Average Life Of A Car In Thailand

[chivo]

i know the 'how long is a piece of string' guys won't be able to resist this one with their pensive wit,

but in your experience, or estimation, what would you know/expect the life of a vehicle to be in thailand,

not based on accidents, rather general wear and tear, driven only on weekends here and there, with maybe one upcountry weekend road trip per month, and maybe 2 weeks of driving holiday per year.

are there calculated averages available anywhere?

cheers for leaving the string out of this...

[thaicbr]

The piece of string has to come into it. at least choose a car and year of manufacture then get peoples ideas. example i have a 2004 Ford Ranger with 125,000km's on the clock and with decent maintenance i expect this vehicle to be good for another 200,000 km's and 6 years or 10 years in total with no major repairs.

Allan

Edited April 2, 2009 by thaicbr

[kartman]

Based on your info 2752

[ignis]

Just have a look around there are lots of 1970 - 80's cars about,

Think of 30yrs ago there was not as many cars about in Thailand, yet 30 years on a lot of these cars are used daily

As for a 2004 Ford Ranger with 125,000km's on the clock, there are many cars 10 years older with less km and newer ones with more km.

In 4 years my car had done just 25,200 km, yet the D-Max in the same time had over 400,000km trouble free, due to the economic down turn so changes made the 'new' D-Max bought in May 2008 has done only 72,000 km, the car changed last September has covered less then 3,000km

So if your only doing low mileage then it is more like how long do you want to keep the car? also what make of car you buy, if you buy the right make then it may have only lost 100,000 baht in 4 years and you may want to exchange it for a new one fully warranted

[sbk]

It also depends on how much maintenance and care you are willing to do for your vehicle. My husband has a 17 year old Isuzu pickup truck, he has had it stripped and repainted twice (rust is a problem this close to the ocean), does regular oil changes and other maintenance on it. It runs quite well and has had no major repairs on it in the years we've owned. (oh, wait, replaced the water pump)

But, I think alot of it depends on the model you buy, I've heard the newer Isuzus (ie past couple of years) have had quite a few issues, and our new Ford pickup has had a a few small issues that the Isuzu never did. Research the vehicle thoroughly, buy one that is not the newest model with the latest technology (ie big changes recently made usually mean that the bugs have not all been worked out) and ask people who own vehicles what they like and what they dislike about their cars. My husband also frequented Thai language car forums as well, you might check out english language ones for yourself.

[Maejo Man]

Maintainence is the keyword here. I run a 10 year old Honda Accord with well over 200,000 Km's on the clock that is serviced regularly, but recently had to replace the transmission on account it was cheaper to do that than sent it to Bangkok for a full service. I reckon it's good for another 200,000 before I replace the engine

[PattayaParent]

I had my old Toyota Corrolla for 13 years.

Used it 5 days a week for work and when I wasn't working 4 days a week for golf so it was constantly on the go.

Always serviced it every 5,000 kms and I reckon I could have gotten a lot more out of it, maybe another 5 years. I still see others the same model on the road 2 years later as well as even older cars.

Unfortunately new wife + new baby = new car.

[Gary A]

A friend of mine has an eleven year old Isuzu 4X4. It has 275,000 kilometers on it. I tease him about buying a new one and he says he'll buy one when the Isuzu quits and it still runs great.

[chivo]

appreciate the good answers.

my research on the web produced a consumer reports statement that 8 was the calculated 'average' but that getting ten was easy enough with good makes like hondas etc.

many otherpeople seem to get much more and thats great.

the cr report said though that the consideration for dumping a good running old car for a new one is that the safety features may be outdated on the old one. fair enough point.

[longball53098]

Service, service, service. If you take care of your machinery it will reward you and be trouble free. Abuse it and no service and you will be walking or spending money.

In the US there was an ad showing a mechanic saying, "Pay me now or pay me later" Paying for service "now" is a lot cheaper than "paying me later" when the vehicle breaks down.

[noahvail]

Service, service, service. If you take care of your machinery it will reward you and be trouble free. Abuse it and no service and you will be walking or spending money.

In the US there was an ad showing a mechanic saying, "Pay me now or pay me later" Paying for service "now" is a lot cheaper than "paying me later" when the vehicle breaks down.

Yep, the old Fram oil filter commercial. Brought the new Vigo back at 1,000km and told them to change the break-in oil and filter. Got a big argument out of them. Then they said, ok, change the oil, not the filter. Sheesh - it's more important to change the filter than the oil! I've taken it to another dealer since then...bigger city, more professional - and they are happy to do maintenance above and beyond what 'the book' says.

[Camelot]

I bought my turbocharged Subaru Impreza new in 1995 and have never had a major problem. The most reliable car I have ever had. It's like a faithful dog. Treat it well, give it plenty of tender loving care and and it will be a dependable companion. Looks good as well and doesn't show its age, unlike its owner.

A friend of mine ran a big old 1970's Toyota for 25 years. Ran beautifully with a suspension that glided along Thai streets. He'd still have it today if it hadn't been stolen.

The key is preventive maintenance. A colleague at work wondered why her Mazda packed up after four years. She had never serviced it. Not once.

[chrisyork]

Maintenance in Thailand is a completely different animal to the same term in the West. Thai's are quite prepared, and the infrastructure is there to support it, to carry out really major renewals and overhauls on old vehicles. There is literally no limit other than accidents (!!) to how long a vehicle will last in Thailand. In our local small town we have a Citroen CX Prestige - complete with horifically complex hydraulics and French build quality - and a late 60's Alfa coupe - notoriously fragile even when new - both in daily use. The Thais can fix absolutely anything mechanical! And bodywotk and trim are easily repaired / renewed too.

My only reservation to this glowing tribute is that more modern cars with reliance on electronic engine management and other electronic systems may not fare quite as well long term. We have a relatively modern Nissan saloon laid up at home primarily because of electronic difficulties, while its older siblings purr on into the future.

Chris

[billd766]

The piece of string has to come into it. at least choose a car and year of manufacture then get peoples ideas. example i have a 2004 Ford Ranger with 125,000km's on the clock and with decent maintenance i expect this vehicle to be good for another 200,000 km's and 6 years or 10 years in total with no major repairs.

Allan

My Ford Ranger is a 2001 model and I have had a leaky radiator a couple of years ago and a few minor problems and the car has around 187k on it and I am now on my 3rd set of tyres.

I gets regularly serviced and if could I would replace the engine with the later D4D model as it is more economical otherwise I expect it to keep on another few years.

[appleman]

Question: What would you know/expect the life of a vehicle to be in Thailand?

Answer: Forever

As long as you have a good mechanic and you don't flip your car over or run into a tree, you can always get it fixed or parts replaced?

Back in the 70s I had a 15 year old Ford Anglia (same kind of car Harry Potter flies around in, same color too). It had holes in the floor that I could put my foot through, huge rusted out spots, a manifold that would occasionally catch fire. I had the body completely redone, new paint job, replaced the engine, and lots of other things (I just liked the car's design). When I left Thailand 5 years later I gave the car to my mechanic's wife. She drove it for another 10 years. I am not sure but I am wondering if they used my car in the Harry Potter movies. Maybe. My current car is 8 years old and I think it has a good 20 years left in her. I have the same mechanic I had back in the 70s.

[stingray]

Question: What would you know/expect the life of a vehicle to be in Thailand?

Answer: Forever

As long as you have a good mechanic and you don't flip your car over or run into a tree, you can always get it fixed or parts replaced?

Back in the 70s I had a 15 year old Ford Anglia (same kind of car Harry Potter flies around in, same color too). It had holes in the floor that I could put my foot through, huge rusted out spots, a manifold that would occasionally catch fire. I had the body completely redone, new paint job, replaced the engine, and lots of other things (I just liked the car's design). When I left Thailand 5 years later I gave the car to my mechanic's wife. She drove it for another 10 years. I am not sure but I am wondering if they used my car in the Harry Potter movies. Maybe. My current car is 8 years old and I think it has a good 20 years left in her. I have the same mechanic I had back in the 70s.

I have a Olsdmobile Cutlass Salon 1974 and i keep it in good shape. It cost me every year arround 20 to 30'k to doo this (allways some repairs and body work). We are lucky to have cheap labour overhere, so i can afford this car. In Europe i couln't or i have t do all the work by myself. So i guess it's possible to run a car forever in this country.

[aussiebebe]

Based on my experience of owning an older Toyota Soluna-Vios and all the servicing that went into that my answer would be in excess of 15 years or 200,000km for a saloon car, if maintained at the appropriate intervals at the official service centre. If you looked at a graph of a car's reliability over time, it would look like a bath-tub shape; high probability of problems when new (covered by warranty) and then a long period of high reliability. After a certain time, the probability of mechanical failure would rise sharply.

Based on what I know about cars in Bangkok; rust-proofing, re-upholstering, servicing and even re-sprays are relatively affordable ways of prolonging the life of any car; they can make financial sense as opposed to buying a new car, whereas in a Western country with such lower-priced second-hand cars no-one would bother.

[torrenova]

The family has an old Isuzu, perhaps 15 years old that is running ok with about 250k on the engine. However, it is a dinosaur compared to our 2 year old Isuzu and I would not want to have to drive it far without electric this and that and no PAS.

[stingray]

The family has an old Isuzu, perhaps 15 years old that is running ok with about 250k on the engine. However, it is a dinosaur compared to our 2 year old Isuzu and I would not want to have to drive it far without electric this and that and no PAS.

I think there is the problem. All the newer cars have a lot of electronic things, like engine management, sensors, air bags, ABS, etc. This cars will fail when they ged aged. Old cars, like Toyota Crown, even old (ugly) pich ups, runs forever and easy to repair and mainenance. All the electronic cars 'somchai" can't repair anymore, so you are depend on "high cost" dealer services, if they even can handle computer diagnostic. I say this, because i saw, some dealership (Ford) had a diagnostic computer for their sedan cars somwhere in a corner of their workshop, but noone of their staff could operate the thing.

[culicine]

The family has an old Isuzu, perhaps 15 years old that is running ok with about 250k on the engine. However, it is a dinosaur compared to our 2 year old Isuzu and I would not want to have to drive it far without electric this and that and no PAS.

I think there is the problem. All the newer cars have a lot of electronic things, like engine management, sensors, air bags, ABS, etc. This cars will fail when they ged aged. Old cars, like Toyota Crown, even old (ugly) pich ups, runs forever and easy to repair and mainenance. All the electronic cars 'somchai" can't repair anymore, so you are depend on "high cost" dealer services, if they even can handle computer diagnostic. I say this, because i saw, some dealership (Ford) had a diagnostic computer for their sedan cars somwhere in a corner of their workshop, but noone of their staff could operate the thing.

Yeah my airbag sensor failed a year ago. Still not fixed yet. Cost will be about 17K. When the revenue department gives me my tax return I'll get it sorted. Electronics definately aren't cheap! But consider how technology has changed. An old ford 4.1 L engine used to put out 150HP, compared to my civics 2.0 155HP. Amazing that... Modern petrol engines are good for 250-300K kms easy, as long as they are well maintained. Can get more out of diesels.

[kartman]

The family has an old Isuzu, perhaps 15 years old that is running ok with about 250k on the engine. However, it is a dinosaur compared to our 2 year old Isuzu and I would not want to have to drive it far without electric this and that and no PAS.

I think there is the problem. All the newer cars have a lot of electronic things, like engine management, sensors, air bags, ABS, etc. This cars will fail when they ged aged. Old cars, like Toyota Crown, even old (ugly) pich ups, runs forever and easy to repair and mainenance. All the electronic cars 'somchai" can't repair anymore, so you are depend on "high cost" dealer services, if they even can handle computer diagnostic. I say this, because i saw, some dealership (Ford) had a diagnostic computer for their sedan cars somwhere in a corner of their workshop, but noone of their staff could operate the thing.

Like Audi 100 Quattro's .

[sibeymai]

Cars tend to die here at the same time as their owners.

[stingray]

The family has an old Isuzu, perhaps 15 years old that is running ok with about 250k on the engine. However, it is a dinosaur compared to our 2 year old Isuzu and I would not want to have to drive it far without electric this and that and no PAS.

I think there is the problem. All the newer cars have a lot of electronic things, like engine management, sensors, air bags, ABS, etc. This cars will fail when they ged aged. Old cars, like Toyota Crown, even old (ugly) pich ups, runs forever and easy to repair and mainenance. All the electronic cars 'somchai" can't repair anymore, so you are depend on "high cost" dealer services, if they even can handle computer diagnostic. I say this, because i saw, some dealership (Ford) had a diagnostic computer for their sedan cars somwhere in a corner of their workshop, but noone of their staff could operate the thing.

Like Audi 100 Quattro's .

Yes that's correct, but i allways found out where is the problem. There was never a problem i couln'd solve. Just a matter of time, sooner or later. I know when i bought it, that i get a project, but i look it from another way. i bought many cars like this and somehow i allways fix it. It's give me expirience. In the end it's still a very nice car to drive in compare, what the japanese built those days.

But someone who don't have expirience or knowledge shouldn't go for a car like this. But i allways like the "challenge"