Corona Vs Sonata Vs Camry Vs Galant vs Accord

[pokerspiv]

I'm in the market for a cheap car and was looking for the opinion of some car enthusiasts.

I dont want to spend more than about 90,000 baht, and I am too tall for a compact car like a Corolla, so I am looking at mid-sized sedans in that price range.

Basically my options boil down to the following:

• ~ 1992 model Toyota Corona, these go for around 60-70,000 baht.
• Honda Accord of the same vintage are around 80,000
• Mitsubishi Galant or a Hyundai Sonata seem a bit cheaper for their vintage, you can get 1996-1998 models for around 90,000 baht.
• 1994-1995 model Toyota Camry which are usually in the 90-100,000 baht range.

I'm mainly just looking for opinions of the forum members on which one represents the best value as a used car.

[stevenl]

Galant and Sonata are just as reliable as the others, just less popular. That means you can get them newer than the others for the same money, so better value, especially since depreciation won't be important any more.

[guzzi850m2]

So you want to buy a 15-20 year old car in Thailand, well good luck with that, try to find one that have been owned by the same person it's whole life, chances are that it have been good taken care of.

[pokerspiv]

Galant and Sonata are just as reliable as the others, just less popular. That means you can get them newer than the others for the same money, so better value, especially since depreciation won't be important any more.

Does being less popular mean it's harder to source parts for repairs though?

[thailoht]

So you want to buy a 15-20 year old car in Thailand, well good luck with that, try to find one that have been owned by the same person it's whole life, chances are that it have been good taken care of.

That is very good advice!

I bought my first LOS car, a 2.5L,15 year old Toyota that its Ex-pat owner took real good care of. A good find can be done with patience and a little luck (that you can come across the right vehicle with the right owner).

(In this case), there is an advantage to buying a type of vehicle that you see frequently on the road - because parts are never a problem and if you have to take it in for service, the (especially 'more mature') mechanics will probably be able to tell you what is wrong with your car before you can describe the problem to them - It's happened to me more than once with that car!

Good luck!

[BSJ]

Buy yourself a new scooter and rent a car or pick-up for the holiday trips.

[pokerspiv]

I have a scooter already, thanks. I want a car because scooters are horribly dangerous and not much fun to ride in the rain.