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Need help to choose a fun car

TramsRepus

By TramsRepus
in Thailand Motor Discussion

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TramsRepus Advanced Member

TramsRepus

Posted
Posted (edited)

I’m looking for a fun car to drive and have huge problems to make a decision and I had hope that you guys could point me in the right direction.

Claims:

  1. High resale value
  2. Fun to drive
  3. Budget <2mil.

The cars that I have looked at are:

  • New Volvo V40S 2.0L Turbo, 213HP 1.82Mil – Fun car, relative inexpensive, good looking, safe car. BUT unknown resale value, may be difficult to sell to Thais at all.
  • New BMW 328i, 3Mil – Brakes my budget by far…
  • New Merc CLA 250, 2.65Mil – Very beautiful car inside and out. Brakes my budget but I might be able to handle it. But it is one year waiting time for one.
  • New Mitsubishi GT 2.0, 1.05Mil – Nice car, looks good but “only” 154HP – Any simple aftermarket tuning available in Thailand?
  • 2nd hand BMW 325ia, 1-1.5Mil – Premium car, fun to drive, the worst depreciation on the first owner. BUT not new, unsure mileage and history.
  • Forget “FUN“ and go safe and go for a Mitsubishi Pajero Sport

What would you guys choose and why?

Edited by TramsRepus
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WarpSpeed Diamond Member

WarpSpeed

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No VW's, how about a Scirocco?

Yes, i have looked at both Golf and Sirocco but thought they looks little lame. But on your photo it looks good.. Does VW have a good resale value in Thailand? If so, i might reconsider.

I guess the question you have to ask yourself is how many buyers do you need? VW's are gaining popularity daily, the Scirocco is unique as are most VW's in the Thai market and there is a market of enthusiasts to resell to. They also hold a respectable value on resale too, but likely it won't sell over night when the time comes which I assume you'll have notice of before it happens. But in short it ticks the boxes you posted about..

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WarpSpeed Diamond Member

WarpSpeed

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Posted (edited)

No VW's, how about a Scirocco?

Yes, i have looked at both Golf and Sirocco but thought they looks little lame. But on your photo it looks good.. Does VW have a good resale value in Thailand? If so, i might reconsider.

No !

But Toyota and Honda do if you want bland.

This is the trick, most cars we may find fun to own and drive are not commonly appreciated or affordable by most Thai's and so have slow resales. Finding a car that ticks all the boxes in that market is near on impossible so compromises have to be made..

Edited by WarpSpeed
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TramsRepus Advanced Member

TramsRepus

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No VW's, how about a Scirocco?

Yes, i have looked at both Golf and Sirocco but thought they looks little lame. But on your photo it looks good.. Does VW have a good resale value in Thailand? If so, i might reconsider.

I guess the question you have to ask yourself is how many buyers do you need? VW's are gaining popularity daily, the Scirocco is unique as are most VW's in the Thai market and there is a market of enthusiasts to resell to. They also hold a respectable value on resale too, but likely it won't sell over night when the time comes which I assume you'll have notice of before it happens. But in short it ticks the boxes you posted about..

Yea, you are right. This car will attract enthusiasts to resell it to. First i got really excited after i had looked at some youtube Sirocco reviews... But then find out that all these were the R-model which is not available in Thailand :-(

I have read that VW is selling them new for sub 2mil now but i cant find that info now. On http://www.volkswagen.co.th/th/th/models/scirocco/features_and_colors.html it is listed from 2.4 to 2.7M which will break my budget.

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jdinasia Star Member

jdinasia

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Posted (edited)

Personally ... again I may be the odd duck on this but we have a great practical car, for a fun car I would be looking for a fun old convertible.

Is the Mazda Miata/MX-5 available here? I have been looking for a decent old VW Bug convertible to keep at the condo in Bang Saray.

Edited by jdinasia
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Skint Gold Member

Skint

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Audi S5, Porsche Boxter maybe a older 911

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

 

Way above my budget of 2mil

There is a S5 for under 2 mil and a boxter for 2.4 mil, I did see a 996 for 2.8 mil a few months ago. Plenty BMW and merc under 2 mil nothing exciting tho.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

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WarpSpeed Diamond Member

WarpSpeed

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Personally ... again I may be the odd duck on this but we have a great practical car, for a fun car I would be looking for a fun old convertible.

Is the Mazda Miata/MX-5 available here? I have been looking for a decent old VW Bug convertible to keep at the condo in Bang Saray.

Yes Mx 5's are available though few and far between.

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richard_smith237 Star Member

richard_smith237

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By just sneaking over the budget there are a number of fun cars which are relatively new:

The Toyota GT-86 (also called the FT-86 and 86GT !) is possibly the best 'box ticker' as IMHO suggested.... And the Subaru BRZ (essentially the same car).

http://www.one2car.com/search/search_result.aspx?Brand=B0054&Model=S1416&Price1=2000000&Price2=100000000&

Another possibility not yet suggested: 2nd hand Audi TT ( 2010 model is near your budget of 2.2 MB)

http://showroom.one2car.com/carDetail.aspx?car_id=j31130201

http://showroom.one2car.com/carDetail.aspx?car_id=i10130011

http://www.one2car.com/search/search_result.aspx?Brand=B0003&Model=S0015&Price1=1500000&Price2=2000000&

Also - The Mini Cooper S... (2011 at 2.15 MB)

http://www.one2car.com/MINI_COOPER/I26130331

Take a look at one2car.com - the site is in Thai - but its really simple to navigate with the drop down menu's on the right...

You'll get a good feel of whats available and the prices...

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TramsRepus Advanced Member

TramsRepus

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By just sneaking over the budget there are a number of fun cars which are relatively new:

The Toyota GT-86 (also called the FT-86 and 86GT !) is possibly the best 'box ticker' as IMHO suggested.... And the Subaru BRZ (essentially the same car).

http://www.one2car.com/search/search_result.aspx?Brand=B0054&Model=S1416&Price1=2000000&Price2=100000000&

Another possibility not yet suggested: 2nd hand Audi TT ( 2010 model is near your budget of 2.2 MB)

http://showroom.one2car.com/carDetail.aspx?car_id=j31130201

http://showroom.one2car.com/carDetail.aspx?car_id=i10130011

http://www.one2car.com/search/search_result.aspx?Brand=B0003&Model=S0015&Price1=1500000&Price2=2000000&

Also - The Mini Cooper S... (2011 at 2.15 MB)

http://www.one2car.com/MINI_COOPER/I26130331

Take a look at one2car.com - the site is in Thai - but its really simple to navigate with the drop down menu's on the right...

You'll get a good feel of whats available and the prices...

Thanks Richard. GT-86 is a very nice car indeed, great looks and gets great reviews for its handling.. But no turbo to chip and a price tag at 2.74 mil for a 0-100kmh_at_7.8sec car feels very steep. If this kind of money i would rather go for the BMW 328i Sport for 3.1M, but then again, suffer an increased depreciation i think.

The Audi TT looks great. This one with only 13000km on the clock (how can you trust that) looks interesting. I have to research how well establish (service, spare parts, resale) Audi are in Thailand first.

Mini Cooper is not for me, thanks anyway ;-)

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MMarlow Gold Member

MMarlow

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Posted

Thanks Richard. GT-86 is a very nice car indeed, great looks and gets great reviews for its handling.. But no turbo to chip and a price tag at 2.74 mil for a 0-100kmh_at_7.8sec car feels very steep. If this kind of money i would rather go for the BMW 328i Sport for 3.1M, but then again, suffer an increased depreciation i think.

The Audi TT looks great. This one with only 13000km on the clock (how can you trust that) looks interesting. I have to research how well establish (service, spare parts, resale) Audi are in Thailand first.

Mini Cooper is not for me, thanks anyway ;-)

You want to chip your turbo? What? Good luck with that.

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steveromagnino Platinum Member

steveromagnino

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Posted (edited)

New Volvo V40S 2.0L Turbo, 213HP 1.82Mil Fun car, relative inexpensive, good looking, safe car. BUT unknown resale value, may be difficult to sell to Thais at all.

New BMW 328i, 3Mil Brakes my budget by far

New Merc CLA 250, 2.65Mil Very beautiful car inside and out. Brakes my budget but I might be able to handle it. But it is one year waiting time for one.

New Mitsubishi GT 2.0, 1.05Mil Nice car, looks good but only 154HP Any simple aftermarket tuning available in Thailand?

2nd hand BMW 325ia, 1-1.5Mil Premium car, fun to drive, the worst depreciation on the first owner. BUT not new, unsure mileage and history.

Volvo has not had a performance model like the V40 before; in the reviews it seems to rate pretty highly although not a pure sports car it is getting good reviews and may surprise you as a more popular car than the run of the mill S60/S40s of old; it will depreciate worse than the BMW or Benz but after 5 years, all of them will drop at least 50% so at least you are paying less upfront so cost in baht terms should be not so different.

Conservatively (you might do better than this)

e.g. Volvo buy 1.8m sell in 5 years 700k lost 1.1m in depn

Benz buy 2.5m sell in 5 years 1.25m lost 1.25m in depn

CLA you should test drive the A250, I found the dual clutch unacceptably poor; looks the part but couldn't handle the dual clutch arrangement or lack of engine note; also Benz has no maintenance included so that's a slight cost that Volvo or other new car wouldn't have (assume that's probably 100k over 5 years for the benz).

Mitsi has bad resale; would probably go for the Ford Focus Sport with 175HP rather than a Mitsi.

Personally I think the FT86 is a lovely looking car, but 7+sec to 100km is crazily slow, and for that sort of money you can get more performance although if you are doing track days etc, then the 86 is probably perfect in some respects.

If you are willing to look 2nd hand, and want a driver's car, then the Mini Cooper S; Audi A1 grey market 185HP if you can find one; Fiat Abarth; TT; Golf GTI Mk 6; Scirocco are all pretty attractive and in some ways any of them would be as much of a driver's car than the BMW (having owned BMW in the past I really don't get the appeal of the mid range Beemers, the M level is indeed a beast, but 325/328 are a bit mundane). the various chips and after market exhausts mods etc are all worth doing once the car is out of warranty; you will not get decent power out of a 116/118 BMW no matter what you do and the 125i is only available grey - BMW is not a car I would probably consider to buy grey.

BTW the Scirocco TSI 2.0 and the R are not so different; both FWD and you can easily get an ABT or APR tune for about 60,000b and a new airintake to get similar horsepower although the engine is different in each; 2nd hand Sciroccos are running around 1.5m for a 2 years old low km car. Definitely a lovely car with some style and having driven a worked APR stage 1, they are dead simple to get to good performance level very easily; a fairly passionate owners group as well with access to aftermarket parts. The VW dual clutch works, in the way that the Benz one doesn't. I personally think the Roc is a better body shape than the TT which has no rear seat to speak of and is about to be replaced as a shape. Roc if you call VW directly at say Wipawadee I think you will find they will quote you around 1.98m for a new scirocco BTW, or around 1.8m for an ex demo. Rocco you can change out the springs, put new rims on and so forth all easily done; a few of the 2nd hand cars have all this done already for 1.5m.

Another option would be 2nd hand Impreza.

For 2m new the choices are a little limited; 2nd hand low km 2 years old you have a wide choice of cars all depends on what you think would appeal to you to drive and if you plan to fiddle with the car.

Edited by steveromagnino
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TramsRepus Advanced Member

TramsRepus

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New Volvo V40S 2.0L Turbo, 213HP 1.82Mil Fun car, relative inexpensive, good looking, safe car. BUT unknown resale value, may be difficult to sell to Thais at all.

New BMW 328i, 3Mil Brakes my budget by far

New Merc CLA 250, 2.65Mil Very beautiful car inside and out. Brakes my budget but I might be able to handle it. But it is one year waiting time for one.

New Mitsubishi GT 2.0, 1.05Mil Nice car, looks good but only 154HP Any simple aftermarket tuning available in Thailand?

2nd hand BMW 325ia, 1-1.5Mil Premium car, fun to drive, the worst depreciation on the first owner. BUT not new, unsure mileage and history.

Volvo has not had a performance model like the V40 before; in the reviews it seems to rate pretty highly although not a pure sports car it is getting good reviews and may surprise you as a more popular car than the run of the mill S60/S40s of old; it will depreciate worse than the BMW or Benz but after 5 years, all of them will drop at least 50% so at least you are paying less upfront so cost in baht terms should be not so different.

Conservatively (you might do better than this)

e.g. Volvo buy 1.8m sell in 5 years 700k lost 1.1m in depn

Benz buy 2.5m sell in 5 years 1.25m lost 1.25m in depn

CLA you should test drive the A250, I found the dual clutch unacceptably poor; looks the part but couldn't handle the dual clutch arrangement or lack of engine note; also Benz has no maintenance included so that's a slight cost that Volvo or other new car wouldn't have (assume that's probably 100k over 5 years for the benz).

Mitsi has bad resale; would probably go for the Ford Focus Sport with 175HP rather than a Mitsi.

Personally I think the FT86 is a lovely looking car, but 7+sec to 100km is crazily slow, and for that sort of money you can get more performance although if you are doing track days etc, then the 86 is probably perfect in some respects.

If you are willing to look 2nd hand, and want a driver's car, then the Mini Cooper S; Audi A1 grey market 185HP if you can find one; Fiat Abarth; TT; Golf GTI Mk 6; Scirocco are all pretty attractive and in some ways any of them would be as much of a driver's car than the BMW (having owned BMW in the past I really don't get the appeal of the mid range Beemers, the M level is indeed a beast, but 325/328 are a bit mundane). the various chips and after market exhausts mods etc are all worth doing once the car is out of warranty; you will not get decent power out of a 116/118 BMW no matter what you do and the 125i is only available grey - BMW is not a car I would probably consider to buy grey.

BTW the Scirocco TSI 2.0 and the R are not so different; both FWD and you can easily get an ABT or APR tune for about 60,000b and a new airintake to get similar horsepower although the engine is different in each; 2nd hand Sciroccos are running around 1.5m for a 2 years old low km car. Definitely a lovely car with some style and having driven a worked APR stage 1, they are dead simple to get to good performance level very easily; a fairly passionate owners group as well with access to aftermarket parts. The VW dual clutch works, in the way that the Benz one doesn't. I personally think the Roc is a better body shape than the TT which has no rear seat to speak of and is about to be replaced as a shape. Roc if you call VW directly at say Wipawadee I think you will find they will quote you around 1.98m for a new scirocco BTW, or around 1.8m for an ex demo. Rocco you can change out the springs, put new rims on and so forth all easily done; a few of the 2nd hand cars have all this done already for 1.5m.

Another option would be 2nd hand Impreza.

For 2m new the choices are a little limited; 2nd hand low km 2 years old you have a wide choice of cars all depends on what you think would appeal to you to drive and if you plan to fiddle with the car.

Thanks Steve, So it is down to Sirocco, Volvo V40S or a TT, all European cars. The TT look really great and premium but the 2.0L is only available as gray import. V40S looks and feels premium and it is a safe car and i get a brand new one for what it is worth. Volvos aut gearboxes are not too happy with chip tuning according my friend at Volvo who have seen countless ruined gearboxes due to chip tuning :-s .. The Sirocco looks like, i don't know, not to bad... But it will probably have the best resale after 3-5 years.

I thought Mits was much more popular than Ford here. People does not seem to be all to happy with their cars, customer service, repairs etc. Would you really go for the Ford... Let me know more as my GF thinks it is better to just buy a cheap car here as we plan to live in Europe during summer months (May-Aug) and buy something nicer over there like Nissan GTR (3.5Mbaht against 10Mbaht here) or even a Porsche to play with during our 4 month annually holiday over there.

Edited by TramsRepus
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