Toyota Dealers

[jackr]

Popped in the one next to Niyom Panich and quite impressed. Are they the genuine article or in bed with Niyom so to speak? Anyone sussed em all out and can recommend?

Cheers

[happy7]

Popped in the one next to Niyom Panich and quite impressed. Are they the genuine article or in bed with Niyom so to speak? Anyone sussed em all out and can recommend?

Cheers

Is this the one called Toyota Lanna on the way to MaeRim? Actually, I think the one I am thinking of is next to Saha Panich. We bought an Avanza from there and is very happy with the service.

[Sanpatong]

I think there's only 2? There's Niyom Phanich / Saha Panich, and then the new one on the Hang Dong road just past the Middle Ring underpass.

They both suck.

[Austhaied]

Had no problems with Niyom Panich, same sort of service you would get in Australia.

[Tywais]

I think there's only 2? There's Niyom Phanich / Saha Panich, and then the new one on the Hang Dong road just past the Middle Ring underpass.

They both suck.

Could you clarify that. I was planning on taking a look at the new Camry at the Hang Dong road dealer and was wondering what the issues are you are having.

[jimmym40]

I was also looking at possibly buying a Camry. We stopped at the Nyom store just around the corner from the airport/airport plaza. That is the largest dealer in CM. When we stopped, they did not have a Camry on the premises even to look at. They said they did have a demo, but it was currently in Bangkok. It appears they don't keep any Camry's on the floor or in stock. It takes 30 days to order one.

For your info, the new Altis coming out in the next several months willl have a total new styling, they say similiar to the Camry. I'm holding off on the Camry until I see the new Altis.

We previously purchased two Toyotas, one from Lamphun, and had good relations with both. Really didn't have a need for any special service, the cars were flawless. As far as price, no dealer bargains on the price of the car, but you can request extras, that they may throw in for free i.e., insurance, floor mats, window tint, etc.

Good luck on your searches.

[tigerbeer]

Niyom Panich is alright. my bro in law got his camry there and very good service.

[jackr]

Popped in the one next to Niyom Panich and quite impressed. Are they the genuine article or in bed with Niyom so to speak? Anyone sussed em all out and can recommend?

Cheers

Is this the one called Toyota Lanna on the way to MaeRim? Actually, I think the one I am thinking of is next to Saha Panich. We bought an Avanza from there and is very happy with the service.

The one I saw is near the airport next door to Niyom. I asked the girl there if they were part of Niyom and she said they weren't. There is a new Camry in here by the way... sat in it last week, really nice ;-)

[Sanpatong]

Could you clarify that. I was planning on taking a look at the new Camry at the Hang Dong road dealer and was wondering what the issues are you are having.

I did that too, had a test drive in both the 2.0 and 2.4 Camries. Nothing wrong with the test drive per se, but when it came to discussing trade-in value of my current car they COMPLETELY ruined my mood. It involved the sales lady calling some (what I assumed to be) used car dealers, who gave her a quote that was ridiculously low. Really, as an advice to anyone running any business that involves trading something in: If you can't make a proper quote actually looking at the state of the vehicle then don't bother because otherwise you just end up insulting the customer.

[tigerbeer]

Could you clarify that. I was planning on taking a look at the new Camry at the Hang Dong road dealer and was wondering what the issues are you are having.

I did that too, had a test drive in both the 2.0 and 2.4 Camries. Nothing wrong with the test drive per se, but when it came to discussing trade-in value of my current car they COMPLETELY ruined my mood. It involved the sales lady calling some (what I assumed to be) used car dealers, who gave her a quote that was ridiculously low. Really, as an advice to anyone running any business that involves trading something in: If you can't make a proper quote actually looking at the state of the vehicle then don't bother because otherwise you just end up insulting the customer.

i would have thought that going into a new car dealership and trying to trade in your old car meant getting a ridiculously low quotation. thats just the way it is, the dealership makes some commission, the used car dealer makes a wholesome sum and you lose out on all what the "middlemen" made.

you want a better price, go sell it yourself through the net or by advertising it somewhere. or on classifieds here on TV

[jimmym40]

That is correct. As far as I know, there are no new car dealerships in CM that take trade-ins and keep the car for sale themselves. All they do is work with some "car tents" and sell them the car immdiately. Some may pretend they take the trade in, but that's all they do.

Even with motocycles, it just happened to me. I traded my Boss in for a Phantom. They turned the boss over to someone else.

However, the Niyom Panich dealer is building a used car lot just across the street. It's probably half completed by now and if I understood the sales lady, they are going to open up their own "used" car lot. So maybe when construction is completed, they may well take the trade-ins and keep them for resale.

Just to repeat, it is clearly better to sell your vehicle on your own, or even go to as many "car tents" first and see what kind of offers you will get.

Buying a new car is hardly never an "enjoyable" experience. Just do as much homework as possible before you lay down the cash.

Good Luck.

[mcgriffith]

Another factor in this equation might be a cultural one. Thais who have the money to spend, generally prefer new. And when they buy, they keep for a longer time than consumers in the West. The practice of trading in a 2 or 3 year old vehicle has not caught on here, yet.....

[Donnyboy]

Another factor in this equation might be a cultural one. Thais who have the money to spend, generally prefer new. And when they buy, they keep for a longer time than consumers in the West. The practice of trading in a 2 or 3 year old vehicle has not caught on here, yet.....

true.Also it has to do with financing imo, many terms are for 3 years and over so they dont tend to upgrade in that time. The market here is so inflated. No dealer discounts at all, as they know they can sell for the full listed price, unless theres a new model around the corner.

Speaking of which, the new Altis/Corolla can be viewed here. Looks nice enough but at this point Im drooling over the Camry. Very Nice motor indeed. Has the same platform as the Lexus LS model and looks very similar, which isnt a bad thing.Too bad we still have a 2 year old car.

[jackr]

Went to the Toyota dealer on the Mae Rim road and was not impressed. Didn't seem to want our money and just bad vibes all round... perhaps caught them on an off day but balls to em, one shall be taking one's baht elsewhere.

In stark contrast, the Toyota near the airport was a delight. Was dealt with by a lovely lady called Paeow (or similar) and everyone seems to be more with it and defo more helpful. One thing though, and going by other threads, people seem to have been successful in securing finance with just a non-immigrant visa whereas I was told at both places that I couldn't go that route without a work permit, or that if I wanted it in my name I'd have to buy in full. No probs getting finance on the missus' name of course but anyone been able to buy a new Toyota without a work permit?

Anyway, they now have the silver 2.0 Camry in the showroom - had a black 2.4 the other day - so give Paeow a shout jimmy if you fancy a test drive

[tigerbeer]

Went to the Toyota dealer on the Mae Rim road and was not impressed. Didn't seem to want our money and just bad vibes all round... perhaps caught them on an off day but balls to em, one shall be taking one's baht elsewhere.

In stark contrast, the Toyota near the airport was a delight. Was dealt with by a lovely lady called Paeow (or similar) and everyone seems to be more with it and defo more helpful. One thing though, and going by other threads, people seem to have been successful in securing finance with just a non-immigrant visa whereas I was told at both places that I couldn't go that route without a work permit, or that if I wanted it in my name I'd have to buy in full. No probs getting finance on the missus' name of course but anyone been able to buy a new Toyota without a work permit?

Anyway, they now have the silver 2.0 Camry in the showroom - had a black 2.4 the other day - so give Paeow a shout jimmy if you fancy a test drive

ahh such nice rides those new camry. 2.0G is what my bro in law has and sufficient power in it for a ride in and out of town. u want some power, and have some surplus money to spend, 2.4V is the way to go. for 1.3Mil, Camry 2.0G is a wonderful car to have. the 2.0 Type R civic is also nice in white!

btw Mea Rim is owned by Saha Panich and the one near airport is Niyom Panich. sure is a difference to the concept of customer service.

TB..

[nikster]

we bought ours by the airport - the mood there is that they don't need to sell cars because the cars sell themselves, and such it is. supply and demand. but they are friendly enough.

this is not the U.S. where you have half a dozen over-the-hill brands trying to dump their wares at almost any price...

except for one ridiculous episode, this dealer has been nice to us. actually, the situation is on-going. we got the red license plates and paid 3000 deposit for that. when i wanted to return these for the deposit, they wanted a receipt. i didn't have the receipt and they could not find it on their end. i have no idea what happened to it. normal behavior now would be to take back the darn plates and return the deposit - but no! big deal. i have to go home and search for the receipt because apparently otherwise Toyota CM gets in trouble with their taxes?! i have been to lazy to follow up so far but a call to Toyota head office for Thailand is impending...

[chanchao]

That is correct. As far as I know, there are no new car dealerships in CM that take trade-ins and keep the car for sale themselves.

Well, of course I couldn't care less if they keep cars themselves or not; indeed I don't expect them to. I *DO* however expect that WHEN they quote on a used car, that at least a serious person takes a serious look at it, not some sales lady calling some random 'tents' and come back with some ludicrous quotes.

This is just friendly advice to anyone ever wanting to start a business that also buys back stuff from customers. (At least at Gecko books they'll take a serious look at your book and then tell you why they'll only give you 25 baht for it. ) And that's on a sub 100 baht item. For customers wanting to drop 1.3 MILLION baht for chrissakes either say you don't trade in cars, OR schedule an appointment, or best of all have a qualified and person on the staff who's authorized to set a price for the vehicle. (And yes, that exactly happened the last time I traded in a car, at which time I got a MUCH better price for it compared to trying to sell it myself to some car tent)

[ProThaiExpat]

I have bought two vehicles from Sarah Panit on Mae Rim Road, Fortuner this year, and a Toyota Commuter from Nyom Panit near the Airport, they are owned by brothers, and the service does depend on the salesperson in either establishment.

My five year relationship with the saleslady at Sarah Panit is excellent and she works hard on all deals including accessories and service when needed. Insurance as well.

This spring she complained that they had hired three new young girls at higher wages, but they are mostly decoration as they know little and are typical sales staff that stand around. Perhaps shy of falang.

Nyom was good also, but did get a good salesman there as well.

As an aside, I have developed a good English speaking salesperson at Homepro who seems to find me each time I visit now and he finds everything for me, engaging the department staff person to answer my questions in Thai and then he translates. Homepro is almost a delight now for me.

It may well be that most modern Thai stores can do the job for a falang if they have properly trained and English capable people to deal with falang.

[jimmym40]

Just returned home from visiting the dealer (Niyom Panit) near the airport, 2 p.m. Tuesday. Went to look at that silver Camry. Well, it was still there, but out in front waiting delivery to the new owner. They have no demo to drive. Our saleslady was kind enough to get the keys and let us take a look inside. Don't know how much longer it will be there. Just wanted everyone to know - it won't be there long if you wanted to take a look.

It's a fabulous car, but not sure we want to pay 1.2 mil right now. I think we'll hold off till the new Altis comes out. If it's as nice as the Camry, we're going to get the special edition (white) Altis model, this years cost was 949,000. Curious to see if the price goes up.

Cheers.

[Sanpatong]

The dealer on the Hang Dong road has both engine models as test drive vehicles to use.

Also, you were just unlucky that the vehicle had just been sold... Niyom Phanich used to just DISCONNECT THE odometer/speedometer sensor and let people test drive, then sell the vehicle as new.

If that doesn't tell you something about them then I don't know what will.

[jimmym40]

I made an error in my last post. I was at the Niyom dealer at 2 p.m. on Thurs, not Tues.

I have been in Thailand long, long enough to know not to believe everything/anything that these people tell you. So I have to ask this forum. I was told by the Niyom dealer by the airport that they are the largest Toyota dealer in ChiangMai, and that all the Toyotas come to them first and then they distribute the vehicles in/around CM. At first I believed this, but now I have second thoughts. Anyone know for sure?

I'll have to go check the Hong Dong dealer next time I'm out that way.

Thanks for the heads up.

[Sanpatong]

I was told by the Niyom dealer by the airport that they are the largest Toyota dealer in ChiangMai

Heck, for decades they were the ONLY Toyota dealer in Chiang Mai. (Niyom Phanit / Saha Phanit is the same family)

Also, 'the largest dealer': Ask him if that means they sell larger vehicles or cheaper vehicles? If the latter than I might be interested, if anythign else then it's just slightly heated air.

[Ajarn]

The dealer on the Hang Dong road has both engine models as test drive vehicles to use.

Also, you were just unlucky that the vehicle had just been sold... Niyom Phanich used to just DISCONNECT THE odometer/speedometer sensor and let people test drive, then sell the vehicle as new.

If that doesn't tell you something about them then I don't know what will.

Sounds like you're making it up...