A sister in law recently started university, her parents agreed to buy her a used hatchback for commuting (15km round trip) with the plan to buy her a brand new car after graduating in 4 years time.

They set a budget of under 100,000, as there will no doubt be a few pings and bumps over her first 4 years of driving.

Hatchback.

Automatic not stickshift.

Ford Fiestas in this price bracket are around 2012, and out due to notorious issues with the automatic gear box.

She prefers the look of the Nissan March to the Mitsubishi Mirage. Both are available for around 90,000 THB.

The very cheap ones are usually stickshift not automatic.

Same for the Mirage.

For this price the Hondas and Toyotas are usually much 5 or 6 years older, and have an extra 100,000 KM or so on them.

Now, to the Chevrolet Sonic.

2013

Automatic

1.4L

68,000 THB

2014

Automatic

120,000 KM

65,000

Not exactly a hatchback, but still small.

Back in America Chevrolet are seen as okay cars. Why are used Chevs so much cheaper (20-30% cheaper), with less mileage and a few years younger than the basic entry models of Nissan and Mitsubishi, the March and the Mirage.

AFAIK Chevrolet closed their dealerships in Thailand a few years ago, but the big main mechanics must still be able to get in parts and be able to work on them, right?

Or is there another reason?

This may be the answer.

Perhaps a 2010 generation Nissan March may be less problematic, and a better option.