Best Buy Advice?

[Darrel 330]

I'm thinking of buying a car/pick-up for use over relatively short distances of maybe 10-15 Km to get from an out-of-town location into central Pattaya and/or the beaches/towns towards Rayong a few times a week. Also some very local trips to markets etc. I may also go further afield for short breaks at some point, perhaps some trips to the reservoir and the airport, but not often.

I only need two seats and little luggage space and couldnt care less about looks or street-cred. Just let it be cheap to buy, cheap to run, sturdy, long-lived and reliable.

It will probably not be parked under cover.

I have no intention whatsoever of buying used and would normally keep a vehicle until either it dies or I do. (My last car, a Ford Fiesta, was bought new 21 years ago and sold for 500 Euros when I left Europe last year. It was in perfect working order and I would have happily kept it for another 10 years.)

Suggestions and advice? TIA

Edited February 2, 2011 by Darrel

[transam 57979]

If you were happy with your Ford then there have been raves here about the new small Ford packages. You mention truck, so you must make a decision about your possible usage.

[aussiebebe 251]

Ford recently started selling the Fiesta here in Thailand, so I'd suggest you investigate judging by how much you liked your last one! The Fiesta fits into what's often referred to as the 'Category B' segment of cars ranging between 500-700k+ (depending on options) and competes with the Toyota Vios, Honda City, Nissan Tida, Chevrolet Aveo, and Proton Persona. All cars come with 3 year/100,000km warranties.

If you want to go cheaper you can buy smaller; Nissan March, Proton Savvy, Cherry QQ, and sacrifice space and ride quality, perhaps.

Just to give my two cents, I run a City which I'm happy to recommend as a decent run-around. I realise the Vios was designed for the Thai market so may have the financial advantages and proven durability, the Persona and Aveo can be purchased new with fitted, warrantied CNG tanks which can reduce fuel costs.

[Darrel 330]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Our old Fiesta was a great car. 170,000Km and we never spent a penny on it apart from the usual oil, filter, tyres, brakes etc. It never broke down and it was pretty economical on fuel. It was also pretty lively.

Just wondering whether it isnt a bit low on the ground for Thailand though: even going from Pattaya to Jomtien is like a 4x4 off-road track at the moment, complete with water hasards.

Only thought about pick-ups because they look solid, I was told they are quite cheap and I dont need 4 seats. Dont really have anything to put in the back of a pick-up either though, apart from a take-away bowl of noodles or the occasional suitcase.

I would like to have some sort of green/economical engine type as long as that doesnt cost too much extra to buy and doesnt have too much impact on longevity and maintenance.

[transam 57979]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Our old Fiesta was a great car. 170,000Km and we never spent a penny on it apart from the usual oil, filter, tyres, brakes etc. It never broke down and it was pretty economical on fuel. It was also pretty lively.

Just wondering whether it isnt a bit low on the ground for Thailand though: even going from Pattaya to Jomtien is like a 4x4 off-road track at the moment, complete with water hasards.

Only thought about pick-ups because they look solid, I was told they are quite cheap and I dont need 4 seats. Dont really have anything to put in the back of a pick-up either though, apart from a take-away bowl of noodles or the occasional suitcase.

I would like to have some sort of green/economical engine type as long as that doesnt cost too much extra to buy and doesnt have too much impact on longevity and maintenance.

The reason l bought a 4x4 truck was that l could go anywhere, any conditions with no problem and if she bought smelly Lao food, it was chucked in the back , so all the boxes were ticked. I have used the 4x4 twice to get out of trouble.

Plus it's auto so very civilised to drive, even for the wee mrs.

[MoonRiverOasis 77]

Just wondering whether it isnt a bit low on the ground for Thailand though: even going from Pattaya to Jomtien is like a 4x4 off-road track at the moment, complete with water hasards.

Only thought about pick-ups because they look solid, I was told they are quite cheap and I dont need 4 seats. Dont really have anything to put in the back of a pick-up either though, apart from a take-away bowl of noodles or the occasional suitcase.

You don't need a pickup to drive over those roadworks, heh - any car will do that drive so long as you're suitably cautious.

It sounds like you're looking for the cheapest viable option, in which case I would not suggest a base model pickup over a smaller eco-car, given your goals (fuel effeciency, 2 seats only required), and where you live (Pattaya traffic and parking is definitely better suited to a smaller car).

A base eco-car or smaller B-segment is cheaper to buy and cheaper to run than a pickup, is a lot quieter and smoother driving than a pickup of similar value, easier to drive, easier to park, more room to let motorsai through without taking your car out, and so long as you don't get a CVT transmission you can expect similar amounts of trouble-free motoring as what you're accustomed to with the Fiesta.

You'll also be able to get an automatic transmission instead of the manual-only available in pickups at this price - that alone is enough reason to go eco-car/B-segment in Pattaya parking lots traffic

Edited February 3, 2011 by MoonRiverOasis

[katabeachbum 64]

Just wondering whether it isnt a bit low on the ground for Thailand though: even going from Pattaya to Jomtien is like a 4x4 off-road track at the moment, complete with water hasards.

Only thought about pick-ups because they look solid, I was told they are quite cheap and I dont need 4 seats. Dont really have anything to put in the back of a pick-up either though, apart from a take-away bowl of noodles or the occasional suitcase.

You don't need a pickup to drive over those roadworks, heh - any car will do that drive so long as you're suitably cautious.

It sounds like you're looking for the cheapest viable option, in which case I would not suggest a base model pickup over a smaller eco-car, given your goals (fuel effeciency, 2 seats only required), and where you live (Pattaya traffic and parking is definitely better suited to a smaller car).

A base eco-car or smaller B-segment is cheaper to buy and cheaper to run than a pickup, is a lot quieter and smoother driving than a pickup of similar value, easier to drive, easier to park, more room to let motorsai through without taking your car out, and so long as you don't get a CVT transmission you can expect similar amounts of trouble-free motoring as what you're accustomed to with the Fiesta.

You'll also be able to get an automatic transmission instead of the manual-only available in pickups at this price - that alone is enough reason to go eco-car/B-segment in Pattaya parking lots traffic

Nissan March base at 375k baht in todays market. Hard to beat on price and running costs, and no reason to believe quality is below par

[MoonRiverOasis 77]

Just wondering whether it isnt a bit low on the ground for Thailand though: even going from Pattaya to Jomtien is like a 4x4 off-road track at the moment, complete with water hasards.

Only thought about pick-ups because they look solid, I was told they are quite cheap and I dont need 4 seats. Dont really have anything to put in the back of a pick-up either though, apart from a take-away bowl of noodles or the occasional suitcase.

You don't need a pickup to drive over those roadworks, heh - any car will do that drive so long as you're suitably cautious.

It sounds like you're looking for the cheapest viable option, in which case I would not suggest a base model pickup over a smaller eco-car, given your goals (fuel effeciency, 2 seats only required), and where you live (Pattaya traffic and parking is definitely better suited to a smaller car).

A base eco-car or smaller B-segment is cheaper to buy and cheaper to run than a pickup, is a lot quieter and smoother driving than a pickup of similar value, easier to drive, easier to park, more room to let motorsai through without taking your car out, and so long as you don't get a CVT transmission you can expect similar amounts of trouble-free motoring as what you're accustomed to with the Fiesta.

You'll also be able to get an automatic transmission instead of the manual-only available in pickups at this price - that alone is enough reason to go eco-car/B-segment in Pattaya parking lots traffic

Nissan March base at 375k baht in todays market. Hard to beat on price and running costs, and no reason to believe quality is below par

Agreed. For someone looking for reliable, cheap and effecient transport the March is a stand-out. The new Honda Brio (releasing next month) will also be < 400K and at that price most likely manual transmission (rather than less reliable CVT (long term that is)), so another option to consider. Brio is smaller than March, but for two people and the Pattaya crawl, I'd say just fine.

Edited February 3, 2011 by MoonRiverOasis

[Darrel 330]

Thanks for those suggestions.

Some sort of automatic transmission would have been nice though to be honest I probably wont actually be doing that much driving in traffic: once I get into it all I will more likely be going along Sukumvit to get to Tesco or the weekend market than battling along 2nd road. I drove a manual transmission car for 35 years in much worse traffic than here so it wont kill me to continue!

Still a little doubtful about the low ground clearance of these small cars but I bow to the superior knowledge of other BMs. My main experience of Thai roads was 20-30 years ago and I can assure you that they were a hell of a lot worse back then. I was only joking about the road surface entering Jomtien: I know an ordinary car can handle that fine (at sensible speeds).

I was amazed to see that the labour costs for perioding servicing on the March appear to be free for the first 36 months, and that the total bill for periodic servicing over 5 years comes to under 15000 Baht. This is pretty astounding coming from a European country where one simple oil-change with filter costs about 25% of that, and anything at all out of the ordinary normally attracts a bill in the thousands of Euros. Indeed I always did all the periodic servicing on the Fiesta myself.

I suppose that these little cars hold their value quite well from new here, if ever I found that I really wanted something bigger/sturdier for more adventurous trips on worse roads.

[katabeachbum 64]

Thanks for those suggestions.

Some sort of automatic transmission would have been nice though to be honest I probably wont actually be doing that much driving in traffic: once I get into it all I will more likely be going along Sukumvit to get to Tesco or the weekend market than battling along 2nd road. I drove a manual transmission car for 35 years in much worse traffic than here so it wont kill me to continue!

Still a little doubtful about the low ground clearance of these small cars but I bow to the superior knowledge of other BMs. My main experience of Thai roads was 20-30 years ago and I can assure you that they were a hell of a lot worse back then. I was only joking about the road surface entering Jomtien: I know an ordinary car can handle that fine (at sensible speeds).

I was amazed to see that the labour costs for perioding servicing on the March appear to be free for the first 36 months, and that the total bill for periodic servicing over 5 years comes to under 15000 Baht. This is pretty astounding coming from a European country where one simple oil-change with filter costs about 25% of that, and anything at all out of the ordinary normally attracts a bill in the thousands of Euros. Indeed I always did all the periodic servicing on the Fiesta myself.

I suppose that these little cars hold their value quite well from new here, if ever I found that I really wanted something bigger/sturdier for more adventurous trips on worse roads.

March is called Micra in Europe, and car holds its value extremely well in LOS.

The 3 initial years servicing is almost free on most LOS sold cars. Both parts and labour is inexpensive on cars made in LOS from LOS made parts, like most japanese cars here

[Darrel 330]

Ah. Micra is a name I recognise. Thanks.

[JimShortz 412]

Still a little doubtful about the low ground clearance of these small cars but I bow to the superior knowledge of other BMs. My main experience of Thai roads was 20-30 years ago and I can assure you that they were a hell of a lot worse back then. I was only joking about the road surface entering Jomtien: I know an ordinary car can handle that fine (at sensible speeds).

I was amazed to see that the labour costs for perioding servicing on the March appear to be free for the first 36 months, and that the total bill for periodic servicing over 5 years comes to under 15000 Baht. This is pretty astounding coming from a European country where one simple oil-change with filter costs about 25% of that, and anything at all out of the ordinary normally attracts a bill in the thousands of Euros. Indeed I always did all the periodic servicing on the Fiesta myself.

I've had a March for a few months now (425k Baht manual transmission model) and have actually been very surprised by the ground clearance. Even with four people in it goes over even the stupidly large speed bumps without grounding. With my previous old banger I would frequently scrape going over bumps, but never once in the March. Actually, the suspension is very much designed to deal with bumpy roads and does this very well indeed - the trade off of course is that it hasn't got taut firm suspension for playing on twisty roads, but then it's not pretending to be a sports car!

It's sold as an "eco car" and they claim it can average 20km/l. I don't get quite that, but with mixed city and highway driving in and around Chiang Mai I do average around 18/19 km/l running on 91 gasahol. I'm pretty pleased with that! it can also use E20, but I'm, leaving that alone for now until I am convinced that it won't harm the car in the long run.

I've been very happy indeed with the March so far. At the price it's a bargain for a decently made car from a major Japanese manufacturer (personally I wouldn't entertain a Proton or a Cherry), and it really isn't that small inside - almost identical space to a Yaris. In the coming months Honda's Brio will be another option in this price range, and being made by Honda is bound to be popular in Thailand. I believe it's smaller, but until we actually get to see one we don't know how small it is.

If you want to spend a bit more money the Fiesta at around 600k gets rave reviews. It's very well specified and apparently much more of a "driver's car", but of course it will use a lot more fuel...

[Darrel 330]

The March sounds good. Thanks for the comments.

[WarpSpeed 1032]

Sorry this is off optic but no other way to go about it, MRO could you contact me by PM or email please I would like to speak about something important and automotive related..