 THB  that I got as a trade in for my 7 year old Toyota Vios is what allowed me to upgrade 

[DavisH]

29 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

I never purchased a car in the US with any expectations of it being worth anything when it came time to get a replacement

 

Thailand's re-sale values (of popular brands, Toyota & Honda) make it a whole new ball game here

 

For instance,  I just bought a new Honda HRV and the 200,00 THB  that I got as a trade in for my 7 year old Toyota Vios is what allowed me to upgrade 

2005 toyota fortuners are advertised at about 500K or so...that's crazy. That's an easy down payment on a new one. Cars are generally more expensive in LoS, but they are cheaper to maintain and keep value well (esp, T and H, as you say).

[Rdrokit]

Have a friend who I play golf with who has an MG SUV with a 2 liter turbo engine. He said the turbo lag is horrendous and at first thought there was a problem with the turbo. The dealer said it was normal. So if you are going to buy a MG with a turbo take a test drive and stomp the gas like you were passing someone and check for the lag. I thought I heard they will discontinue the 2 liter turbo engine and go to a 1.5 liter turbo.

[bearpolar]

i still remember my first car in thailand.. sold it for a tiny bit more money a year later.

honda obviously.

[JaseTheBass]

Hey guys, we're about to change cars. We're probably going to end up with a X-trail but she keeps getting dragged in by the price of the MG + a good test drive.
 
Men are always wrong so do you guys have proof in thai that MG will end up costing us a fortune in time and money?

Just get the missus to run her hands over the interior plastics. She'll soon cross the MG off the list.

Sent from my Cray II supercomputer

[JaseTheBass]

Why is resale value so important to some?
 
When you buy a car you like in America, Germany or Britain, do you ever factor in the resale value? If a commercial traveler where high mileages would be expected, there's leasing. But for the average 9 to 5-er or retiree with a bad golfing habit, what's the imperative here? I can't imagine a guy in the US going into the 'vette store and picking a shiny red one and thinking, "I'll get around 22 grand for that in 5 years time if I look after it."
 
I know that new car prices AND second-hand prices in LOS are generally higher than one would expect for what one gets but if one is not planning flipping cars every 2-3 years, what has resale value got to do with the initial purchase decision?
 
 

Resale value (and servicing) is the only reason people can justify buying a Toyota as they are behind in every other criteria.

Sent from my Cray II supercomputer