Own A Audi Car In Thailand . . . ?

[oMega69]

Hi i was thinking to buy a Audi A4 around year 2000 . . ,

Any one own a Audi car in Thailand and can give some feedback on Service and spare parts . ,

I hardly see any Audi service centers in Thailand . . so i might get in problem . , i guess the Engine need special tools to work on . . .

[ignis]

I hardly see any Audi service centers in Thailand

That is about the last place you would need to take your car, if you only want Audi Service and part if ever needed then expect to pay at a Audi service centers...

Plenty of people that can Service and fix an Audi, very little difference in price to say Honda, just need to know people, someone good with electrics, only had 2 problems with my A6 in 3 years, both time cheaply fixed [Climate control + something with the motor for the power steering] both item re furnish using 2nd hands part from a VW ...

Climate control Audi service center said it was the controller, cost 14,600 baht + labour !! Drove into BKK a few days later to a little back street electrical workshop recommended by a friend, left car, 3 days later all fixed total cost 1,400 baht !!! still works perfect and that was over 2 years ago.

New battery 2,600 baht, 2 tyres, 3x service, 2 x repaired, total in 3 years around 20,000 baht, maybe I have been lucky, I bought the car in very good condition, the previous owner had it for 10 years

[oMega69]

Was looking in to this car : http://www.thaicar.com/en_showroom1.php?GID=131982&customer_id=Tent647

But it might be a bad ide and i should maybe go with Volvo insteed . .,

[ignis]

Was looking in to this car : http://www.thaicar.com/en_showroom1.php?GID=131982&customer_id=Tent647

But it might be a bad ide and i should maybe go with Volvo insteed . .,

Is a Volvo going to be better than an Audi ?

Myself when I was looking I wanted a Saab or a S70/S90 Volvo...... Could not find a Saab 9-3, and the 900 late model could also not find a descent one.... So on to Volvo, lots of 850's about, most well worn, very few S90 or S70, the S40 just to small, but did notice that models S40, S70, S90 did not have there original engines... So next was VW Passat and Audi A6, all I looked at had there original engines, most Audi's had lower km and owners, I bought the A6 on condition.... The Audi A6 was replacing the Honda Jazz I had bought new when they 1st came to Thailand in 2004.

I looked at 100's of cars over a number of weeks.. At the end it came down to NISSAN CEFIRO Executive or the one I bought the Audi A6.

Somewhere in a post on here someone had a Audi A6 and in a year he had spent 150k on repairs and was glad to get it sold, so there are good and bad

[katabeachbum]

Is a Volvo going to be better than an Audi ?

Yes

Volvo has been making cars in Singapore and Thailand for decades, and has proper dealer network in most Asian countries.

In addition they contain a fair deal of Asian parts, like autos from Aisin

Audi has barely had any dealers here, and are made totally from German parts. A new ZF auto is 150-300k baht imported to Thailand

[ignis]

Is a Volvo going to be better than an Audi ?

Yes

Volvo has been making cars in Singapore and Thailand for decades, and has proper dealer network in most Asian countries.

In addition they contain a fair deal of Asian parts, like autos from Aisin

Audi has barely had any dealers here, and are made totally from German parts. A new ZF auto is 150-300k baht imported to Thailand

A lot of the parts are interchangeable between the Vw and Audi of all years and models....

From what i have been told by a mechanic it is far easier with engine/gearbox to find replacement parts VW/Audi, where it is cheaper with a Volvo to swap to a Japanese engine/gearbox.

As said only had 2 problems both were cheaply rebuild using 2nd hand parts from a VW, guess it is finding some local mechanic that knows about these motors... Only a guess expect many parts on many cars are interchangeable just need a mechanic that knows, or can take the insides of something out and put it into your make and model casing..

No idea with Audi, but have had a few Volvo's in my time going back 30 odd years to the 240 model was easy to just go to Volvo and plug car in to find a fault, do they have these diagnostics machine here?

[WarpSpeed]

Is a Volvo going to be better than an Audi ?

Yes

Volvo has been making cars in Singapore and Thailand for decades, and has proper dealer network in most Asian countries.

In addition they contain a fair deal of Asian parts, like autos from Aisin

Audi has barely had any dealers here, and are made totally from German parts. A new ZF auto is 150-300k baht imported to Thailand

A lot of the parts are interchangeable between the Vw and Audi of all years and models....

From what i have been told by a mechanic it is far easier with engine/gearbox to find replacement parts VW/Audi, where it is cheaper with a Volvo to swap to a Japanese engine/gearbox.

As said only had 2 problems both were cheaply rebuild using 2nd hand parts from a VW, guess it is finding some local mechanic that knows about these motors... Only a guess expect many parts on many cars are interchangeable just need a mechanic that knows, or can take the insides of something out and put it into your make and model casing..

No idea with Audi, but have had a few Volvo's in my time going back 30 odd years to the 240 model was easy to just go to Volvo and plug car in to find a fault, do they have these diagnostics machine here?

Yes and the A-4 is basically a Passat which are plentiful here. A good second hand Audi is in the same class as a second hand Volvo taking model into account of course.

Most are purchased new by upper class Thai's and farangs that are most likely to take good care of them while they own them though as always there is the odd lemon or abused child.

Edited May 3, 2011 by WarpSpeed

[oMega69]

OKey OKey

So what u guys think about E34 BMW 525i with VANOS engine . , around 95-97 . . . ,

I guess not need to import spare parts . ,

-

cheers...

[oMega69]

So if i buy a car in BKK then the owner and the car most come to my province here in Pattaya for transfer the blue book . . , right ?

[ignis]

So if i buy a car in BKK then the owner and the car most come to my province here in Pattaya for transfer the blue book . . , right ?

NO

But you will need the transfer paper from Pattaya Office for the old owner to sign........ I have done it myself is easy, with paperwork you will need your local province number plates, give paperwork in they give you a date to return, a week later you need to go collect them + have car tested + of course you will need new Insurance + Road Tax for the new numbers.........

I believe if you buy from a Tent, they will do everything for you, you need copy of passport and proof of address from immigration, you keep the BKK number plates

[ignis]

OKey OKey

So what u guys think about E34 BMW 525i with VANOS engine . , around 95-97 . . . ,

I guess not need to import spare parts . ,

-

cheers...

Be sure it is the modified 'Alusil' version of this engine, as there were heaps of problems with the VANOS engine..

The other odd thing about the E34 BMW 525i Auto was the very slow 0-62 MPH or 0-100 KMH time---- 11 seconds, very slow for a BMW, the manual version was not a lot better.

The BMW 325i 0-62 MPH or 0-100 KMH time 7.3 seconds for the same year....

on Service and spare parts, a friend had one for 11 years, bought new in 1999, very expensive to maintain and as it got older more and more items needed replacing and work + it was low mileage or km under 80,000km in 11 years, 1x owner + driver only.

[katasyd]

I recommend anyone owning an Audi here buy one of these.

http://www.anyscancn.com/en/productshow.asp?id=853

Can be had for under $100 and is all you need to service and also diagnose problems and i also recommend buying the Audi service and repair manual for your specific model on ebay for around $8 to $10.

I keep mine in the trunk and has been useful on many occasions.

[dominique355]

I have had a Volvo (XC90) and sold it because it was a bad car in my view and always made troubles.

Then I switched to AUDI. Now I have 2 AUDIs, an A6 3.0 TDi quattro and an S5 Sportback. Both cars are very reliable, economical (the A6 is a Diesel with about 7 l/100 km average) and the S5 is so much fun to drive with its powerful engine, double clutch 7 gear gearbox and adjustable settings.

I bought the A6 from an official dealer and until recently the service has been done by them. Not very satisfying, especially considering the price of the new car and the cost of the service. The S5, I bought it form a grey importer and have it serviced (and tuned) by a VW dealer. Excellent service and much cheaper and faster then the official dealer.

Both AUDIs have been built in Germany whereas the Volvo is assembled here in Thailand. I wonder if that has something to do with the quality.

[EvilDrSomkid]

Was looking in to this car : http://www.thaicar.com/en_showroom1.php?GID=131982&customer_id=Tent647

But it might be a bad ide and i should maybe go with Volvo insteed . .,

That is a rare car in Thailand. Not a bad price.

Go for it. I know a good garage in BKK where they can service it.

Don't know any good garages in Patters.

[stingray]

Was looking in to this car : http://www.thaicar.com/en_showroom1.php?GID=131982&customer_id=Tent647

But it might be a bad ide and i should maybe go with Volvo insteed . .,

Is a Volvo going to be better than an Audi ?

Myself when I was looking I wanted a Saab or a S70/S90 Volvo...... Could not find a Saab 9-3, and the 900 late model could also not find a descent one.... So on to Volvo, lots of 850's about, most well worn, very few S90 or S70, the S40 just to small, but did notice that models S40, S70, S90 did not have there original engines... So next was VW Passat and Audi A6, all I looked at had there original engines, most Audi's had lower km and owners, I bought the A6 on condition.... The Audi A6 was replacing the Honda Jazz I had bought new when they 1st came to Thailand in 2004.

I looked at 100's of cars over a number of weeks.. At the end it came down to NISSAN CEFIRO Executive or the one I bought the Audi A6.

Somewhere in a post on here someone had a Audi A6 and in a year he had spent 150k on repairs and was glad to get it sold, so there are good and bad

Audies are generally a nightmare to fixing. For almost every reason you have to work on those engine, you always haveto remove the whole front ,radiator, headlights, etc. Personally i never buy Audi again

[jcon]

Was looking in to this car : http://www.thaicar.c...omer_id=Tent647

But it might be a bad ide and i should maybe go with Volvo insteed . .,

That is a rare car in Thailand. Not a bad price.

Go for it. I know a good garage in BKK where they can service it.

Don't know any good garages in Patters.

OT, but EvilDrSomkid I sent you an email (real email, not PM) - sorry I was late getting back to you! Figured you'd read this in the forum.

;

Re: Audi cars - dominique355, you gotta post pics of your S5 - those things are just awesome

[EvilDrSomkid]

Was looking in to this car : http://www.thaicar.com/en_showroom1.php?GID=131982&customer_id=Tent647

But it might be a bad ide and i should maybe go with Volvo insteed . .,

Is a Volvo going to be better than an Audi ?

Myself when I was looking I wanted a Saab or a S70/S90 Volvo...... Could not find a Saab 9-3, and the 900 late model could also not find a descent one.... So on to Volvo, lots of 850's about, most well worn, very few S90 or S70, the S40 just to small, but did notice that models S40, S70, S90 did not have there original engines... So next was VW Passat and Audi A6, all I looked at had there original engines, most Audi's had lower km and owners, I bought the A6 on condition.... The Audi A6 was replacing the Honda Jazz I had bought new when they 1st came to Thailand in 2004.

I looked at 100's of cars over a number of weeks.. At the end it came down to NISSAN CEFIRO Executive or the one I bought the Audi A6.

Somewhere in a post on here someone had a Audi A6 and in a year he had spent 150k on repairs and was glad to get it sold, so there are good and bad

Audies are generally a nightmare to fixing. For almost every reason you have to work on those engine, you always haveto remove the whole front ,radiator, headlights, etc. Personally i never buy Audi again

That is not quite true.

For some things like timing belt on an A4, yes. The older Audi, you have more space.

Besides, he was not going to do this himself, I believe.

All cars have their bad points. One thing I don't like about Volvos is their horrible brakes.

@jcon. No worries, I got it. You have mail.

[initiala4]

Just becareful on the Volvos. The 850 / S70 models have known to have problems in their seals especially between the transmission and the engine. They tend to leak, and it is a very labor intentive task to change a small seal.

Audi's sometimes can be hard to work, but it depends which model you are looking at.