Best car for under 4,000,000

[expatjustice]

12 hours ago, Pilotman said:

a farang in the same car in Thailand, a bigger cross. 

 

And what is supposed to happen exactly? 

 

 

[pedro01]

1 hour ago, expatjustice said:

 

And what is supposed to happen exactly? 

 

 

 

Nothing,  we aren't talking really high end mega rich cars, like Ferarris.

 

I know a few guys here that have always had those or Lambos and it was never an issue.

 

Well, except for the guy that got shot but that was a business dispute.

[expatjustice]

25 minutes ago, pedro01 said:

 

Nothing,  we aren't talking really high end mega rich cars, like Ferarris.

 

I know a few guys here that have always had those or Lambos and it was never an issue.

 

Well, except for the guy that got shot but that was a business dispute.

Yes I know in the real world nothing will happen. Hell I am fine you are fine…. No issue.

 

But I was jus curious as to what he thinks it could happen “in his world”? 
 

Don’t know it makes me curious what he refers to with the cross thingy…

[pedro01]

22 minutes ago, expatjustice said:

Yes I know in the real world nothing will happen. Hell I am fine you are fine…. No issue.

 

But I was jus curious as to what he thinks it could happen “in his world”? 
 

Don’t know it makes me curious what he refers to with the cross thingy…

 

Yeah, I know you weren't buying it.

 

I think he believes that the people that buy one of the 24,000 BMW or Mercedes here each year will be killed, kidnapped or extorted.

 

This may qualify for the most bizarre reason for "why somebody shouldn't buy a German car" I've seen here.

 

Anyway, in a gross breach of budget, and considering my upcoming solo trip to Samui, we both really like the Z4 M40i.

 

It's got a slightly tougher look than the regular Z4 and does 0-100 in 3.8 seconds. 

 

So now it's down to seeing what kind of deal we can get. I'd like 300k off and I've had bigger discounts off BMW before. Not sure if a less popular model like this will get a decent discount l, so any experience/tips on that front would be appreciated.

 

Will post pics when we pick up or update when we change our minds.

 

I like the grey, so does my son. Wife likes the black.

 

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by pedro01

[expatjustice]

1 hour ago, pedro01 said:

I like the grey, so does my son. Wife likes the black

 

Happy wife, happy life! 

 

And besides I agree with her, the black is much more beautiful!

 

But one thing to look for with BMW, is that BMW loves plastic. They put plastic everywhere, heck I have even seen inlet manifolds in most BMW engines made of freaking plastic! and in general many plastic <deleted> around the engine which in the long run lead to plenty of small issues, check engine lights, limp modes, losses of boost, which are costly to repair and leave you without the car a few days. 

 

You and I today buy the same car, and maybe yours never has issues and mine is riddled with little things, buying a car is almost like a lottery. But on average a BMW will need more maintenance than say Mercedes, Volvo, Porsche...

 

Talking of Porsche, have you checked any Porsche? Say a Porsche Boxster Convertible should be pretty close to your budget. While I admit that I myself am an avid Mercedes fan, perhaps even "fanboy" I reckon Porsche is the perfect car for woman. 

 

I wouldn't get a Mercedes for my wife, but a Porsche for sure, that is if she had a drivers license of course 555.  

 

(PS: The advice above is not just some biased fan-boy stuff, yes I hate BMW and I bash them always for every single little thing. But I left that aside from this post and you can search online about the BMW plastic problems, it's real!).

 

https://www.underhoodservice.com/aging-plastic-intake-components-may-cause-leaks/

Edited April 20, 2021 by expatjustice

[pedro01]

21 minutes ago, expatjustice said:

 

Happy wife, happy life! 

 

And besides I agree with her, the black is much more beautiful!

 

But one thing to look for with BMW, is that BMW loves plastic. They put plastic everywhere, heck I have even seen inlet manifolds in most BMW engines made of freaking plastic! and in general many plastic <deleted> around the engine which in the long run lead to plenty of small issues, check engine lights, limp modes, losses of boost, which are costly to repair and leave you without the car a few days. 

 

You and I today buy the same car, and maybe yours never has issues and mine is riddled with little things, buying a car is almost like a lottery. But on average a BMW will need more maintenance than say Mercedes, Volvo, Porsche...

 

Talking of Porsche, have you checked any Porsche? Say a Porsche Boxster Convertible should be pretty close to your budget. While I admit that I myself am an avid Mercedes fan, perhaps even "fanboy" I reckon Porsche is the perfect car for woman. 

 

I wouldn't get a Mercedes for my wife, but a Porsche for sure, that is if she had a drivers license of course 555.  

 

(PS: The advice above is not just some biased fan-boy stuff, yes I hate BMW and I bash them always for every single little thing. But I left that aside from this post and you can search online about the BMW plastic problems, it's real!).

 

https://www.underhoodservice.com/aging-plastic-intake-components-may-cause-leaks/

 

 

I had 4 beemers before but the 5 years bsi takes the worry out of that imo. They are very fun to drive too.

 

I love Mercedes too, below is my AMG C43 at the car wash today. I just don't see anything else that I really fancy right now.

 

I do agree Mercs are more reliable, the wife's outgoing car never had a problem in 4 years but I heard good things about Z4 reliability.

 

BTW I checked our boxter price it was 7 million. Is that wrong?

 

Edited April 20, 2021 by pedro01

[expatjustice]

1 hour ago, pedro01 said:

BTW I checked our boxter price it was 7 million. Is that wrong?

 

I remember a (Thai) friend got a Boxster or Cayman (not sure right now) through a Porsche dealership and the price was 4,400,000 THB as he told me. 

 

What I don't know is whether the car was totally 100% new, or it was one of those so called "Porsche Approved Pre-owned Cars"

[Yellowtail]

My sister-in-law loves her Supra, maybe a little over your budget but what a great car.

[GWS]

4 million - probably a troll post. Spend this amount and in 3-4years it's worth 50% if your lucky what you paid for it. If your got cash to burn good luck to you, otherwise a smart buy is locally manufactured. Brand snobbery is expensive in Thailand 

[pedro01]

On 4/22/2021 at 2:55 AM, GWS said:

4 million - probably a troll post. Spend this amount and in 3-4years it's worth 50% if your lucky what you paid for it. If your got cash to burn good luck to you, otherwise a smart buy is locally manufactured. Brand snobbery is expensive in Thailand 

 

Lass from BMW is here right now.

 

She came and left because the white fella wasn't very Thai about it and stood firm on the discount. She said any more discount was impossible. I told her that was <deleted>. lol. The wife apologized to her on the way out. I asked why she apologized. She told me "well, she came all the way out here for nothing". I told her this wasn't over - they knew the deal we wanted, and they'd be back if they wanted the sale.

 

So she left because she couldn't possibly give more discount. Then she came back 30 mins later with my discount approved and the wife got a large dose of told you so. 

 

So all ordered - it's on a boat somewhere between Germany and here! Lands mid-May.

 

Here she is - figuring out how many handbags she can buy with her commission....

 

Edited April 23, 2021 by pedro01

[pedro01]

On 4/21/2021 at 6:03 PM, Yellowtail said:

My sister-in-law loves her Supra, maybe a little over your budget but what a great car.

 

Yeah - they are beautiful. 

[Woodsie888]

On 4/20/2021 at 4:02 AM, bojo said:

Last time I was in Chiang mai (18 months ago) I spotted a pretty decent 110 LWB Defender for sale kerbside for under a million........I am in the motor trade and have upgraded a few of these recently, they are all the rage ATM. Currently I'm back in the UK and there is a plethora of after market and original parts available and half the stuff comes from manufacturers in China anyways, so would be available in Thailand.......You may remember the pick up Spectre version as an example. I'm not suggesting that you should go this far necessarily, but the are many permutations and combinations etc......There are so many great craftsmen and women in the Kingdom, that you could easily get bespoke interiors (the sofa/fabric shops would be perfect) made up at a fraction of the cost of doing the same in the UK....If you could source a vehicle second hand and use this forum perhaps to find a firm that would undertake the work for you, I fancy you could have something rather nice and in the eyes of many      'pretty cool'., , Just a set of Sawtooth wheels, sidebars, front grill & light conversion (with optional nudge bars), leather interior etc etc, you get the idea...........I know they're not everyone's cup of tea, but I think this could also prove to be an investment....................................I know you said you didn't want a project, but I couldn't resist leading you into temptation.......................................

 

 

 

Only £225,000 at Tom Hartley jnr!

[Mr Meeseeks]

On 4/20/2021 at 9:36 AM, Pilotman said:

You need a bit of balance here in your argument.  I very much doubt that we have any Billionaires on TVF and definitely not posting on here.  Millionaires and the like have a different set of values and needs to 'ordinary folk',  as well as no need to consider alternative uses for their money, as you well know, so its a facetious point to try to bring them into this conversation. They also dont live in Thailand as retired  or working farangs. They tend to have more sense than that and live in places where they don't stick out like a sore thumb.  Like I said before, a low profile works well here, a high profile is dangerously naïve.  Farang in a high end Merc in Monaco, a big tick; a farang in the same car in Thailand, a bigger cross. 

Never had any bother in high end cars in Thailand and have owned several, mostly MBs.

 

Lived here 31 years.

[Mr Meeseeks]

@pedro01 what did you end up getting, the Z4?

 

I'm driving an A200 AMG Dynamic now, bargain at 2.15m I reckon. Not perfect, but a great little streetfighting sedan. Even for a small base model it is deceptively quick. The interior and MBUX is far beyond what most manufacturers are offering, including Tesla.

 

Will keep this for a year or two and then maybe new C-Class, as it looks mint from the vids on YouTube. 

Edited April 25, 2021 by Mr Meeseeks

[pedro01]

50 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

@pedro01 what did you end up getting, the Z4?

 

I'm driving an A200 AMG Dynamic now, bargain at 2.15m I reckon. Not perfect, but a great little streetfighting sedan. Even for a small base model it is deceptively quick. The interior and MBUX is far beyond what most manufacturers are offering, including Tesla.

 

Will keep this for a year or two and then maybe new C-Class, as it looks mint from the vids on YouTube. 

 

The A200 AMG eh? I haven't seen that here but a friend in the UK has one and loves it. Looks like a lot of fun that! 

 

We got the Z4 M40i, which was about 700k over budget. But I thought it was better to have the 3.0 V6 than the regular Z4 2.0.

 

Basically, Wife chose the car, I chose the engine and for once, we agreed on the color!

[phetphet]

What about the X3? You don't have that in  your list.

[THEN]

Good choice Pedro01, you will love that I6 engine. It is more powerful than the C43, not on paper, but IRL.

Our C43 V6 loses power in the top rpms. It does not feel happy near 6000 rpm. The 40i I6 happily revs to 6500 rpm and would love to go higher.

How much did you end up paying?

 

Our C43 was assembled in Thailand, so if the Z4 is assembled in Germany, then there is a small "confidence buffer/value" in this.

Note we did not have any problems on our C43 over the first 15 months, only enjoyment.

 

Toyota Supra co-developed the 40i engine together with BMW. So there will not be a Z4 m40i Coupe as the Supra has the rights to the hard top version (sadly).

 

 

 

Edited April 25, 2021 by THEN

[thmebe]

hello. how much do they sell the cheapest Tesla in Thailand now ? And where do you check to buy one please ? Thanks.

[thmebe]

2 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

@pedro01 what did you end up getting, the Z4?

 

I'm driving an A200 AMG Dynamic now, bargain at 2.15m I reckon. Not perfect, but a great little streetfighting sedan. Even for a small base model it is deceptively quick. The interior and MBUX is far beyond what most manufacturers are offering, including Tesla.

 

Will keep this for a year or two and then maybe new C-Class, as it looks mint from the vids on YouTube. 

 

Current Cclass looks a not nicer to me, especially the rear lights that are too small on the new model. The rear of the new 2021 Benz really look like a chit japanese car....

 

 

[pedro01]

 

On 4/25/2021 at 12:55 PM, THEN said:

Good choice Pedro01, you will love that I6 engine. It is more powerful than the C43, not on paper, but IRL.

Our C43 V6 loses power in the top rpms. It does not feel happy near 6000 rpm. The 40i I6 happily revs to 6500 rpm and would love to go higher.

How much did you end up paying?

 

Our C43 was assembled in Thailand, so if the Z4 is assembled in Germany, then there is a small "confidence buffer/value" in this.

Note we did not have any problems on our C43 over the first 15 months, only enjoyment.

 

Toyota Supra co-developed the 40i engine together with BMW. So there will not be a Z4 m40i Coupe as the Supra has the rights to the hard top version (sadly).

 

 

 

 

Allegedly, BMW are famous for under-rating their engines but it's just 5hp on paper less than the C43 and it's lighter, so I'd presume it faster anyway. 

 

BUT

 

and this is a big, big BUT for me

 

The C43 exhaust sounds like a Superbike <deleted> a T-Rex. And when you take your foot off, it sucks in small children and burps and pops.

 

I guess time will tell - but that noise makes it a lorra fun.

[pedro01]

8 hours ago, thmebe said:

 

Current Cclass looks a not nicer to me, especially the rear lights that are too small on the new model. The rear of the new 2021 Benz really look like a chit japanese car....

 

 

 

Haven't seen any new models - but it was the booty on the C43 Coupe that sold it for me. It is a very simple looking car without too much trim. 

 

The non-coupe C43 didn't turn my head at all - not to mean it isn't nice - but the rear-end makes this one IMO.

 

BTW - in the last pic - the car cost more than the 3-bed bungalow behind it. Go figure.

 

Edited April 25, 2021 by pedro01

[damen]

Have you consider Lexus? I just bought a Lexus RX 350 at a little over 5 mil. But they do have another option at around 4mil. 

Their after service is superb. Their seats is much more comfortable then my 2017 X5. 

I think BMW afterservice is not that great if your BSI warranty is over. 

[pedro01]

3 minutes ago, damen said:

Have you consider Lexus? I just bought a Lexus RX 350 at a little over 5 mil. But they do have another option at around 4mil. 

Their after service is superb. Their seats is much more comfortable then my 2017 X5. 

I think BMW afterservice is not that great if your BSI warranty is over. 

 

The Lexus we saw in Sukhumvit seemed lackluster but I can't recall what they had. We popped in, saw 3 or 4 cars and they seemed relatively expensive.

 

The z4 we ordered came with 5yrs BSI and that should cover at least 3 replacement fuel pumps... 

[damen]

11 minutes ago, pedro01 said:

 

The Lexus we saw in Sukhumvit seemed lackluster but I can't recall what they had. We popped in, saw 3 or 4 cars and they seemed relatively expensive.

 

The z4 we ordered came with 5yrs BSI and that should cover at least 3 replacement fuel pumps... 

Yes their showroom only fill with top model that why the price is slightly expensive. 

How long do you have to wait for your Z4?

[pedro01]

1 minute ago, damen said:

Yes their showroom only fill with top model that why the price is slightly expensive. 

How long do you have to wait for your Z4?

 

Well, as long as Suez Canal is open and nothing sinks - May 20!

[Sheryl]

Plenty of good reliable cars here priced well under 1 million.

 

I just bought a Honda Jazz. List price 550k. Perfectly happy with it.

[pedro01]

34 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

Plenty of good reliable cars here priced well under 1 million.

 

I just bought a Honda Jazz. List price 550k. Perfectly happy with it.

 

What specifically makes the Jazz the best car under 4 million in your opinion?

 

Which other options in the 4M range did you look at, before deciding on the Jazz?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 25, 2021 by pedro01

[Cricky]

On 4/25/2021 at 9:25 PM, pedro01 said:

The C43 exhaust sounds like a Superbike <deleted> a T-Rex. And when you take your foot off, it sucks in small children and burps and pops.

Buy the C63, the V8 sounds awesome, music to the ears.

 

It really doesn't matter what model car, a six cylinder exhaust sounds horrible.

[pedro01]

7 hours ago, VYCM said:

Buy the C63, the V8 sounds awesome, music to the ears.

 

It really doesn't matter what model car, a six cylinder exhaust sounds horrible.

 

 

Nope - the C43 is known for it's vocal chords. It's no slouch.

 

 

Edited April 26, 2021 by pedro01

[THEN]

On 4/26/2021 at 4:34 AM, VYCM said:

Buy the C63, the V8 sounds awesome, music to the ears.

 

It really doesn't matter what model car, a six cylinder exhaust sounds horrible.

The C63 is only 6 mio THB more than OPs thread! marginally faster than a C43 and the 4wd of C43 suits Thai roads better.

When comparing the C63 with current M3 or M4 CS I would chose the BMW any day at a lower cost. The inline 6 engine is a beast and sounds like a beast.

 

2022 C63 will be a 4 pot engine, but including electric turbo chargers and batteries from Formula 1.

No doubt it will be fast, but my main target with our C43 was to get something sporty and min 5-6 cyl without "hybrid".

I mention 5 cyl as my previous Audi RS2 was the absolute fastest car I have owned and the sound of 5 cyl reving to 10k rpm with a GT35R turbo beats the sound from a 6/8/12 cyl engine any day. If you ask me..