Buying a cost effective SUV for 2022

[RafPinto]

On 10/23/2021 at 6:12 PM, Tuvoc said:

China has some of the most skilled engineers in the world. I've no doubt about the quality of the Haval, and lets face it making a decent car is not that hard these days. I'd have no hesitation in buying the Haval if it was well-priced, drove decently, had an extensive servicing network (which it doesn't ?) and had some reasonable reviews. But my wife is a brand-snob so I doubt she'd go anywhere near one. So we have a Fortuner  - Toyota have an amazing reputation for reliability and quality in Thailand. I'm a huge fan of the Fortuner, I've driven tens of thousands of kilometres in them, but they are on the expensive side. We've done over 100,000km in ours now. It has needed nothing beyond standard servicing. 

You could impress your wife with the latest Rolls Royce, coming soon to Thailand.

You will be the "Prince farang" of the village.

[RafPinto]

On 10/23/2021 at 2:10 AM, Hanuman2547 said:

I'd rather be driving one of these bad boys on the streets of Bangkok and Nakorn Nowhere but this thread isn't about me nor is it in the OP's (or mine) price range.

Sometimes, we have to be quick in Isaan to see the sick Bufallos.

I take the bad boy to race up northeast.

[JerseytoBKK]

On 10/21/2021 at 10:18 PM, hackjam said:

I am considering the Cross right now, Like the look. I am also considering the Honda HRV but looks like they are waiting to launch a new one towards end of year, so will wait and see.

I had a Hyundai Santa Fe a few years back, in Europe and was well impressed with it. Is the Tucson similar and is there a Hyundai garage in Pattaya?

The Tucson is slightly smaller than the Santa Fe. Last year I was stuck in the US longer than I expected so I went shopping for a vehicle. I liked the Tucson but it was under powered so I bought the Santa FE Limited 2.0 Turbo. It has an amazing and very long list of features. Heads up windshield display is very cool and with the lane assist I can take my hands off the steering wheel and it will go around a 60 turn on the highway by itself! Leave your hands off the wheel more than 20 seconds and it flashes a warning to put your hands back on the wheel.  Seeing it do that showed me that autonomous driving vehicles are almost here. Also love the air ventilated seats.

 

However, for 2022, Hyundai released a completely redone Tucson 1.5 Turbo Hybrid about 6 months ago. Very fast. When I went back to the US this summer, I was going to trade in my Santa Fe (resale value higher than original purchase price) but the new Tucson Turbo Hybrid Limited had extremely limited availability and dealers were asking for $3,000-10,000 over the $39,000 list. 

 

If Hyundai sold the Tucson Hybrid in Thailand I would be at the dealer now.

[DragonQuest]

bZ4X

Edited March 23, 2022 by DragonQuest

[JetsetBkk]

On 10/28/2021 at 11:32 AM, RafPinto said:

You could impress your wife with the latest Rolls Royce, coming soon to Thailand.

You will be the "Prince farang" of the village.

Looks a bit like a London taxi...

[JetsetBkk]

There's a GWM (Haval H6) dealer up in Thalang, north Phuket. I had a look on Google Earth for it and the street view shows the concrete shell of the building! And that was taken in July last year.

 

But the satellite view does show the building with a roof, so it didn't take them long to get it up and working.

I may go and have look tomorrow. 

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

Had a GWM dealership near me for a couple of months now and starting to see a few of the H6 and Jolien ( slightly smaller non turbo 1.5 hybrid for just under 1 mill i think) knocking about. 
Have also seen the Ora Good Cat EV in the flesh but only one on the road.

All 3 were on show at my local mall and i must say I liked the look of them, some nice looking motors with some great innovative feel to them.

If I was in the market for a new car I would certainly take a closer look/test drive at the H6 and Jolien.

Alternatively the Corolla Cross Hybrid would suit me.

[Dust]

I test drove the Haval H6 in January at Central Bang Na and it was an enjoyable test drive. You get a lot of tech/safety features for your money.   The only deal breaker for me personally was it just felt a little too large for my liking and I just have a harder time judging clearance distances with larger vehicles. Others may find the size a positive. Maybe I should have test drove the smaller Jolien but I ended up buying a low mileage Volvo XC40 plug in hybrid instead that I felt more at home in.

[JetsetBkk]

7 hours ago, Dust said:

it just felt a little too large for my liking

Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking about last night - parking my current pickup can be a bit tight in some of the small sois where I live. I'll find out later when I go and have a look/test-drive.

[JetsetBkk]

12 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

i must say I liked the look of them

I must admit also that the look of the H6 is what attracted me to it, but then reading the reviews made me seek out a dealer for a good look.

[Andrew Dwyer]

5 hours ago, JetsetBkk said:

I must admit also that the look of the H6 is what attracted me to it, but then reading the reviews made me seek out a dealer for a good look.

One thing I did notice on the H6 and Jolien is the hybrid battery takes a big chunk of space out of the boot/trunk, i.e. the floor is extremely high.

Makes it kinda impossible to store a spare or space saver tyre and have to rely on the foam and pump kit which would make me a little nervous about sidewall or wheel/pothole damage leaving me stranded someplace.

Take a look when you go for a test drive .

[JetsetBkk]

1 hour ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Take a look when you go for a test drive .

Unfortunately, I went midday and didn't notice your post. But I did see that the boot floor was a bit high after I asked to see the load space at the back. I like that the rear seats fold forwards and, when she showed me that, she did say that the battery was underneath the floor. I didn't think to ask about a spare wheel.

 

But the test drive was pretty weird. I'm used to hearing the engine running and a bit of vibration and feeling the road through the steering wheel. I even turned down the steering power assistance to "Sport" mode, which the girl said would make the steering "firmer". She obviously hasn't driven a 17 year old pickup. This SUV's steering was so light I often "over-steered" - I could hear the tyres squealing as I was turning too quickly while driving too slowly around their car park. It made me think I'd just taken a few years off the life of the front tyres. 

 

But the weirdest thing about the car was it never used the engine. I couldn't get up enough speed for the engine to start so it was just using the battery, and that meant that it was deathly quiet inside. All that power and no sound - apart from when I accelerated too hard and spun the front wheels.

 

I loved the screen in the middle of the dashboard and the GPS - no need for my phone with the "Maps" app showing me the way to "GWM Anuphas" in Thalang, Phuket. I also like that the 5 year warranty, road side assistance and servicing are all built into the price, with 8 years warranty on the battery. If only I felt more comfortable driving it - it was more like it was driving me.

 

The price was OK - about 1.25 mil - but it was just too big for me. Maybe I'll go back and have a drive in a "Jolion" model which is a bit smaller, and is only 999k Baht.

[Andrew Dwyer]

40 minutes ago, JetsetBkk said:

 

 

40 minutes ago, JetsetBkk said:

Unfortunately, I went midday and didn't notice your post. But I did see that the boot floor was a bit high after I asked to see the load space at the back. I like that the rear seats fold forwards and, when she showed me that, she did say that the battery was underneath the floor. I didn't think to ask about a spare wheel.

 

But the test drive was pretty weird. I'm used to hearing the engine running and a bit of vibration and feeling the road through the steering wheel. I even turned down the steering power assistance to "Sport" mode, which the girl said would make the steering "firmer". She obviously hasn't driven a 17 year old pickup. This SUV's steering was so light I often "over-steered" - I could hear the tyres squealing as I was turning too quickly while driving too slowly around their car park. It made me think I'd just taken a few years off the life of the front tyres. 

 

But the weirdest thing about the car was it never used the engine. I couldn't get up enough speed for the engine to start so it was just using the battery, and that meant that it was deathly quiet inside. All that power and no sound - apart from when I accelerated too hard and spun the front wheels.

 

I loved the screen in the middle of the dashboard and the GPS - no need for my phone with the "Maps" app showing me the way to "GWM Anuphas" in Thalang, Phuket. I also like that the 5 year warranty, road side assistance and servicing are all built into the price, with 8 years warranty on the battery. If only I felt more comfortable driving it - it was more like it was driving me.

 

The price was OK - about 1.25 mil - but it was just too big for me. Maybe I'll go back and have a drive in a "Jolion" model which is a bit smaller, and is only 999k Baht.

Thanks for that.

The Jolien interior is a lot of white/cream trim that would take a bit of getting used to I think, but nice soft leather though.

Lacking an all black option like the H6 has I think.

https://www.gwm.co.th/en/

But then again I was unsure about the black/brown trim in the MG when I bought it but like it now.

Edited March 24, 2022 by Andrew Dwyer

[Andrew Dwyer]

Both the GWM and MG SUV’s have an app that enables some checks and actions to be carried out. 
All a little gimmicky but the option to remotely start the vehicle and start the air con from your phone is particularly nice in this hot climate.

Of course, other manufacturers allow remote start from the key fob but I suspect this has a limited distance whereas on MG , and presumably GWM, it can be operated from a different continent if necessary !!