2 minutes ago, kwak250 said:

Ah your "old school "

I like it.

 

You know Aberdeen Grammar School?

 

She wants a bloody merc or a mini. 

Check out a Suzuki Ciaz.....pretty solid car and comfortable for longer journeys as well. Nice amount of car around you to protect you from the idiot drivers. Those other cars are pretty small when it comes to protection. Suzuki service where I live is very good....they even had the mechanic come out and talk to me when I had questions for him.

6 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

You know Aberdeen Grammar School?

 

She wants a bloody merc or a mini. 

All You want there is an Umbrella.

We have a Honda and a Toyota. Both solid well built cars with good service in the Pattaya area. If we were changing the Vios we would go for the Yaris hatchback. Nice looking motor.

I went and got a 2019 Suzuki Claz from the Dealer last November. Fantastic car. 0 problems so far. I have owned previously a DATSUN pick up truck, 3 Nissan Tiana's, a Toyota van then 2 Camry's and finally now the 2019 Suzuki Claz GT sedan. It is equal to fit and finish of any other vehicle I've owned. I am 100% satisfied with it. Check it out yourself.

2 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

You could grab a brand new Nissan March for 400k and pocket 100-350k.

750k, you could almost buy one and a spare.

It sounds like he is looking for a car.  Not a mini death box.

it all depends on mechanical condition. Cheaper car means more kilometer on them and more mechanical problems or like to have problems. You can't go wrong with japanese cars. Stay away from Chevrolet for sure.

Will this be a second car or your main drive? If it's a second car and purely for city driving then I'd get one of the cheaper ones that can get through small gaps, are easy to park and have a small u turn radius. If your area is prone to flooding or you have lousy roads you may also need to consider the ride height

Honda Jazz is a great choice. Service very good, handle standing water very well, bigger inide 

than they look, fuel efficient, Kooked after will last foeever here.

We drive a 7 year old Civic & a 5 year old Jazz, hard to fault

First off sit in them all and see how you like the feel.... head room & vision..   I ended up with a Honda City.. I found it to be a bit roomier than the others.. Get a few extras if you can.. the reversing camera is a must in my books.  Forget about the extra outside trim.. We only use it for shopping and the occasional longer trip.. works fine for us.. very nice to drive. 

16 hours ago, BobbyL said:

Agree with the Mazda 2. Ours has been great over the last few years and a decent size. 

And the new one has all the bells and whistles.  Bought one for my Wife and she loves it to bits.

39 minutes ago, pineapple01 said:

All You want there is an Umbrella.

I flew for Bristow Helicopters out of Dice from Jan to March 1968 hence my obscure remark. Lived in Stonehaven.  Snow, Ice,Rain n More bloody Rain.

 

40 minutes ago, alien365 said:

Will this be a second car or your main drive? If it's a second car and purely for city driving then I'd get one of the cheaper ones that can get through small gaps, are easy to park and have a small u turn radius. If your area is prone to flooding or you have lousy roads you may also need to consider the ride height

It will be my main drive for around Ubon, but I also have a moped for quick jots. Yes that's exactly what I was looking for - can get thru the narrow sois, easy to park and small enough for my gf to handle.

 

We will be going to a few dealerships this week. I had never thought of buy a Suzuki but that Ciaz is a good deal. Also the Honda Jazz looks pretty handy.

 

Thanks for the advise everyone! All taken into consideration.

 

21 minutes ago, pineapple01 said:

I flew for Bristow Helicopters out of Dice from Jan to March 1968 hence my obscure remark. Lived in Stonehaven.  Snow, Ice,Rain n More bloody Rain.

Ah, I flew out of Dyce many times, but I was just a toddler in 1968.

Used to love the chopper rides to work, and back.

 Mazda 2...... Suzuki Swifth...... Honda City LOL.

Come on girls! 

3 minutes ago, 2 is 1 said:

 Mazda 2...... Suzuki Swifth...... Honda City LOL.

Come on girls! 

Those are for little men! 

I would look on the safety aspect. Many small cars in Thailand have 2 airbags. I think, valuewise, the new Nissan Almera VL for around 650.000,-- is an excellent deal. Big inside, new turbo engine, looks are ok..Toyota will bring 2021 a new Yaris. Suzuki Ciaz also a bit old.

A good source for car reviews is Bangkok Post. Nice written reports about new cars entering the market.

19 hours ago, Sheryl said:

I'm planning to buy soon and have settled on Honda Jazz. Would have opted for City as first choice but none available with manual transmission which is what I want.

Sheryl,

Think twice about a manual shift. Old diehards won't admit it, buy modern automatics are now more efficient than manual. Plus, if you injure either leg or foot, you can still drive manual, auto is much easier in traffic and has a better resale value. A friend wouldn't listen to me, bought a manual, badly injured his leg and couldn't get to work for 3 months because he lived out in the country. Also automatics are very, very reliable these days. Mine never even needs a fluid change for the life of the vehicle.  Your money; your choice. Good luck!

2 hours ago, moldresistant said:

I had never thought of buy a Suzuki

Then be sure to check out the Suzuki Swift (four-door hatchback) and the Suzuki Ciaz, because they are both terrific cars.

 

I have owned my Suzuki Swift for seven years now and it is absolutely brilliant, roomy inside, great road handling and quite peppy (even has an overdrive button) and the reason I bought this was because I wanted a small car that I could park easily and was roomy enough to be able to accommodate someone of my size.

 

I also looked at the Suzuki Ciaz the other day when I was at their showroom, and it is a very lovely car, although for a single person like me, it offers too much in the way of room and size, so if I do get another car it will certainly be the Swift.

 

And by the way, the Suzuki service is the best I have ever experienced in my life and I have owned Mercedes, many BMWs, Saabs and an Audi and a Passat.

 

I can't speak too highly of the Suzuki Swift and the service Suzuki provides here.

The new Almera is really nice looking but it is more to mid sized and that would depend on how good your girlfriend drives. Honda are great cars as I have a year old Civic RS, but then again that is too large for your needs. I plan on buying my son a Mazda 2. Just bought the daughter one and she likes it a lot.

2 hours ago, 2 is 1 said:

 Mazda 2...... Suzuki Swifth...... Honda City LOL.

Come on girls! 

That's a ride for a bloke with his hat on back to front and wearing shades at night....????

1 hour ago, jirathama said:

I would look on the safety aspect. Many small cars in Thailand have 2 airbags. I think, valuewise, the new Nissan Almera VL for around 650.000,-- is an excellent deal. Big inside, new turbo engine, looks are ok..Toyota will bring 2021 a new Yaris. Suzuki Ciaz also a bit old.

A good source for car reviews is Bangkok Post. Nice written reports about new cars entering the market.

Suzuki cars have more airbags than my beer bar....????

20 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Agreed, if not looking to finance and just dropping 5-750k on a car then picking one up which is second hand, perhaps 1 to 2 years old would secure a far better car as the car has had its greatest hit of depreciation already. 

 

Op could be looking at 2019 Honda Civic, 2019 Toyota C-HR, 2019 Mazda 3, Mazda CX-3, also plenty of pick-ups in that price range. 

 

 

https://www.one2car.com/en/used-cars-for-sale?min_year=2019&max_year=2020&min_price=500000&max_price=800000&page_number=3&page_size=25

 

 

Interesting link.

There seem to be quite a few 2018-19 models advertised with nearly zero km.  Maybe "New old stock"?

Toyota Vios for me , basic model with manual transmission , cost at the time 490,000baht , bought mine 13 years ago new from main dealership , still going strong , have travelled all over Thailand in it , never broke down or failed to start , economical, comfortable on long drives ,  cheap for parts and repairs/servicing , will probably last longer than me. ????

I would go with Toyota first and Honda close behind, forget the rest. You can't beat Toyota and Honda for reliability and quality. I have a 15 yr. old Toyota Avanza, that has been trouble free. Not only trouble-free but everything from the paint to the interior still looks almost new. The only reason I put Honda behind Toyota is their pricing, Toyotas for the most part are slightly better value.

I have owned a Honda Yaris for 12 years.  Great car and never a fault.  Honda Jazz has a better boot/ trunk.  Mazda 2 is more elegant.  Suzuki is fun but reports are that it is less reliable and somewhat expensive for spares but I cannot confirm these rumours.

 

22 hours ago, ianezy0 said:

Come on DR, you see the OP’s requirement.

I suppose if someone asks where to find a nice 20 year old girl, you would offer him a nice used model around 45ish....????

With or without a school uniform 

So I went shopping today. I visited the Honda, Toyota and Mazda dealerships here in Ubon. First I wanted to get the Honda Jazz but the lady there said they're on backorder for a few months, along with the City. They had the Brio Amaze but it was very flimsy plastic inside and none to test drive.

 

Toyota was on backorder too with the Vios and Yaris. None to test drive there either. What's the point of visiting a dealership if you can't test drive the models?

 

Only Mazda had models ready to buy and let me test drive, so I bought from them. I got the base model Mazda 2 1.3 E sedan for 545,000 baht. No television screen like in the upgraded versions but I found that to be distracting anyways. All I needed was my passport (with visa obviously) and driver's license (I used my IDL). Will be delivered Wednesday. Stoked!

 

Thanks everyone for all the advice!!!

I saw a basic new Isuzu truck for 680...not as comfortable to drive, but you will have far fewer suspension problems from the terrible roads..and that extra clearance underneath is almost necessary.  can be useful, and resell is excellent.

39 minutes ago, moldresistant said:

 

None to test drive there either. What's the point of visiting a dealership if you can't test drive the models?

 

Only Mazda had models ready to buy and let me test drive, so I bought from them. I got the base model Mazda 2 1.3 E sedan for 545,000 baht. Will be delivered Wednesday. Stoked!

Test drives do seem to be somewhat of a foreign concept here. Like you I would have no interest in adding my name to a waiting list either so the Mazda 2 seems a good choice. I don't know of the latest model but I've driven previous ones and they are fun to drive and easy to see out of. My only gripe was the key start ignition with a fob that became temperamental over time. Enjoy your new ride!