Calling all you car experts out there

[piston broke]

My Wife wants to learn to drive and i'm looking to buy her a cheap run around ....

 

The 2 cars i have in mind are:

 

1) Ford Fiesta auto 1.6L, 2014 year and

2) MG3 1.5L auto 2015 year

 

Price 125-150,000 Baht..

 

Any thoughts ?

 

TIA

[josephbloggs]

1 hour ago, piston broke said:

My Wife wants to learn to drive and i'm looking to buy her a cheap run around ....

 

The 2 cars i have in mind are:

 

1) Ford Fiesta auto 1.6L, 2014 year and

2) MG3 1.5L auto 2015 year

 

Price 125-150,000 Baht..

 

Any thoughts ?

 

TIA

If those are your only choices go for the Fiesta. Good little car. Early MGs -  circa that time especially - were reknowned for poor quality. They are much much better now but I wouldn't trust a 2015 model personally.

Personal opinion only, I am not necessarily right at all.

[Will B Good]

If you are looking to keep the car think about what you need beyond the learning process.....personally I'd go for a three year old, low-ish milage with good support in the area for repairs/dealerships etc 

 

[Kinnock]

Honestly, neither of those.

 

Fiesta had auto gearbox issues and as mentioned above, early MG's had variable quality.

 

You also want something that has good parts availability and can be serviced locally. Ford no longer sell saloon cars in Thailand and there's fewer MG dealers and local service garages familiar with the models than, say, a Toyota.

 

A Yaris or Honda Jazz is a better bet.  Also, the Suzuki Swift is a reliable option.

[properperson]

9 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

If those are your only choices go for the Fiesta. Good little car. Early MGs -  circa that time especially - were reknowned for poor quality. They are much much better now but I wouldn't trust a 2015 model personally.

Personal opinion only, I am not necessarily right at all.

 

Fiesta's of this age were fitted with the "power shift" gear box - There were so many problems with the gear box, clutch pack and the black box that controls them, that Ford changed 1,000's of them under warranty and were subject to Class actions in Thailand, USA and Australia ....

 

One expert said "it's not a case of if there will be a problem but when..."

 

Personally i'd stick clear of Fiesta, Focus and Ecosport between 2012 and 2016 after which Ford used a different gearbox.

 

So - I'd got for the MG - pretty decent spec for the price ...

 

 

[The Theory]

Buy Japanese used car. 

[ujayujay]

Avoid Ford...Fix or repair Daily

[steve187]

out of the 2 i would go for a Honda or a Toyota

[transam]

You can't go wrong with a second hand Toyota, probably the most reliable brand on the road........

Just give any s/h ride a thorough once over, especially in motion.....😋

[Crossy]

A political post has been removed.

 

I know it was tongue-in-cheek, and I agree 100%, but our members will use any excuse ...

[Robert Paulson]

Don’t let her drive

[Robert Paulson]

35 minutes ago, steve187 said:

out of the 2 i would go for a Honda or a Toyota

Idk why anyone buys anything else tbh. I had a Nissan once and it was as good so I’d go for another one if the occasion presented itself. Idk why the world doesn’t seem to understand there’s 2 or 3 car makers that just plain make batter, longer lasting and more reliable cars. Hello… mcfly 

[Robert Paulson]

get her a new washer and dryer set or something

[thailand49]

First, Ford American, Second GM, China, as noted neither.

 

Best car I ever have purchased here is Toyota, got it when it first came out,  Yaris 2006, have a Hilux also a Van.  Yaris 140,000 KM,  rarely a repair.

[Toby1947]

Morris Minor, if you can find one 😂🤣👍

[digbeth]

If you think you can get a better deal on them compared to Hondas and Toyotas, and can stand to walk away from them being unable to be repaired economically, go ahead, 

 

there's a reason even 2nd hand dealer will lowball or outright refuses to buy MGs

the Fiesta's gearbox is also pretty horrendous, but some do turn out fine

[fredwiggy]

Do NOT buy the Fiesta, especially the 2013-14 models. I've had one for 6 years and have only had problems since. The TCM transmission module is a major problem, especially after a certain amount of kilos. Ford extended it's warranty for this alone.  I had to replace mine twice, and it needed one again when my engine caught fire 2 weeks ago while I was driving. This seems to happen quite often with the Fiestas and Focus. I was lucky when I pulled over there was a house right there so I could run and put out the fire before the care was engulfed. Ford wants 205,000 baht to fix it and the cars not worth that anyway. Ford is under an over 400 people class action lawsuit in Thailand alone for this and other problems people have been having. I'm currently talking to them to have them pay off what I owe on the car, which isn't much. The car's suspension has trouble, as well as the brakes. This is above all the usual things you will replace along the way.  Buy a Toyota if you can. I've had a few and they last.................https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/business/2017/04/04/ford-owners-demand-24m-baht-compensation-faulty-cars/

Edited June 2 by fredwiggy

[tomazbodner]

Honda Jazz or Toyota Yaris would be far better options for many service centers. MG doesn't have many outside larger cities, and independent garages aren't very good at fixing them. A former colleague had MG3 which was more at service center than he used it, so that would certainly not be the model to recommend.

 

But Jazz or Yaris are cheap, generally reliable and easy to fix. Unless they've been smashed and glued back together before being sold. So be very careful with what you're buying.

[josephbloggs]

18 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Do NOT buy the Fiesta, especially the 2013-14 models. I've had one for 6 years and have only had problems since. The TCM transmission module is a major problem, especially after a certain amount of kilos. Ford extended it's warranty for this alone.  I had to replace mine twice, and it needed one again when my engine caught fire 2 weeks ago while I was driving. This seems to happen quite often with the Fiestas and Focus. I was lucky when I pulled over there was a house right there so I could run and put out the fire before the care was engulfed. Ford wants 205,000 baht to fix it and the cars not worth that anyway. Ford is under an over 400 people class action lawsuit in Thailand alone for this and other problems people have been having. I'm currently talking to them to have them pay off what I owe on the car, which isn't much. The car's suspension has trouble, as well as the brakes. This is above all the usual things you will replace along the way.  Buy a Toyota if you can. I've had a few and they last.................https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/business/2017/04/04/ford-owners-demand-24m-baht-compensation-faulty-cars/

I retract my advice to go for the Fiesta. (And another poster above who wrote about the transmission trouble).

[Jeff the Chef]

I'm going against the trend here, I have a 2013 Focus 1600 Trend Auto, picked up cheap 100k 2 years ago under half what it was worth at the time due to gearbox problems, took me 15 minutes to fix with a 13mm, 10mm spanners and some Dielectric

Grease, they have a electrical fault half the time. Done over 50,000kms since runs great, cheap as chips to service at the local Ford dealer, you do get silly faults but show me any car that doesn't.

[The Theory]

Ford, if you buy a new one. You know how you treat and maintain it from the beginning. 
MG🤔I don't buy, new or used. 

[Irish star]

On 5/30/2024 at 11:09 PM, piston broke said:

My Wife wants to learn to drive and i'm looking to buy her a cheap run around ....

 

The 2 cars i have in mind are:

 

1) Ford Fiesta auto 1.6L, 2014 year and

2) MG3 1.5L auto 2015 year

 

Price 125-150,000 Baht..

 

Any thoughts ?

 

TIA

MG is A Noise Machine the Road Noise makes it a NO and my buddies gearbox went out at 3 months, Toyota is way to go every mom and pop shop have parts and reliability is incredible 

[Irish star]

19 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

Honda Jazz or Toyota Yaris would be far better options for many service centers. MG doesn't have many outside larger cities, and independent garages aren't very good at fixing them. A former colleague had MG3 which was more at service center than he used it, so that would certainly not be the model to recommend.

 

But Jazz or Yaris are cheap, generally reliable and easy to fix. Unless they've been smashed and glued back together before being sold. So be very careful with what you're buying.

Toyota and Honda are the cars and trucks of Thailand, Reliability is Key 

[MicroB]

My Thai wife decided to surprise me by learning to drive on the QT, then buying a 2014 Fiesta from a friend. I tried to persuade her not to buy it, because of the Powershift issue, But she brought it anyhow......

 

When I tried it in January, it seemed ok; 80k kms, no real squeaks. In heavy traffic, I detected a little judder, like someone was riding the clutch. That's the danger sign. I figured if it doesn't guess worse than that, I could live with that.

 

Went back to the UK for a while, and the invitable. The car wouldn't engage reverse at Tesco-Lotus. Towed to the  island Ford dealer. Cost of a new clutch and labour was 80,000; what the car cost. Interestingly, part prices were exactly the same as the UK. 9 hours labour was super cheap. With the clutch gone, the car was worthless. I elected to repair. From what I understand, Ford has revised the replacement parts, so it should last the rest of the life of the car, which I guess is 4-5 years tops.

 

In the Ford's favour, it does drive very nicely. The Powershift isn't the greatest but I'm the only one who gives it beans. The wife thinks it still looks modern. For her, perfect first car; its got a few dings and dents, so I won't be upset with the inevitable post tap. If you find one with recent clutch work, it will be all good. The rest of the car is robust. In general, Fiestas seem to be about half the price of a same aged Toyota and Honda. Of course, there is good reason for that. But if you find a car that's had the work, given that its an old car now, it will be a sound buy.

 

However, don't trust a Thai "engineer" to give it the all clear in any pre-purchase check over. The engineer who told my wife it was all good clearly didn't see the front pads that were down to the backing plates.