Jeep dealers/service agents in Thailand

[simon43]

Are Jeep Cherokees or Grand Jeep Cherokees still sold in Thailand?

 

A used Grand Jeep Cherokee is one vehicle that I'm thinking to buy when I return to live in Thailand in a few months from now.

 

Yes, I know that it guzzles gas!  It is also the only model of car that I have purchased new on 2 occasions when I lived in Europe, because I was extremely happy with the car's overall performance, roominess etc.  I loved both my Grand Jeeps and then bought a Merc ML450, which was 'OK', but did not have the personality of the Jeep.

 

(My first Grand Jeep Cherokee was built to order in the USA, shipped to the US military dock in Hamburg, and supplied with temporary US military plates for one year, when I then changed over to plates from the Principality of Andorra, complete with royal crest.  No, I was never in the US military, nor was I of royal Andorran blood....)

 

I would buy an older model in a flash, but I also need to think realistically about service and repairs in Thailand.

 

Grand Jeeps built around the year 2,000 are available for a low price, and with acceptable mileage.  I'm thinking that the low price may be because it is a gas guzzler.  Or it could be because there are no garages/service agents able to look after/repair the vehicle.....

 

Does anyone know the contact details of Jeep in Thailand?  Or know of service agents/garages anywhere in the country?  I don't want to buy a Grand Jeep if it can't be repaired, (even if I have to wait for parts to be imported).

 

 

[henry15]

In the parking garage of my High rise  are 6 Grand Cherokee parked all under a lot of dust. Nobody with some intelligence left will  woild buy an Cherokee in Thailand. A friend of mine would not listen to  thi advice and bought  one. After not yet one year he sold it.  He bought a  Landcruiser.

 

[verticalift]

Back in Canada I also owned a Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was a great ride.....

But having lived in Phuket now for the past 20 yrs, I’ve learned that you have to go local. 

If it’s not sold at one of the many car dealerships where you plan on living, don’t buy it. I’ve owned an Isuzu, Ford Ranger and  am now in a Volvo V40 Cross Country. You have to think about parts and service..... and $$$$

[VMOMMO]

Chrysler pulled out of Thailand in 2008. 

I own a Grand Voyager in Thailand. Parts are damn near impossible to find. No Thai will ever tell you if he knows someone who sells them as he wants to be able to skim money off the deal. Nobody will order anything for you either. Nobody knows how to fix it. Nobody has a DRB 3 to do diagnostics. 

RHD specific parts you will have to buy from UK or Australia. I paid over $1,000 USD for a brake master and booster. Nobody would even order a windshield for me, I had to buy it from a glass shop in HK who ordered it from Japan. By the time everyone got their brown envelopes in customs it cost me over 1,000 USD to replace it. I’m a Chrysler guy and if I did it again I would never buy it in Thailand. Buy a Ford or a Toyota or something you can get service and parts for. 

[tompelli]

Had a Jeep Cherokee & Grand Cherokee here for a few years. Wouldn't recommend one because of parts availability & cost. However I did find a great Jeep specialist garage on Phahon Yothin road around soi/yaek 46..

Good luck!

[Catkiwi]

32 minutes ago, henry15 said:

In the parking garage of my High rise  are 6 Grand Cherokee parked all under a lot of dust. Nobody with some intelligence left will  woild buy an Cherokee in Thailand. A friend of mine would not listen to  thi advice and bought  one. After not yet one year he sold it.  He bought a  Landcruiser.

 

<deleted> Henry, I have owned a couple of Jeeps here and have never doubted my intelligence for doing so...

 

Here is a great place to get servicing carried out , which I believe was the initial inquiry.

Baan Jeep

Ladprao 101, Soi 19, Bangkok, Thailand

[Oztruckie]

1 hour ago, VMOMMO said:

Chrysler pulled out of Thailand in 2008. 

I own a Grand Voyager in Thailand. Parts are damn near impossible to find. No Thai will ever tell you if he knows someone who sells them as he wants to be able to skim money off the deal. Nobody will order anything for you either. Nobody knows how to fix it. Nobody has a DRB 3 to do diagnostics. 

RHD specific parts you will have to buy from UK or Australia. I paid over $1,000 USD for a brake master and booster. Nobody would even order a windshield for me, I had to buy it from a glass shop in HK who ordered it from Japan. By the time everyone got their brown envelopes in customs it cost me over 1,000 USD to replace it. I’m a Chrysler guy and if I did it again I would never buy it in Thailand. Buy a Ford or a Toyota or something you can get service and parts for. 

Probably waste of time even trying to source parts from Australia, from all the stories I heard from Chrysler owners, 6 to 8 months wait just for basic panels bumper covers and the like. 

[off road pat]

In my many trips all over the country, I saw so many Jeep Cherokees for sale at garages that there had to be something wrong with them!!!

I do lots of off road trips with Thais with great 4x4's and never saw a Jeep Cherokee on one of those trips !!! Those Thais buy only reliable 4x4's with easy to find inexpensive spare parts !!!

Edited August 9, 2018 by off road pat

[smotherb]

Got a buddy who has a 1997 Jeep Cherokee and loves it--however, it has a Toyota 3.0l diesel 4x4 drive train.

[khunPer]

On 8/8/2018 at 8:06 AM, simon43 said:

I don't want to buy a Grand Jeep if it can't be repaired, (even if I have to wait for parts to be imported).

I had a Chrysler Jeep Cherokee Limited for almost 9 years in Thailand – an older 1996-model that I bought cheap second-hand, or rather 10th hand, as it had changed owner every year for 10 years – and I loved to drive in for another 8½ year. I believe it was build in Thailand, as Chrysler opened a Jeep-factory in 1995 (se video below).

 

Anyway, even an excellent car, it needed service when coming of age. No problem to have it serviced by a local repair shop – they were actually used to the model, with quite a number of Jeep Cherokees in the area – and original spareparts ordered from Bangkok arrived often next day (I live on a Southern island), and some stuff they could make themselves, like soldering pipes for cooling system. Cheap labor made it affordable; however the 4.0 liter engines used quite a bit of fuel.

 

I originally had it planned to be a temporary car for 2-3 years instead of monthly renting one – the price equaled 2 years of rent – until I moved permanently to Thailand, but I was too happy to let it go, even the fuel consumption was fairly high. However, at age 19 I has to consider some major rust damage repairs, probably due to monsoon salt from living sea-front, so I decided to say thanks and good bye, and bought a new Toyota using less fuel. In the locals' eyes i "loose face" by driving a car as old as myself – they said I was nearly as old as the car – whilst I made really good face with my new affordable Toyota, which also using a lot less fuel that almost paid for the car. Thais have no idea about was a farang boy dream about. I actually got an unexpected good price for the old jeep, which I sold via an agent, and the buyer – another farang – couldn't understand why I would let this "boy-dream" go.

 

So from my experience, don't worry about service or spare parts, especially if you re-settle in an area with other foreign expats...?

 

 

[gaff]

8 hours ago, henry15 said:

In the parking garage of my High rise  are 6 Grand Cherokee parked all under a lot of dust. Nobody with some intelligence left will  woild buy an Cherokee in Thailand. A friend of mine would not listen to  thi advice and bought  one. After not yet one year he sold it.  He bought a  Landcruiser.

 

 

But some people never learn and do at 60 y/old the same stupid things that we did at 20...

 

 

[simon43]

Thanks for the replies.  I joined the Jeep owners Facebook page recently and asked the same question.  There are apparently 6 Jeep specialist garages in Bangkok and others up-country.  On that Facebook page are many adverts for imported new spare parts at reasonable prices.

 

I can imagine that a serious mechanical or electrical problem could be very costly.  although I love Jeep Grands, I will probably buy my second (and far more sensible) choice ==> Honda CRV.

[tomtaylor1]

Hi, I have owned a Jeep Cherokee, and 2 Jeep Wranglers, all running on LPG, app 6.75 KML  on long runs.

Had the misfortune in Chiang Saen, far North of Thailand, to need a new water pump, new one arrived next day from Bangkok by bus, ordered by motor factor in Chiang Rai, he had pumps for other model jeeps in stock.

In The States, many suppliers of new and used parts, sent by mail, best is USPS, little or no import tax to pay, avoid DHL and Fedex like the plague. In Pattaya a local spares shop can order from Bangkok, but has numerous spares in stock.

Bangkok has a number of breaker yards.

Was more than happy to own these Jeeps.

Regards.

Tom