Japan's largest used-car company drives into Thai market

[BradinAsia]

Used cars in Thailand are ridiculously over priced. I think this is why you see so many rusted old death traps on the roads because people just can't afford to replace them.

Don't know where you live, but here in Chiang Mai rusted old death traps are rarely seen.

I'd estimate that rusted old death traps are 10-20 times more common in Texas than here.

Actually I am in San Sai area of Chiangmai. You have never seen them? Are you walking around with blinkers or have you just arrived? In my job I would 2 - 3 vehicles off the road in Melbourne in a single day. In Chiangmai I could put at least 100+ in a single day. Driving around Chiangmai is a coppers Disneyland if the actually want to get off their <deleted>. Chiangmai is a smorgasbord of unroadworthy vehicles and traffic violations.

I didn't say I've never seen old rust bucket vehicles. I said they are rare in Chiang Mai.

Rare is a comparative term. To me, rare means 1 or 2 out of a hundred. If Chiang Mai has

500,000 vehicles 2% means 10,000 rust buckets. You call that a lot. I call that rare.

In Texas, about 20-30% of the vehicles are old rust buckets. That's a lot.

FYI, I came here first time in May 1962 and lived here since 2001. Of course, Thailand

has problems , traffic problems and many other problems, but it is meaningless to judge

the country in a vacuum. We need to compare the problems here with the problems in

our home country.

A large percentage of TV members like to judge Thailand harshly as a so-called third-world

country without stopping to consider the huge problems in their own country. Think about

this -- since the U.S, U.K. and Oz, as affluent countries, have humongous problems, can

we logically expect that Thailand (so-called third-world country) will have less problems?

Personally, I much prefer the people and problems I encounter here compared to the people

and problems in my own country. That's one of the main reasons I'm here and not there.

[BradinAsia]

Love your insult. I being an uneducated adult use the word Japanese, Your too strong with your stance. I agree it is better to say Germans-Japanese-French-British- and so on. in towns at HOME, most people will shorten the Nationality name, not meaning anything by it just saving saying the full country name.

Different when you formally write, or mix with foreigners and converse. Being the said thing to do is to say Japanese.

When anyone uses a term like (nigge#s) I find that offensive along with similar names.

Listen to the average guy who is talking to his mates. example. " There were loads of Ruskies-Chinkies-Froggies in Jomptien shopping" he doesn't mean bad.

I agree with everything you're saying except when you compare apples and oranges.

Jap is in the same league as nigg#r. The others are relatively benign and do not compare,

except maybe "chinkies" come closer.

I don't think I'm too strong with my stance. I once served as legal guardian to a Japanese

lad during 4 years of high school in redneck Ohio. If you ever had such an experience you

would clearly understand my stand against the "jap" ethnic slur.

[BradinAsia]

Damn. The headline gave me visions of Japanese imports - just what Thailand needs to shake up the used car market.

Jap imports sorted the used car market in NZ for the customers betterment.

Can we do without racial pejoratives such as "Jap." It violates TV rules and offend one sense of decency.

It's only a simple abbreviation of Japanese. same as Brit, etc. No offence in that at all.

Surely, you are not serious. It is not a simple abbreviation. It is nothing like Brit.

I have a Brit friend and I use the term Brit in conversation with him. Totally benign, neutral term.

You could not use the term "jap" in front of a Japanese person without creating a huge amount

of consternation at the very least.

Next you will be saying that ni**er is a simple abbreviation for negro. Where are you from, Mars?

I'm British and get pissed off being called "Brit". Usually find it's septic tanks who over use it!

Sent from my XT1032 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Since millions of British folks often refer to their countrymen as Brits, I can't really take you seriously.

We are talking about "jap" being a serious pejorative ethnic slur. Surely you are not suggesting that

the Brit in any way compares.

[Jaggg88]

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Japan knows how to do business and get rid of their junks.

Damn. The headline gave me visions of Japanese imports - just what Thailand needs to shake up the used car market.

This confused me. The headline vs the text. Would they buy the cars at auction in Thailand to avoid import tax and green book hassles, or would they import them to avoid high Thai car prices? They mentioned only auctions.

Are the high prices due to something like a money laundering bunch? If the Japanese franchisees go to Thai auctions do they think they can outbid the current buyers and lower prices? If not are they going to buy them at auction in Japan and import them and try to make money?

In any event, what happens when the the Thai franchisees go head to head with the existing supply chain?

This will get interesting.

Well I don't know how Gulliver's business model works in Japan but the most successful used car dealers will dispatch trained reps to purchase cars privately at rock bottom prices and then polish them up and sell at top prices - usually stitching up the customer with a long expensive finance deal and extra warranty that isn't worth the paper its written on. Japanese cars are right hand drive and usually low mileage (there aren't many long roads in Japan) so they could be imported but the import duty would make them the same price as Thai cars. Most people fail to realise that used cars here are expensive because of the enormous tax that the Thai government charge on new cars and this just reflects on the used car price. The depreciation is starting from a higher level.

Edited June 16, 2014 by Jaggg88

[selftaopath]

Used cars in Thailand are ridiculously over priced. I think this is why you see so many rusted old death traps on the roads because people just can't afford to replace them.

Don't know where you live, but here in Chiang Mai rusted old death traps are rarely seen.

I'd estimate that rusted old death traps are 10-20 times more common in Texas than here.

Where we are (Isaan village) many people make their own vehicles - or so it appears. They put a 1 cyl motor, used largely for plowing fields, on a make shift frame and off they go. When the venture into highways they go so slow as to cause concern for many legal drivers of legally made vehicles. Oh and let's not forget all the home made trikes. I think these are like the "station wagon" of yesteryears.

[selftaopath]

Currently, used cars are incredibly overpriced. But even if Gulliver lowers prices, I'm not so sure buying a used car in Thailand is such a good idea because of the conditions of the roads, the way many Thais drive, and the way they maintain their cars.

Experiences vary.

Road conditions in Thailand are far, far better than the average in the U.S. Also, overall I'd much prefer Thai drivers to the road rage freaks I encountered in the U.S.

On how Thais maintain their cars --

I've seen many remarks on TV about this. Maybe the TV posters are referring to poor Isaan farmers and their 50,000 baht rusty farm trucks. Last year, I bought a 3 y.o.

(2010) Mitsubishi Triton 4-door from a Thai lady with 70,000 km on the clock. Could not find a scratch on it anywhere. The vehicle has full maintenance records and oil

changes every 10,000 km.

Every time I drive it, I'm amazed that it has the handling, feel and looks of a new car. I bought it for 490,000, compared to about 850,000 for the same model new.

Agreed: I bought my late 2011 Navara 4 door 4wd (produced Nov 2011) 5At for 600,000 a few months ago. Full service history including synthetic oil changes as scheduled and 62,000 km on it. A few lil scratches here and there cause the guy drove it and black shows everything but nothing major. Still under warranty for a few more months. New was / is 1 million baht.

Just wondering: Can service histories be faked like many documents here in Land of Scams? Humnnnn.

I've been considering a "new/used" vehicle, but question why the car "tents" don't seem to list prices. Do they "eye up" the potential customer and then decide the asking price???? Don't like that strategy one bit.