My Experience Buying/Shopping For A New Car

[surayu]

so unless you have something relevant to add

Yes i do but i will keep it very short, maybe your many misunderstandings might be related to some kind of illness so i will not blame you for that, the only suggestion i might give you is try to re-read the whole thing properly...

[kuffki]

The comments on the Cruzes Auto Box,does rather prove kuffkis test drive is a good idea. A change from a City,isn't one for the better if you don't like the Box. More so when buying into a relatively unknown product here.Chevy did offer me a test drive,and were polite.I only popped in from reading posts here.I sat in it only, and the Interior makes the Fords look like a Proton..Now i wish i had tried it.You don't expect a Wonkey Auto these days, especially from G.M.:jap:

The idea of a test drive is not only to test things like gears but also to get a feel of the car. For example Ford Wildtrack looks good on the paper, even though i did not get to drive one, but just sitting inside i found it to be very narrow and rather uncomfortable.

I use to have Mitso Triton and it was comfy to sit in, but when driving, everything rattled.

Some cars looks awesome to look at and have great specs, but may not feel as comfortable as one wants/needs.

Of course as already said, for some people its not about the actual drive but the image, If i was interested in that, BMW is the way to go.

My neighbor(Thai) bought one and car has not moved yet for over 9 months already but it is parked right infront of his house, washed daily but thats about it

PS. Love BMW, but the price of a car and service is outrages in Thailand

[transam]

The comments on the Cruzes Auto Box,does rather prove kuffkis test drive is a good idea. A change from a City,isn't one for the better if you don't like the Box. More so when buying into a relatively unknown product here.Chevy did offer me a test drive,and were polite.I only popped in from reading posts here.I sat in it only, and the Interior makes the Fords look like a Proton..Now i wish i had tried it.You don't expect a Wonkey Auto these days, especially from G.M.:jap:

The idea of a test drive is not only to test things like gears but also to get a feel of the car. For example Ford Wildtrack looks good on the paper, even though i did not get to drive one, but just sitting inside i found it to be very narrow and rather uncomfortable.

I use to have Mitso Triton and it was comfy to sit in, but when driving, everything rattled.

Some cars looks awesome to look at and have great specs, but may not feel as comfortable as one wants/needs.

Of course as already said, for some people its not about the actual drive but the image, If i was interested in that, BMW is the way to go.

My neighbor(Thai) bought one and car has not moved yet for over 9 months already but it is parked right infront of his house, washed daily but thats about it

PS. Love BMW, but the price of a car and service is outrages in Thailand

Don't like BMW's, full stop, but the rest of your post is spot on for me.

[wandrinstar]

You don't expect a Wonkey Auto these days, especially from G.M.:jap:

I think the words you were looking for are: "You don't expect a Wonkey Auto these days, except from G.M."

Silly Me, i should read along the lines of Toyota Brakes. Shame realy the Vauxhall Crestas had a nice Auto in 1960. Porche had a semi auto i liked on the 911.The Sportmatic. You bunged it into top for Auto, then just changed normaly for manual, just took yer boot of the throttle and changed..

Auto are for heavy traffic for me. Oh to get back to a Stick,and 500BHP .

[transam]

You don't expect a Wonkey Auto these days, especially from G.M.:jap:

I think the words you were looking for are: "You don't expect a Wonkey Auto these days, except from G.M."

Silly Me, i should read along the lines of Toyota Brakes. Shame realy the Vauxhall Crestas had a nice Auto in 1960. Porche had a semi auto i liked on the 911.The Sportmatic. You bunged it into top for Auto, then just changed normaly for manual, just took yer boot of the throttle and changed..

Auto are for heavy traffic for me. Oh to get back to a Stick,and 500BHP .

Noooooooooo stick, well, not for me, TCI prepped reverse pattern VB is cool for me.

[WarpSpeed]

Never seen this once since being here almost 9 years now..EVERYTHING without exception is more convoluted, frustrating and discouraging then I've ever experienced in life from buying simple car insurance coverage where I had to fight to get MORE personal liability coverage for MORE money on an older car to ANY customizing you wish to do on your own car, it's all convoluted and those are just the automotive examples and don't factor in day to day business practices...

I just referbed a Toyota Crown and can't even begin to tell you how many times I was told mai me, mai dai or mai chai on everything from machine work and bead blasting of the head and manifold to gaskets to a new carb but guess what? I found those services and products anyway exhausting as it was, as I knew better and have a different "can do" attitude about doing the job right that is as foreign here as we are...Still had to do a personal cleaning on the parts though as a hot tank and concept of proper parts cleaning and inspection before re-assembly is every bit as foreign a concept..

The trick is to understand when the person answering the question does or doesn't in fact know the answer - because you'll get one every time regardless...

Sound like you've got it mostly figured out though

Except those occasional times when I let my guard down which is tiring enough in itself to have to constantly do..

[wandrinstar]

You don't expect a Wonkey Auto these days, especially from G.M.:jap:

I think the words you were looking for are: "You don't expect a Wonkey Auto these days, except from G.M."

Silly Me, i should read along the lines of Toyota Brakes. Shame realy the Vauxhall Crestas had a nice Auto in 1960. Porche had a semi auto i liked on the 911.The Sportmatic. You bunged it into top for Auto, then just changed normaly for manual, just took yer boot of the throttle and changed..

Auto are for heavy traffic for me. Oh to get back to a Stick,and 500BHP .

Noooooooooo stick, well, not for me, TCI prepped reverse pattern VB is cool for me.

Il tell my Friend at Nong Nut Park, you wouldn't drive his original Shelby Cobra ,he has on display then. I think hes sold his Ford G.T. 40,by now,i would guess hes about No1 here for Private Super cars..Worth calling in, sometimes he displays them, sometimes not, he gets worried about Kids touching them. Lost me on that VB Box, ive got a a Sequential in my Mitsu Evo 4, and a Straight Cut Carlotti in the old 1298 Cooper S.Neither of which i use very much.

[ThaiPauly]

When I bought my Vigo in CM I had the opposite experience. Friendly service...all normal discounts given and the young lady who sold it to me drove me to the bank to get the cheque and took me with her girlfriend for a nice meal which she paid for.

Gotta agree, things are different up here.

we have brought 2 cars in the last year, a Chevvy Captiva, Chevrolet were a dream to deal with, good disount , attentive staff, even came to pick us up when we were due to collect it and it had a boquet of flowers on the windsceen, plus excellent after sales service. Ford were not so good, but acceptable, especially after I blew my top in front of a showroom full of customers because they had not raised a refund cheque for the exhaust they could not fit. Since then I have had no reason to go back, but I still have red plates after nearly three months, which is very slow by comparison to other cars I have had, so I have yet to drive it at night. I took 3 test drives in the Fiesta before deciding to buy.

Other dealers we went to were just as helpful even though we did not buy, nobody refused us a test drive.

[seriouseats]

When I bought my Vigo in CM I had the opposite experience. Friendly service...all normal discounts given and the young lady who sold it to me drove me to the bank to get the cheque and took me with her girlfriend for a nice meal which she paid for.

Gotta agree, things are different up here.

we have brought 2 cars in the last year, a Chevvy Captiva, Chevrolet were a dream to deal with, good disount , attentive staff, even came to pick us up when we were due to collect it and it had a boquet of flowers on the windsceen, plus excellent after sales service. Ford were not so good, but acceptable, especially after I blew my top in front of a showroom full of customers because they had not raised a refund cheque for the exhaust they could not fit. Since then I have had no reason to go back, but I still have red plates after nearly three months, which is very slow by comparison to other cars I have had, so I have yet to drive it at night. I took 3 test drives in the Fiesta before deciding to buy.

Other dealers we went to were just as helpful even though we did not buy, nobody refused us a test drive.

Been driving mine every night and so have my multiple neighbors with long-lasting redplates.

Redplates everywhere at night.. Seriously this is thailand.. Murder is legal.

[topt]

The comments on the Cruzes Auto Box,does rather prove kuffkis test drive is a good idea. A change from a City,isn't one for the better if you don't like the Box. More so when buying into a relatively unknown product here.Chevy did offer me a test drive,and were polite.I only popped in from reading posts here.I sat in it only, and the Interior makes the Fords look like a Proton..Now i wish i had tried it.You don't expect a Wonkey Auto these days, especially from G.M.:jap:

The idea of a test drive is not only to test things like gears but also to get a feel of the car. For example Ford Wildtrack looks good on the paper, even though i did not get to drive one, but just sitting inside i found it to be very narrow and rather uncomfortable.

I use to have Mitso Triton and it was comfy to sit in, but when driving, everything rattled.

Some cars looks awesome to look at and have great specs, but may not feel as comfortable as one wants/needs.

Of course as already said, for some people its not about the actual drive but the image, If i was interested in that, BMW is the way to go.

My neighbor(Thai) bought one and car has not moved yet for over 9 months already but it is parked right infront of his house, washed daily but thats about it

PS. Love BMW, but the price of a car and service is outrages in Thailand

Don't like BMW's, full stop, but the rest of your post is spot on for me.

Each to their own but i agree with kufki as well - I cannot imagine laying out any money let alone close to 1m baht without trying the vehicle out first - unless perhaps I had already driven the same model before.

Transam - If i can ask what do you not like about BMWs (apart from perhaps the image of the driver to some) as I have always found them to be very good "drivers" cars in their particular segments? (I know that may be a big generalisation

[WarpSpeed]

The comments on the Cruzes Auto Box,does rather prove kuffkis test drive is a good idea. A change from a City,isn't one for the better if you don't like the Box. More so when buying into a relatively unknown product here.Chevy did offer me a test drive,and were polite.I only popped in from reading posts here.I sat in it only, and the Interior makes the Fords look like a Proton..Now i wish i had tried it.You don't expect a Wonkey Auto these days, especially from G.M.:jap:

The idea of a test drive is not only to test things like gears but also to get a feel of the car. For example Ford Wildtrack looks good on the paper, even though i did not get to drive one, but just sitting inside i found it to be very narrow and rather uncomfortable.

I use to have Mitso Triton and it was comfy to sit in, but when driving, everything rattled.

Some cars looks awesome to look at and have great specs, but may not feel as comfortable as one wants/needs.

Of course as already said, for some people its not about the actual drive but the image, If i was interested in that, BMW is the way to go.

My neighbor(Thai) bought one and car has not moved yet for over 9 months already but it is parked right infront of his house, washed daily but thats about it

PS. Love BMW, but the price of a car and service is outrages in Thailand

Don't like BMW's, full stop, but the rest of your post is spot on for me.

Each to their own but i agree with kufki as well - I cannot imagine laying out any money let alone close to 1m baht without trying the vehicle out first - unless perhaps I had already driven the same model before.

Transam - If i can ask what do you not like about BMWs (apart from perhaps the image of the driver to some) as I have always found them to be very good "drivers" cars in their particular segments? (I know that may be a big generalisation

T/A doesn't like turns he only likes straight lines...

[kuffki]

Guys in the know, i have a question and hope you have the answer

Today i was told by Isuzu sales girl that there is a motorshow on 30th of this month, is that true?

If it is, when is the best time to visit to place an order to get best deal? In the beginning of the show or the end?

Also what kind of savings should i expect or look for?

And final, if i was to go for finance, how would it work? considering that i am in Pattaya but show is in BKK, Would i need to travel to Bkk for all the meetings or they can arrange local bank branch?

Thanks for the answers in advance

[aussiebebe]

Guys in the know, i have a question and hope you have the answer

Today i was told by Isuzu sales girl that there is a motorshow on 30th of this month, is that true?

If it is, when is the best time to visit to place an order to get best deal? In the beginning of the show or the end?

Also what kind of savings should i expect or look for?

And final, if i was to go for finance, how would it work? considering that i am in Pattaya but show is in BKK, Would i need to travel to Bkk for all the meetings or they can arrange local bank branch?

Thanks for the answers in advance

It's the Bangkok Used Car & Imported Car Show at Impact Muang Thong Thani between 22nd - 31st.

In some instances your timing would matter little; for example Chevy Okay is nation-wide and you can research prices online before hand. Then there are the many luxury car dealers and I've no idea how that works - never done that. Maybe it's 'First 4 years interest free!' or something of that nature...I imagine trying to run a supercar in Thailand would cause bankruptcy and homelessness.

For finance, many nationwide banks such as Tisco have booths there so you can fax documents as required.

[kuffki]

Guys in the know, i have a question and hope you have the answer

Today i was told by Isuzu sales girl that there is a motorshow on 30th of this month, is that true?

If it is, when is the best time to visit to place an order to get best deal? In the beginning of the show or the end?

Also what kind of savings should i expect or look for?

And final, if i was to go for finance, how would it work? considering that i am in Pattaya but show is in BKK, Would i need to travel to Bkk for all the meetings or they can arrange local bank branch?

Thanks for the answers in advance

It's the Bangkok Used Car & Imported Car Show at Impact Muang Thong Thani between 22nd - 31st.

In some instances your timing would matter little; for example Chevy Okay is nation-wide and you can research prices online before hand. Then there are the many luxury car dealers and I've no idea how that works - never done that. Maybe it's 'First 4 years interest free!' or something of that nature...I imagine trying to run a supercar in Thailand would cause bankruptcy and homelessness.

For finance, many nationwide banks such as Tisco have booths there so you can fax documents as required.

Cheers for that, any chance of a link?

Just little more detail, sales girl told me that they(Isuzu) woud be there and if i come there, she would knock off another 5000 baht off the price,she was sales girl for the new cars.

Now i am very confused

[WarpSpeed]

Easy enough, there is a link on this announcement

[kuffki]

Easy enough, there is a link on this announcement

yeah i saw that already but no info on participants.

[WarpSpeed]

Easy enough, there is a link on this announcement

yeah i saw that already but no info on participants.

Did you go to the link listed at the bottom?? That's the website of the organizer..

This one can't get much better first hand info then the organizer..

[wandrinstar]

Just Googled Ford Website.Perfect they give you the Price, went to Chevy, nothing at all, just H.P. Calculator for Finance,is it just me but is that not a bloody insult. .Bloody hell, even Mom n Pop can tell you what an item costs.A Condo has a Price, then you can get a Loan if you want.

[ignis]

600km.. reset from 8.1km/l a couple days ago and now at 7.9..

Shocked this is on a 1.8 Criuze ?

Friend has the 2.4 Captiva and gets the same and they live in Phuket

My computer tell me the same on my Audi A6

Is this normal for the Criuze ? Neighbor in my Village has bought [still on red plates] the 1.6 Aveo and get 13.7km/l

Myself thinking would maybe look at a Criuze, any other Criuze owners? is 7.9kl/I normal ??

[MoonRiverOasis]

600km.. reset from 8.1km/l a couple days ago and now at 7.9..

Shocked this is on a 1.8 Criuze ?

Friend has the 2.4 Captiva and gets the same and they live in Phuket

My computer tell me the same on my Audi A6

Is this normal for the Criuze ? Neighbor in my Village has bought [still on red plates] the 1.6 Aveo and get 13.7km/l

Myself thinking would maybe look at a Criuze, any other Criuze owners? is 7.9kl/I normal ??

No way, but 7.9 L/100KM would be normal - and I'll bet that's what the display is actually reporting...

7.9L/100KM equates to 12.7 KM/L, which sounds spot-on.

[ignis]

Sure sounds more like it.

[seriouseats]

my display averages 12km/l when driving on chaofa (60-85km/h) which is as close as to non-stop and go traffic i can find around here.

[stingray]

In LOS it's not usually, to test drive a car from a dealership. To much could g wrong. Accident's happen to fast overhere. Who would pay? There is no dealership insurance or deaership plates in LOS.

Another thing: A testdrived car is not new anymore. So how the dealer should sale the testdrived car as new, if you not buy?

Another thing: Profit on new cars are very low owerhere. So dealers really not interested in complicate deals or long discustions, spacialy not on bargain on the price. Doesn't matter if the car is over a milion Baht. Somebody will buy it anyway.

Regarding Ford: Wen we bought our Fiesta, they actually let me have a testdrive first, but maybe, because i have a car rental company and bought cars from them already before.

Have to understand, the salesman sometimes don't know who really gonna buy a car. Could you imagine, how many tirekickers like to testdrive a new car just to show off their Bargirlfriends, and never buy anyway?

[kuffki]

In LOS it's not usually, to test drive a car from a dealership. To much could g wrong. Accident's happen to fast overhere. Who would pay? There is no dealership insurance or deaership plates in LOS.

Another thing: A testdrived car is not new anymore. So how the dealer should sale the testdrived car as new, if you not buy?

Another thing: Profit on new cars are very low owerhere. So dealers really not interested in complicate deals or long discustions, spacialy not on bargain on the price. Doesn't matter if the car is over a milion Baht. Somebody will buy it anyway.

Regarding Ford: Wen we bought our Fiesta, they actually let me have a testdrive first, but maybe, because i have a car rental company and bought cars from them already before.

Have to understand, the salesman sometimes don't know who really gonna buy a car. Could you imagine, how many tirekickers like to testdrive a new car just to show off their Bargirlfriends, and never buy anyway?

I do not know if you really in the car business or if you have ever been outside Thailand

1. Test drive cars are also called demo's and demo's are also sold at a slightly cheaper price WORLDWIDE

Thailand is the only country in the world that not only does not allow, but discourages buyers from test drive, in other words out of 6.7 billion people in the world , over 195 countries Thailand is the only one.

2. Profit on a new cars is low????? Is that the reason why cars cost more than in Europe, UK, USA and Aus? Even adding all the tax, take Aus as example, car is shipped(freight charges), taxed(Aus tax) delivered to dealers(another freight) and when it hits showroom it is cheaper than in Thailand and then on top of it all, people can still knock off 5%-10% of the price and still same commissions apply for sales people.

To make even greater point, company tax is Aus is higher then in Thailand, wages are at least 5 times higher, so are the rents, insurances, public liability etc and STILL cars are cheaper,

So rest assured there is plenty of profit in the car especially in Thailand.

Salesman do not know?! DOH, I did not know that people wanting to buy cars walked around with big signs on their head

Why bother to have salesman at all? better just have ATM machines for people to deposit the money, leave phone number and wait for a call when the car is ready

[seriouseats]

Obviously in thailand only the owner of the showrooms makes HUGE money.. That's the point of this country.. Few select people rape others and get away with it because mai pen rai.

But again i doubt most thais do not allow test drive as every dealer in phuket is doing testdrive during the WHOLE day.. the cars are rarely not being testdriven.

[kuffki]

Obviously in thailand only the owner of the showrooms makes HUGE money.. That's the point of this country.. Few select people rape others and get away with it because mai pen rai.

But again i doubt most thais do not allow test drive as every dealer in phuket is doing testdrive during the WHOLE day.. the cars are rarely not being testdriven.

May be Pattaya has enough "buffalos" who just buy without even knowing what they are buying, so dealers can get away with it. But funny enough, my phone has not stopped ringing from all the dealers i visited(who refused test drive or a good deal) asking me to buy. So i guess times may not be as good as they want people to think

[Woodsie888]

Obviously in thailand only the owner of the showrooms makes HUGE money.. That's the point of this country.. Few select people rape others and get away with it because mai pen rai.

But again i doubt most thais do not allow test drive as every dealer in phuket is doing testdrive during the WHOLE day.. the cars are rarely not being testdriven.

May be Pattaya has enough "buffalos" who just buy without even knowing what they are buying, so dealers can get away with it. But funny enough, my phone has not stopped ringing from all the dealers i visited(who refused test drive or a good deal) asking me to buy. So i guess times may not be as good as they want people to think

Dealer margins in Thailand are surprisingly low compared with many countries. My guess is that almost everybody reading this forum will assume the opposite, but the reality would surprise a large percentage.

[transam]

Saw a Chevy today in Ubon with '' Test drive '' in big letters on the sides.

[siamcanuck]

You have a very vivid imagination, Or you are speaking from experience.amazing after all those beatings you received , you can still type - lol

Ps. I suggest yOu visit a decent car dealership and see how it really works. Just BMW is an excellent start

I actually registered an account after years of lurking just to reply to this thread. Couldn't agree with your comment about regarding BMW more. Just purchased a new car this week from them, from start to finish it was 100% professional. Treated us like VIPs every time in the showroom, had great product knowledge, let us have the car for a two hour test drive (booked a day in advance) and gave us a great deal 200k off the list and free insurance for the first year. I owned a BMW back in Canada and was hoping the experience here would be at least somewhat like back home quality wise and I can say without doubt it was. Quite a pleasant surprise and it was nice that they had many English speaking staff, yes Thai but the level of English was very good. We had a few goofy requests that they did not bat an eye at. I was and am impressed and would recommend them to anyone currently car shopping.

[HDRIDER]

You have a very vivid imagination, Or you are speaking from experience.amazing after all those beatings you received , you can still type - lol

Ps. I suggest yOu visit a decent car dealership and see how it really works. Just BMW is an excellent start

I actually registered an account after years of lurking just to reply to this thread. Couldn't agree with your comment about regarding BMW more. Just purchased a new car this week from them, from start to finish it was 100% professional. Treated us like VIPs every time in the showroom, had great product knowledge, let us have the car for a two hour test drive (booked a day in advance) and gave us a great deal 200k off the list and free insurance for the first year. I owned a BMW back in Canada and was hoping the experience here would be at least somewhat like back home quality wise and I can say without doubt it was. Quite a pleasant surprise and it was nice that they had many English speaking staff, yes Thai but the level of English was very good. We had a few goofy requests that they did not bat an eye at. I was and am impressed and would recommend them to anyone currently car shopping.

Same in Phuket, BMW gave me a brand new 320D for 3 days it has done under 1000km and they told me just go where you want, now thats service, but i think that all car dealers in Phuket will give you test drive, i know Chevy, Honda, Toyota, Merc, will do it