Thinking about buying a used car in Thailand

[KhunLA]

46 minutes ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

PS... I have an MG HS i-smart SUV and it is one of the best cars that I have ever driven... 

Agree, and our MG ZS ICE & EV are my favorite and best vehicles owned so far, and I think I've own most USA brands and a couple Japanese brands, along with 2 'made in TH' brands.   

 

All performed as expected, most excellent & no surprises, and would actually recommend any of them, at the time, or now as 2nd hand to anyone.  I seem to be able to pick good cars ... relationships ... not so good at picking.  Though keep about the same time.????  2 or 3 years at most, then ready for upgrade, if I don't kill it .... the cars that is.

 

Except for the ones I didn't expect much from, but knew before purchased, again, the cars.

[Yellowtail]

I thought the build quality of the MGs was shabby, but I have not looked at them in over a year. Have they improved? 

[SiSePuede419]

2 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Its also stored in the BCM (Body Control Module).

It's called an ECU in the car industry in America.  That's the main computer.

 

And no, it's not stored in the ECU. 

 

Incorrect. ❌

[SiSePuede419]

On 3/9/2023 at 8:28 AM, brianthainess said:

would be more concerned with flood damage in Bangkok.

Yes.  They don't call it Big Swampy for nothing.

 

Also how many times did they get stuck in a traffic jam that lasted hours and it was hotter than <deleted> so they ran the engine for the A/C and it overheated?

 

[SiSePuede419]

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

Agree, and our MG ZS ICE & EV are my favorite and best vehicles owned so fa

That's just an opinion, not actual reliability data, Chairman Mao.

[SiSePuede419]

56 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

I thought the build quality of the MGs was shabby

The quality of the original British MG was <deleted>.

 

Did the Chinese use the British MG as their design baseline?

 

Bad idea.

 

Or did they do a "blank sheet" total redesign of everything?

 

In that case, it's a 100% Chinese car, nothing to do with the original.

 

Plus, they copied the "look and feel" of the Mini, not the MG. ????

[SiSePuede419]

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

An intelligent person, if can't tell by inspection, doesn't buy a used car without service records, that will have the ODO readings on the bill.

An intelligent person wouldn't buy an MG, they buy Toyotas and Hondas.

[KhunLA]

5 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

That's just an opinion, not actual reliability data, Chairman Mao.

My opinion & experiences is the only ones that matters to ME.   Not some anti CH EV idiot writing a blog.   No major complaints about MGs from owners of on this forum.  

 

Take your CH & EV prejudice elsewhere, as you are only embarrassing yourself.

 

Have a nice day

[SiSePuede419]

19 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

My opinion & experiences is the only ones that matters to ME. 

I'm a SME on EVs.  You're not.

 

Engineers don't make decisions based on opinions, they make decisions based on data.

 

None of the cars in you bought were designed and built by people with "opinions", they were designed and built by Engineers.

 

You already admit you don't care about the facts, only your opinion.

 

I'm posting the following link for intelligent people who have an open mind and want to learn about the facts from educated SMEs who are Engineers working in the automobile industry:

 

https://engineerine.com/why-are-chinese-cars-so-bad/

[JeffersLos]

On 3/7/2023 at 3:48 PM, SiSePuede419 said:

I won't be taking a chance with a new car.

 

There is a 100% chance the value of the new car will decrease 60-100K baht as soon as I drive the back wheels off the dealers lot.

Buy a 1 year old car from Toyota Sure and save 20% of a new one. 

[KhunLA]

4 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

Engineers don't make decisions based on opinions, they make decisions based on data.

I base my opinion on 'owning & driving' the vehicles.   Hands on experience, not a data sheet.   

 

If you haven't, then your opinion doesn't really matter to me, or anyone.

 

You generalize, are obviously anti CH & EV.   Conversation is OVER

 

BYE BYE

[SiSePuede419]

8 minutes ago, JeffersLos said:

Buy a 1 year old car from Toyota Sure and save 20% of a new one. 

In America they have something similar but the guarantee doesn't mean that much. 

 

Read the contract, a lot is at the digression of the dealer whether or not it's covered.

 

Every car manufacturer can make what's called a "lemon".

 

How do you know in Thailand if that car isn't a lemon?

 

I did see one "tent car" dealer claim you could drive one of their cars "free" for 60 days.  If true, that time period would certainly help evaluate whether there were any major defects.

 

And in America they have to tell you if the vehicle was a "fleet" car, which means it was leased or even worse--used as a rental car.

 

Doubt they are required to do that in Thailand.

 

And even if the previous owner was a private individual who purchased it new, what kind of person sells a new car after a year and takes that kind of financial loss?

 

Someone who isn't very business savvy.  People who are business savvy are focused on making money, saving money and investing money. 

 

Cars are not investments.

 

People who are focused on spending money and showing you how rich they are tend not to be very financially smart, let's put it that way.

[SiSePuede419]

18 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

base my opinion on 'owning & driving' the vehicles.   Hands on experience, not a data sheet.   

You're a consumer, not a SME engineer.

 

By the way, engineers in the automobile industry test drive vehicles they design.  And they have access to all the issues that come up during testing.

 

Consumers don't.

 

Engineers know what they are talking about. ✅

 

I'm sure you have a brain, but you don't know how it works like a SME brain surgeon does.

That's the difference. ????

[KhunLA]

4 minutes ago, SiSePuede419 said:

You're a consumer, not a SME engineer.

 

By the way, engineers in the automobile industry test drive vehicles they design.  And they have access to all the issues that come up during testing.

 

Consumers don't.

 

Engineers know what they are talking about. ✅

 

I'm sure you have a brain, but you don't know how it works like a SME brain surgeon does.

That's the difference. ????

That would explain all the recalls.   ????

[Ralf001]

1 hour ago, SiSePuede419 said:

It's called an ECU in the car industry in America.  That's the main computer.

 

And no, it's not stored in the ECU. 

 

Incorrect. ❌

Modern vehicles have many control modules, one of them is the ECU.

 

you are correct, it is not stored in the ECU.

 

It is as I mentioned stored in the Body control Module (BCM). 

[SiSePuede419]

2 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

It is as I mentioned stored in the Body control Module (BCM). 

You're right in some vehicles it is stored in multiple places, including a BCM. 

 

The full name is BCM ECU.

 

"BCM (Body Control Module) which is found in all production cars wherein it controls the immobiliser, indicator unit, power windows, ORVMs, steering mounted controls, and all other peripherals wherein the body of the vehicle is involved."

 

Seems like a weird place to store the Odometer value, but OK.

 

We never used that term before on the CAN bus at the automobile company I worked at.

 

 Each ECU was just called a "node".

 

Each node sends out messages on the CAN bus with it's data that other ECUs need and also for diagnostics on the OBD port.

 

And apparently even if it's stored in multiple places like on BMWs or Mercedes, it's still possible to change.

 

I think this is highly unlikely this is a common practice here in Thailand.  Sounds way too complicated. ????

https://youtu.be/VF62lZD3XPg

 

 

[JeffersLos]

1 hour ago, JeffersLos said:

Toyota Sure

 

1 hour ago, SiSePuede419 said:

"tent car" dealer

 

You obviously don't know what Toyota Sure is. 

[macahoom]

 

3 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

 

Plus, they copied the "look and feel" of the Mini, not the MG. ????

Who copied the "look and feel" of the Mini?

[richard_smith237]

On 3/7/2023 at 1:11 PM, Ralf001 said:

On 3/7/2023 at 1:06 PM, PJ71 said:

Cars for most people are a necessity.

Agreed, Cannot imagine a world without car ownership.

Would take me a damn long time to walk the 75km to work each morning !!

Agreed... from the school run, to shopping to the simple convenience of having your own transport... 

We were without a car for two weeks.... (central Bangkok), it was a horribly relying on the taxi’s... 

 

Only those who don’t have a car seem to think there is no need for one... Why is that ?

THEY have no need for one because they live next to a BTS station and rarely travel outside of that bubble... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

‘Second hand cars’.... All of my cars have been ‘second hand’ when I sold them...  (bought from new), they were good cars, no issues...  (usually 3-5 years old)...   

I imagine most second hand cars are like that, but we are understandably frightened of the horror stories we read and hear.

 

As another poster mentioned the Ops budget enters the Mazda 3 bracket - a very decent choice IMO.

 

If the op is unsure when looking at cars, perhaps he could hire a mechanic / car teck etc to check it out ?

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

4 hours ago, SiSePuede419 said:

Yes.  They don't call it Big Swampy for nothing.

 

Also how many times did they get stuck in a traffic jam that lasted hours and it was hotter than <deleted> so they ran the engine for the A/C and it overheated?

 

How many times did you see a broken down and over-heated car in Bangkok Traffic ?

The car is designed to handle that.

 

 

[Kwasaki]

12 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

‘Second hand cars’.... All of my cars have been ‘second hand’ when I sold them...  (bought from new), they were good cars, no issues...  (usually 3-5 years old)...   

I imagine most second hand cars are like that, but we are understandably frightened of the horror stories we read and hear.

 

As another poster mentioned the Ops budget enters the Mazda 3 bracket - a very decent choice IMO.

 

If the op is unsure when looking at cars, perhaps he could hire a mechanic / car teck etc to check it out ?

 

Isn't a Mazda 3 about the same size as the OP 's yaris. 

I thought he wants something bigger hence my Accord choice. 

[Ralf001]

4 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Isn't a Mazda 3 about the same size as the OP 's yaris. 

I thought he wants something bigger hence my Accord choice. 

Yaris is a sub-compact.

Maz3 is a compact.

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, Ralf001 said:

Yaris is a sub-compact.

Maz3 is a compact.

Please explain.????

[Ralf001]

8 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Please explain.????

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subcompact_car

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_car

[Kwasaki]

20 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subcompact_car

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_car

Yaris was mentioned but OP has a Susuki swift having seen one of them and driven a Mazda 3,   I would of thought no biggie so that's why I suggested Accord or Camry. 

 

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

Isn't a Mazda 3 about the same size as the OP 's yaris. 

I thought he wants something bigger hence my Accord choice. 

Its slightly larger... But all cars are a different size even those in the same category.

Best option is to take a look and see if the size is right. 

 

Accord is a decent choice, but I don’t think thats in the Ops price bracket unless he goes older. 

 

 

Op would to well to take a look at one2car.com and see whats out there to give himself ideas.

 

 

 

[Eloquent pilgrim]

Mazda .... 3 or CX3 if you find one within budget. Excellent cars, I've owned both from new; great aesthetics, lively performance, nimble handling, very well made; best quality for your money in Thailand  

[Yellowtail]

My dad always said of cars: "Don't ask someone that has one, ask someone that had one."

[Kwasaki]

49 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Its slightly larger... But all cars are a different size even those in the same category.

Best option is to take a look and see if the size is right. 

 

Accord is a decent choice, but I don’t think thats in the Ops price bracket unless he goes older. 

 

 

Op would to well to take a look at one2car.com and see whats out there to give himself ideas.

 

I would say what ever cash OP has it's a private buyers market at the moment as I see it, he could pick up good low mileage Accord or Camry, personally age wouldn't bother me with motors like that.