Cars In Thailand

[RDN]

I bought a Mazda fighter 3 years ago for 600000 baht. Had no trouble with it and the 4 wheel drive is nice to have when you go up into the mountain areas.

The big tyres and four wheel drive can be very useful getting off the main road and into the sois in some places in Phuket

[ajahnlau]

Nissan Wingroad, drives like a car and can use back like small pick-up. Bought used 3 yrs ago and only expense has been fluid changes. Also ride Harley which costs more than double for an oil change if using HD oil.

[penelope]

Black Lexus RX300

[Insight]

Toyota Soluna 1.5i. Very sensible car but no fun what so ever. Most I've got out of it is 160kph. (And it's a bloody auto)

Still, it's got me many places around Thailand. Drove from Bangkok to Ko Samui for last New Year - one very smooth journey.

[maerim]

(And it's a bloody auto)

What's wrong with that?

Sounds absolutely ideal for some of the people on here who like to nudge the turps on a frequent basis as automatic vehicles can be driven with one hand and one foot.

Custom made for drunks.

[Pepe']

Can you please include prices with your posts.

Thanx

[chanchao]

> Excuse me ??? Cars secondhand are bloody expensive , the only

> reason they do that is because thailand doesn't have a Car registration

> and checking law like in the rest of the world.

Thailand does have a car registration like the rest of the world. Booklet will tell you exactly when it was registered. And people who maintain their cars well will keep the receipts from the dealer.

> I can buy a 10 year old Volvo 940 in europe for 5000 bath...

Yes, and the first thing that goes wrong with it will cost you 20,000 baht in repair. In Thailand however, the same thing that goes wrong with it will be 2-3K baht. Yes it was more expensive to buy, but the actual 'value' was higher. And guess what, if you maintain that Volvo 940 well, 5 years down the road you'll be selling it to pretty close what you paid for it. Still expensive?

(well, yes, but not so much that it warrants all the exclamation marks.. )

> It is just because people try to make money on their

> secondhands untill they fall apart.

So don't buy them then, buy new.

I have bought cars second hand as well as new and am very happy with both. I've also bought cars second hand, have my gf reduce it to scrap (and I mean scrap, I can show you the pictures), but then had it fixed up for 40K baht or so and it's still going 5 years later! (If you know where to look you can see it's taken a hit, but you wouldn't notice driving it. Straight as an arrow, breaks straight as an arrow, corners fine, etc. Took a month to get if fixed though.. Imagine the cost of letting a mechanic in Europe/US work on your car for a month!

Cheers,

Chanchao

[chanchao]

> i drive an old toyota mighty x pick up which i bought for 200000bht 2 years ago.

> it's only cost me about 20000bht in 2 years for service, air con re-charge etc.

> a wolf in sheeps clothing, supra brakes (discs all round) auto box with overdrive, and

> 2.5l 24v 210bhp 6cyl.

Really...!! Was that the original engine, but then tweaked?? How did it get to be 210 bhp???

Cheers,

Chanchao

[davethailand]

> i drive an old toyota mighty x pick up which i bought for 200000bht 2 years ago.

> it's only cost me about 20000bht in 2 years for service, air con re-charge etc.

> a wolf in sheeps clothing, supra brakes (discs all round) auto box with overdrive, and

> 2.5l 24v 210bhp 6cyl.

Really...!! Was that the original engine, but then tweaked?? How did it get to be 210 bhp???

Cheers,

Chanchao

originally it was a standard diesel mighty gl extracab. 2500cc i think.

the owner before has changed the brakes, gearbox and engine.

the engine it has now is a toyota 1jz twin cam injection 24v, 2500cc straight six (petrol), with performance air filter/charger and performance s/s exhaust. system.

according to toyota the engines standard output is 200bhp, with the additions it has its probably around 205/210bhp.

all this was on the truck whan i bought it, all i've done is keep it maintained and serviced.

[bangsaen bob]

I've got a Jeep (Thai copy) open air with roof. Fun to drive, except when sitting still. It fits where I live, Bangsaen. It was also cheap, 50,000 THB five years a go.

[maerim]

breaks straight as an arrow

If you had it repaired properly in the first place it would not break straight or otherwise.

By the way do the brakes work?

[penelope]

Can you please include prices with your posts.

Thanx

Got no idea. Company lease it for me. Used to have a driver, but canned him.Now I drive it myself.

[penzman]

We drive a small Hyunday Accent, no guts... But it gets us there. Good thing it has air-con or Penzman would not be seen in it.

I actually prefer riding the motorcycle anywhere since I can`t stand sitting still in traffic, what a waste of time... Aaaah, what a joy to zip between cars and save on LM kheows while following the black smoke churning buses.

[Digger]

Can you please include prices with your posts.

Thanx

Got no idea. Company lease it for me. Used to have a driver, but canned him.Now I drive it myself.

Lexus RX300 is 3,470,000 baht from official Lexus dealers.

Can aslo get grey import Toyota Harrier (same same but not same in terms of warranty) for about 3,900,000 baht

[bkk_mike]

Got a Merc C180, and a Mitsubishi G-Wagon.

Price-wise Thailand is a bit odd. They have MASSIVE import duties, and large car taxes (applied to the import duty as well as the cost of the vehicle).

Cars built here have no import duty and are therefore, normally cheaper than the equivalent in the UK (I know there are differences, like the rear suspension, but the G-Wagon was about £17K, where the Shogun sport in the UK is about £21K). This is helped by the fact that the car tax on SUVs with 4WD derived from pickups, is lower than normal car tax.

Imported cars, or even imported as CKD (effectively car kits for putting together locally) are a lot more expensive here - i.e. the Merc was about double what we would have paid in the UK for the same car (and the UK isn't exactly known for low prices).

However, because the price new is so high, the second-hand price is high as well because you can't import used cars into Thailand (except, I think, as a one-off personal import - and you still have the taxes to pay based on some "book" price that I haven't seen published anywhere...)

[ka12345]

If you want a safe vehicle in BKK traffic you need one of these:

[350torana]

Have a late 90's Izusu Rodeo pickup and 90 Hyundia Excel in the driveway . pondered buying a new pick up for a while , prices are reasanble. One beef I have is badging 4 door pick ups as Sl (Saloon). Anyone buy from Carryboy ?

[kittykat]

If you want a safe vehicle in BKK traffic you need one of these:

I am wife tukyleith, he help me talking here.

I want say about photo car...

one time I want driver because everybody look me, my car beautiful.

and I can beep beep and I can bomb.

This my car, big good. Other car cannot do.

kittykat.

[tuky]

Guys,

My wife has had a problem with me spending so much time in thaivisa, she wanted to know what it is all about. When I showed her she insisted she answer .

What can I do?

kittykat is my wife, I do the typing for her but it is her words.

I hope you are all ok about it

tukyleith

[Darknight]

sure tuky the more the merry i think it is.

hopefully you both don't get confused and start replying to yourselfs :-)

[maerim]

I hope you are all ok about it

If your better half is driving one of those tanks I for one am more than OK with it.

[chanchao]

> Have a late 90's Izusu Rodeo pickup and 90 Hyundia Excel in the

> driveway . pondered buying a new pick up for a while , prices are

> reasanble.

Yes, but why.. that Isuzu will go on forever, and depreciation will be near zero from now on I'd say.

> One beef I have is badging 4 door pick ups as Sl (Saloon).

> Anyone buy from Carryboy ?

Erm, I'm not sure what you mean by this. ANY 4 door pick-up you can register as a passenger car, no modifications needed. You CAN also register them as passenger vans, but then you need to put some benches in the back before you register it. You save some on tax that way, but end up paying some more for insurance. ;-)

Or do you just want to do the Carryboy thing? You don't exactly get a very comfortable seating area in the back that way. (Not enough height, unless you make it one of those really tall Carryboy covers which look rediculous.) I think many people do it for 'looks' only, and you lose pick-up versatility. Better spend a little more then and buy a proper pick-up conversion to estate/station wagon, or something like a Toyota Sport Rider of course.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[Edward B]

As  a newcomer two year ago, I went and bought a Toyota Soluna with ABS brakes....

...Went for the Toyota reputation. P.S. it was the last model year for that body style, the next one is the Vios, which I don't particulary like "stylewise".

Well, I bought the Vios. 560K and it drives beautifully. Economical but powerful enough if you need to overtake one of those rot puangs going up a mountain on a one-lane, windy highway. I like the dashboard in the middle of the car too (always had trouble looking at my speed due to the steering wheel being in my line of vision). Not that one needs to look at ones speed that often here in LOS. Comes in many colours for the wifeys out there, plus anchorage point for a baby seat.

[chingy_]

if you wait a little longer you could of bought the turbo version, with that turbo kick-in your can zoom thro anything

[lor]

Just a quicky, As you all seem to know how much cars are in Thailand.

I will be moving to Sarapee, (Chaing Mai) in a few months and want to bring my car with me.

It is a Citroen Xantia "P" Reg. Checking the net I see the total taxes and import duty is 140% of the street cost of this car new at a Thai dealership, and if it not there some book price including shipping. From this you subtract 70% because of the age of the car.

Could someone please tell me what the starting price is for this car in Thailand. It is all very well for the tax people to say 140% of a figure but no use if I do not know the figure to start with!

Or would it be better just to sell the car here and buy another in Thailand. I cannot afford to pay much for a replacement car. The car I have only cost me £1,200 (85,000 baht) two months ago.

Regards Chris

[taxexile]

never seen a citroen xantia here, a p. reg xantia is worth very little in the uk, but it would probably cost you at least 3-4000 pounds to ship it and get it through customs, then you would need to have air-con installed, and a larger radiator to cope with the heat here, etc.etc.

its really not worth importing.

if you are not bothered about image (and lets face it... if you drive an old citroen then image is not important to you ) then you could buy an old 1990-94 toyota here for about 1000 pounds, repairs and parts for an old car here are cheap, and it would do the biz.

fyi, the imported new mini cooper,which costs about 11.5 k in the uk sells for going on 30k here,thats pounds sterling.

[lor]

Thanks for the quick reply. My Xantia has air con already, and cruise control, Satellite Navigation etc (Don't think that works in Thailand!). Never thought about a bigger radiator though!

The shipping price is only £400 but the taxes are what I am worried about. From what you say it seems best to get rid and buy another.

My wife will be happy, she wants a pick-up. I don't inderstand why, seems she wants to be just like every other person in her village. When I asked her why she was so set on a pickup she started talking about her family sitting in the back, and a car too small. This has sent alarm bells ringing in my head. I am even more addamant that we buy a car and not a pickup!

Regards CHris

[maerim]

she started talking about her family sitting in the back, and a car too small. This has sent alarm bells ringing in my head. I am even more addamant that we buy a car and not a pickup!

This is another advantage of having a pick up, think of what will happen if you have a big car.

Where will they sit then?

[taxexile]

you would also find it difficult if not impossible to get parts here for a xantia, pick ups are the thing to have here and like maerim says, you chuck the inlaws,the inlaws inlaws,the inlaws cousins and all the other people that suddenly claim kinship in the back.

happy motoring!!

[chonabot]

Methinks the chap is not to keen on the extended family taking a ride , perhaps a trailer could be purchased with the next car?