Help Re 1st Time Car Purchase In Thailand

[bkkjd]

Hi, I am considering my first car purchase in Thailand and was wondering if anyone can provide tips/advice with regards the following:

1) I’m looking at two quite different new cars. The first one is the Toyota Wish 2.0 Q Limited, and second is the Honda Civic 2.0 EL. Have yet to test drive them. Can anyone with personal experience shed any positive/negative light on these?

2) The Wish model I would like comes with a moon roof. Don’t particularly want this feature as I’m worried the heat insulation may not be good. For those that have one, is this a real problem?

3) I plan to pay cash. So far I’ve been to two Toyota dealerships in bkk and one has offered me a 40k baht discount without any accessories thrown in (although it is already quite loaded). The car is 1.3m baht, and discount is 3%. Based on your personal experiences, is this is a decent discount or should I be able to get more for a cash purchase? What about accessories?

4) I’ve only been to one Honda dearlership, and they said no discount even for cash payment, claiming their margins are low(!!). The car is 1.07m baht. They mentioned they would throw in a few extras, without elaborating. What kinda discount could I expect on the new Civic paying cash?

5) I definitely want to get the tinted windows. Plan to ask for the mirrored Lamina or 3M, at 60% all round, except the front with only top 1/3rd at 40%. Basically want little visibility from outside in, but good visibility the other way round. Based on any experiences, is this ok from both a visibility and UV protection perspective?

6) Can you recommend a good insurer (ie trouble-hassle free/good value for money)? I do have a thai licence. I have already sent an email to AIG, based on a previous post. From a pricing perspective, the Toyota guy was recommending a “very good” one (can’t remember the name) and he gave me a 1st class insurance estimate of about 26k. I would have to check the coverage details but is this the kinda price level to expect? I will also see if I can use my no claims bonuses earned overseas.

Many thanks,

[sibeymai]

I insured a Mazda Protege (323) in 2000 for about 24K baht/year on purchase value of 900K. 26K baht sounds about right.

[teej]

Hi, I am considering my first car purchase in Thailand and was wondering if anyone can provide tips/advice with regards the following:

1) I’m looking at two quite different new cars. The first one is the Toyota Wish 2.0 Q Limited, and second is the Honda Civic 2.0 EL. Have yet to test drive them. Can anyone with personal experience shed any positive/negative light on these?

[/color]the two cars are quite different re: use of space,etc. Honda parts are a little more expensive than Toyota, but I would assume build qualitites on these 2 cars are similar aka not spectacular. If you want more room, Wish, if you want sporty, Civic.

2) The Wish model I would like comes with a moon roof. Don’t particularly want this feature as I’m worried the heat insulation may not be good. For those that have one, is this a real problem?

[/color] You can tint the moonroof too. I think that model has a sliding cover too on the inside to cover the glass, but don't quote me. Either way, good tint like V-Kool can take care a lot of the infrared radiation. I've clear V-Kool around one of my cars and it's spectacular, but a little steep at 18,000baht.

3) I plan to pay cash. So far I’ve been to two Toyota dealerships in bkk and one has offered me a 40k baht discount without any accessories thrown in (although it is already quite loaded). The car is 1.3m baht, and discount is 3%. Based on your personal experiences, is this is a decent discount or should I be able to get more for a cash purchase? What about accessories?

[/color]40k sounds reasonable, but you should be able to get every available extra squeezed out of at least one of the dealers.

4) I’ve only been to one Honda dearlership, and they said no discount even for cash payment, claiming their margins are low(!!). The car is 1.07m baht. They mentioned they would throw in a few extras, without elaborating. What kinda discount could I expect on the new Civic paying cash?

[/color]like i said, get all the extras thrown in, at the least.

5) I definitely want to get the tinted windows. Plan to ask for the mirrored Lamina or 3M, at 60% all round, except the front with only top 1/3rd at 40%. Basically want little visibility from outside in, but good visibility the other way round. Based on any experiences, is this ok from both a visibility and UV protection perspective?

[/color]I have clear tints all around on one car and the 60/40 combo on 2 other cars. Don't do the top 1/3 deal, do the whole windscreen as one tint. You will get a lot of infrared radiation coming in thru that other 2/3s... I gotta say that I'm considering changing the combo to 40 all around and clear tint in front. The 60 is a little dark at night at difficult to see random things like dogs, noodle wagons, children, rats, motorcycles, tuk-tuks,etc... but if it's privacy you want than you can't go less than 60. Can't see thru the 40 anyway on the windscreen cuz it's angled and that helps.

6) Can you recommend a good insurer (ie trouble-hassle free/good value for money)? I do have a thai licence. I have already sent an email to AIG, based on a previous post. From a pricing perspective, the Toyota guy was recommending a “very good” one (can’t remember the name) and he gave me a 1st class insurance estimate of about 26k. I would have to check the coverage details but is this the kinda price level to expect? I will also see if I can use my no claims bonuses earned overseas.

[/color]I use Bangkok Insurance. 26k seems reasonable for that class of car. You should ask for 1st year insurance free included in the car purchase.

Edited April 26, 2006 by teej

[BKK90210]

Does anyone know how much for registration and taxes? .....and any other hidden costs we should be aware of?

[bkkjd]

Thanks very much teej & co.

Re the tints, I want to get the slightly mirrored look. Does anyone know how this works? I would imagine it would assure more privacy even at 40% than the non-mirrored...and is there a limit to it so that the glare does not disturb other drivers?

Thanks

[moonoi]

Thanks very much teej & co.

Re the tints, I want to get the slightly mirrored look. Does anyone know how this works? I would imagine it would assure more privacy even at 40% than the non-mirrored...and is there a limit to it so that the glare does not disturb other drivers?

Thanks

I've have the mirrored effect Lamina film...60% sides and rear and 40% front. No problem with night vision although there is a little bit of reflection of the dash though in the front window at night.....but nothing really to cause you to miss anything

and I wouldn't worry about glare to other drivers.....never noticed it being much differant to normal tinted glass ie not much glare at all

Edited April 27, 2006 by moonoi

[teej]

Thanks very much teej & co.

Re the tints, I want to get the slightly mirrored look. Does anyone know how this works? I would imagine it would assure more privacy even at 40% than the non-mirrored...and is there a limit to it so that the glare does not disturb other drivers?

Thanks

I think mirrored tint is illegal, as if that means anything in thailand... but in the off chance you're a little tipsy and you're driving along just fine, you don't wanna get pulled over just for your mirrored tint and end up in jail.

Either way, the V-Kool tints all have a little bit of 'mirror' effect in them due to the magnificent chemicals or whatever is in them... and that's not illegal like the Oakley sunglass mirror-tint that others have. I think the 40% V-Kool offers just as much privacy as a 60% say 3M or Lamina, plus the heat rejection is awesome. Just my 2 cents.