My Thai wife car shopping........

[Gary A]

She has a 2007 Ford Focus that was very dependable for about six years. Then the cable for the automatic transmission came apart. That was 6,000 baht. Then a coolant leak, another 6,000 baht and finally a serious vibration, 24,000 baht. She refused to even look at Fords. The Ford was great while it was under warranty. It now appears that Ford repairs nothing. They just replace expensive parts. Since she had an 800,000 baht budget, that left her two favorites out of reach. The Honda Civic was the best looking but she liked the Pajero the best. The Isuzu MU-X was also too much money. I asked to have a close look at the Mazda 2 diesel. She thought it had an very ugly interior. Nissan had nothing that appealed to her. Amazingly enough, rather than try to talk me into raising her budget, she really liked the new Mitsubishi Attrage. She really liked the interior and the outside looks. Like many Thais, she wasn't interested in anything Chevrolet. I was going to buy an old beater to leave at the Jomtien condo and start flying back and forth. I'm getting too old for that long drive. I do need transportation while at the condo. Since no dealer would give her anything worthwhile for the Ford, it looks like it will stay at the condo. Problem solved. I bought a new Isuzu V-Cross last year. We could probably get by sharing the truck but since she works, I would be without wheels entirely too often.

[NanLaew]

If it is any consolation, used car dealers lose interest in pretty much any regular make and marque once it's about 5 years old... unless it's a 'prestige' model or import.

 

Anyway, MINIMIGLIA will be along shortly to tell you what you already know about a 9 year-old Ford.

[Wonderboy]

She has a 2007 Ford Focus that was very dependable for about six years. Then the cable for the automatic transmission came apart. That was 6,000 baht. Then a coolant leak, another 6,000 baht and finally a serious vibration, 24,000 baht. She refused to even look at Fords. The Ford was great while it was under warranty. It now appears that Ford repairs nothing. They just replace expensive parts. Since she had an 800,000 baht budget, that left her two favorites out of reach. The Honda Civic was the best looking but she liked the Pajero the best. The Isuzu MU-X was also too much money. I asked to have a close look at the Mazda 2 diesel. She thought it had an very ugly interior. Nissan had nothing that appealed to her. Amazingly enough, rather than try to talk me into raising her budget, she really liked the new Mitsubishi Attrage. She really liked the interior and the outside looks. Like many Thais, she wasn't interested in anything Chevrolet. I was going to buy an old beater to leave at the Jomtien condo and start flying back and forth. I'm getting too old for that long drive. I do need transportation while at the condo. Since no dealer would give her anything worthwhile for the Ford, it looks like it will stay at the condo. Problem solved. I bought a new Isuzu V-Cross last year. We could probably get by sharing the truck but since she works, I would be without wheels entirely too often.

6 years of driving, repairs totaling 36000b and your wife is not happy?

[JAS21]

5 hours ago, Wonderboy said:

 

6 years of driving, repairs totaling 36000b and your wife is not happy?

 

At present she could pay 999,000thb and get a new Focus. Free insurance etc etc ...pay another 20K thb for PPP and have nothing to pay for 5 years ... except service and the first 5 of those are labour free ...

 

Where is MM .....

 

I was tempted but am going for something else ...

[MINIMIGLIA]

She is not that stupid to buy another rip off ford

[Gary A]

9 hours ago, Wonderboy said:

 

6 years of driving, repairs totaling 36000b and your wife is not happy?

 

 

The point being is that those relatively minor repairs were so expensive. The small independent car repair garages say that they are unable to get replacement parts and that they are not that familiar with Ford vehicles. The car only has about 70,000 kilometers on it. 

[Gary A]

4 hours ago, JAS21 said:

At present she could pay 999,000thb and get a new Focus. Free insurance etc etc ...pay another 20K thb for PPP and have nothing to pay for 5 years ... except service and the first 5 of those are labour free ...

 

Where is MM .....

 

I was tempted but am going for something else ...

 

If the Ford is such a good vehicle, why doesn't the Ford dealer want to take the old Focus for a trade in? 

 

I might add that the regular Ford service costs more than Isuzu charges for regular service on the V-Cross.

[steve187]

9 hours ago, Wonderboy said:

 

6 years of driving, repairs totaling 36000b and your wife is not happy?

 

my 125,000k 11 year old honda city, 2 x rear wheel bearings, 1 x bush in the wiper motor 6000 baht total, + consumables tyres. battery and wiper blades. we only need a 2nd car now so was thinking of downsizing, mabe a brio amaze, but my wife was looking at the attrage, as we have a 1 year old triton and pleased so far. I like the mg3, but not sure of the chinese build quality. not sure where the Thai models are built.

[Gary A]

I was really interested in the Mazda 2 diesel. Mostly because it is a diesel. I then went so far as to try to talk her into another pickup. What's wrong with having two pickups? That suggestion brought me her "Are you crazy" look. The Attrage is supposed to be very economical as far as fuel economy. I'm not sure about having a three cylinder gasoline engine and the CVT transmission. I guess that 5 years or 100,000 kilometer warranty with free labor overrides those concerns. It also comes with the first year insurance included.

 

Call me henpecked if you will but I listened to her complaining about the Focus since it was new. This next car will be her choice and I won't have to hear any complaints about me making a bad choice. I too would like a new Pajero but paying 1.4 million for a third vehicle is just not practicable especially since I paid 844,000 baht for the top of the line Isuzu V-Cross. 

[JAS21]

1 hour ago, Gary A said:

 

If the Ford is such a good vehicle, why doesn't the Ford dealer want to take the old Focus for a trade in? 

 

I might add that the regular Ford service costs more than Isuzu charges for regular service on the V-Cross.

Don't know ... but can't be worth much though as the new one has loads of bits

 

Correct, I have Ford now and V-Cross in the past ... Isuzu service is good and very reasonably priced. 844K was a good price. I paid close on 1M for mine and after 3.5Years just got a few baht short of 700K for it.

 

Point her to the Civic, only problem is just two air bags unless you go for the RS and she will have to park it herself. Give her your ATM card and send her to the Motor Show next month ...

[MINIMIGLIA]

2 airbags are more than enough, I would be happy with no airbags, with all the crap ones out there and having to be replaced due to unreliability. Gary Pajero 2 wheel drive GT is under 1.3 million and is fantastic value for money.

[Gary A]

7 hours ago, MINIMIGLIA said:

2 airbags are more than enough, I would be happy with no airbags, with all the crap ones out there and having to be replaced due to unreliability. Gary Pajero 2 wheel drive GT is under 1.3 million and is fantastic value for money.

 

The Pajero may be good value but 800,000 is plenty for a third vehicle. She still wants to look at the Suzuki Ciaz and wants to take a closer look at the Nissan Almera with the not so beautiful interior. She says the Attrage has the same beautiful interior as the Pajero. To tell the truth, I don't care what she buys as long as it is under 800,000.

 

I told her to sell some of her land and then she could have a Pajero. Apparently she doesn't want the Pajero that bad. She says her land is better than any car.

[JAS21]

16 hours ago, MINIMIGLIA said:

2 airbags are more than enough, I would be happy with no airbags, with all the crap ones out there and having to be replaced due to unreliability. Gary Pajero 2 wheel drive GT is under 1.3 million and is fantastic value for money.

MM you have a point. However I'm not sure how well it will stand up when some Somchai ignores the red light at a crossroads and his car joins the side of yours.

 

I'll happily pay the extra 100K for the RS just to get them in the belief that Mrs J will be more safe.

 

Of course I could just get a handful of amulets and a statue.

[MINIMIGLIA]

I suggest you keep your eyes open at any intersection, if somchai T bones you at speed air bags will not stop the side caving in on these little tin cans, 

[JAS21]

39 minutes ago, MINIMIGLIA said:

I suggest you keep your eyes open at any intersection, if somchai T bones you at speed air bags will not stop the side caving in on these little tin cans, 

 You are completely correct ... the side air bags and the curtain air bags are not designed to stop the side caving in.

 

As I said before I'll go along with them if  there is a chance that it will keep my .'ageing asian babe' more safe ...anyway it's only a shopping car ...we have the strong and sturdy EV for trips ☺☺☺

 

 

[patyh]

Ignoring the problems you wife have with the ford, if your wife was happy with the ride on the Ford, then she will be very unhappy if she pick on of those Eco cars (Attrage, Almera, Ciaz)

 

The car don't ride really well unless you make some aftermarket changes to the suspensions systems. All those car are good on fuel economy. So you should really let your wife try it before buying. Given the above 3 choices, I would go for top of the range Attrage with its' Front Collision Warning which should help prevent bumper to bumper accident. 

 

If you can wait for a few more days, take a look at the nissan note, with great safety options at great value. If it's mainly in the city, then the small engine would be suffice.. Just don't expect much outside of the city, it's a small engine after all. 

 

If you insists on a budget of 800000 and not willing to pay more than that, then the Honda City may be a good choice as well.. With a decent spec engine and nice interior, your wife may like it a lot. 

[Gary A]

On 2/25/2017 at 2:57 PM, MINIMIGLIA said:

2 airbags are more than enough, I would be happy with no airbags, with all the crap ones out there and having to be replaced due to unreliability. Gary Pajero 2 wheel drive GT is under 1.3 million and is fantastic value for money.

 

I did make a mistake with the Focus. It is the top of the range Ghia model with the sport suspension. It corners like it is on rails but the ride is NOT good and there is quite a bit of road noise.

 

OOPS, I quoted the wrong post. I meant to quote patyh.

[patyh]

Just now, Gary A said:

 

I did make a mistake with the Focus. It is the top of the range Ghia model with the sport suspension. It corners like it is on rails but the ride is NOT good and there is quite a bit of road noise.

 

OOPS, I quoted the wrong post. I meant to quote patyh.

 

Then, look at the eco cars. I used to have a manual attrage... While it was good at city speed, push it and you wish you had some money in the bank to tune the suspension. 

[JaseTheBass]

2 airbags are more than enough, I would be happy with no airbags, with all the crap ones out there and having to be replaced due to unreliability. Gary Pajero 2 wheel drive GT is under 1.3 million and is fantastic value for money.

2 airbags are more than enough until your family is wiped out.

Are you really that stupid or just old and senile?

Sent from my R2D2 using my C3P0 manservant

[JaseTheBass]

 
The Pajero may be good value but 800,000 is plenty for a third vehicle. She still wants to look at the Suzuki Ciaz and wants to take a closer look at the Nissan Almera with the not so beautiful interior. She says the Attrage has the same beautiful interior as the Pajero. To tell the truth, I don't care what she buys as long as it is under 800,000.
 
I told her to sell some of her land and then she could have a Pajero. Apparently she doesn't want the Pajero that bad. She says her land is better than any car.

The Suzuki would my choice for a city car. The Almera is an awful piece of c**p.

Sent from my R2D2 using my C3P0 manservant

[MINIMIGLIA]

14 hours ago, JaseTheBass said:

 

2 airbags are more than enough until your family is wiped out.

Are you really that stupid or just old and senile?

Sent from my R2D2 using my C3P0 manservant
 

 

No I do not drive with my eyes closed, air bags are very over rated and are for yank pussies

[steve187]

14 hours ago, JaseTheBass said:

 

The Suzuki would my choice for a city car. The Almera is an awful piece of c**p.

Sent from my R2D2 using my C3P0 manservant
 

 

lots of road noise in the swift

[madmax2]

On 2/25/2017 at 11:02 AM, JAS21 said:

Don't know ... but can't be worth much though as the new one has loads of bits

 

Correct, I have Ford now and V-Cross in the past ... Isuzu service is good and very reasonably priced. 844K was a good price. I paid close on 1M for mine and after 3.5Years just got a few baht short of 700K for it.

 

Point her to the Civic, only problem is just two air bags unless you go for the RS and she will have to park it herself. Give her your ATM card and send her to the Motor Show next month ...

Paid just over 1M for a ford wildtrak and was offered 400K as a trade in by ford when it was 2.5 years old, told them i would drive it into the ground before excepting that sort of price

Previously had a Toyota Vios that cost 660K baht new and we sold it for 370K baht when nearly 6 years old

Never buy another ford, and other people we know who bought a new ford feel the same way, they are hopeless at supplying spare parts and repairing just about anything in engine and gearbox which is not part of normal regular servicing

Sedans i do not know at present what we would buy but i like Mazda 2 diesel, pickup or SUV  either Toyota or Isuzu, 

[JAS21]

28 minutes ago, madmax2 said:

Paid just over 1M for a ford wildtrak and was offered 400K as a trade in by ford when it was 2.5 years old, told them i would drive it into the ground before excepting that sort of price

Previously had a Toyota Vios that cost 660K baht new and we sold it for 370K baht when nearly 6 years old

Never buy another ford, and other people we know who bought a new ford feel the same way, they are hopeless at supplying spare parts and repairing just about anything in engine and gearbox which is not part of normal regular servicing

Sedans i do not know at present what we would buy but i like Mazda 2 diesel, pickup or SUV  either Toyota or Isuzu, 

They must have thought 'here comes one', you should have left the straw at home. Wildtraks are holding their money well. Yours should have unless it was used and abused.

 

BUT when our V-Cross (1M new) was just one year old the dealer said all that he could offer was about 550K when we considered getting an MuX. But at 3.5 years old I got just shy of 700K for it. Make whatever you want of that ...

[MINIMIGLIA]

29 minutes ago, JAS21 said:

They must have thought 'here comes one', you should have left the straw at home. Wildtraks are holding their money well. Yours should have unless it was used and abused.

 

BUT when our V-Cross (1M new) was just one year old the dealer said all that he could offer was about 550K when we considered getting an MuX. But at 3.5 years old I got just shy of 700K for it. Make whatever you want of that ...

Not where I live, no one will buy a used Ford, they may well be advertised for high price, but actually sold, never. sell for the correct cheap price and maybe you will find a buyer.

[madmax2]

1 hour ago, JAS21 said:

They must have thought 'here comes one', you should have left the straw at home. Wildtraks are holding their money well. Yours should have unless it was used and abused.

 

BUT when our V-Cross (1M new) was just one year old the dealer said all that he could offer was about 550K when we considered getting an MuX. But at 3.5 years old I got just shy of 700K for it. Make whatever you want of that ...

Wildtraks are holding their money well,You obviously have not owned or tried to sell a wildtrak, What planet are you posting from, or should i say 'here comes the troll"

 

Never used and abused fully serviced by ford and only used for private transport

and i have it serviced every 10K klms not the recommended 15K klms

In the ford workshop 11 times and aprox 40 days to fix a auto trans problem

Also had to replace the whole dash gauge unit because of a flickering light in the tachometer, price of 18k baht just as well it was done under warranty, its a sealed LED unit

 

 Rubber Hose between the intercooler and engine replaced because it had spit, They did replace for free as a recall after i found out ford had changed the supplier of the hose 4 times because of faulty manufacture, Tried to charge me over 2K baht to replace and fit it

 

Most recent problem was the intercooler had a hole in it and had to be replaced at 60K klm

Replaced it the following day for 3K baht charge, ford never has parts like this in stock unless they have had a problem with them and had to do a recall

 blamed me for the problem because of some  bent cooling fins on it, How could i have done it , its fitted between the grill and radiator and you have to remove the radiator to get to it, Just paid to save the hassle of trying to claim it as a recall item

 

Its ford Thailand that has a bad reputation for customer service and vehicle repairs, people seem happy with ford in other countries 

Back on topic just let your wife choose the vehicle she likes and can afford as she will be he one driving it

[Gary A]

39 minutes ago, madmax2 said:

Wildtraks are holding their money well,You obviously have not owned or tried to sell a wildtrak, What planet are you posting from, or should i say 'here comes the troll"

 

Never used and abused fully serviced by ford and only used for private transport

and i have it serviced every 10K klms not the recommended 15K klms

In the ford workshop 11 times and aprox 40 days to fix a auto trans problem

Also had to replace the whole dash gauge unit because of a flickering light in the tachometer, price of 18k baht just as well it was done under warranty, its a sealed LED unit

 

 Rubber Hose between the intercooler and engine replaced because it had spit, They did replace for free as a recall after i found out ford had changed the supplier of the hose 4 times because of faulty manufacture, Tried to charge me over 2K baht to replace and fit it

 

Most recent problem was the intercooler had a hole in it and had to be replaced at 60K klm

Replaced it the following day for 3K baht charge, ford never has parts like this in stock unless they have had a problem with them and had to do a recall

 blamed me for the problem because of some  bent cooling fins on it, How could i have done it , its fitted between the grill and radiator and you have to remove the radiator to get to it, Just paid to save the hassle of trying to claim it as a recall item

 

Its ford Thailand that has a bad reputation for customer service and vehicle repairs, people seem happy with ford in other countries 

Back on topic just let your wife choose the vehicle she likes and can afford as she will be he one driving it

 

I totally agree. I listened to my wife complain about the Focus from the day I bought it. In my defense, I drove mostly Fords in the US and was very happy with them. My favorite was a 5.0 liter Ford Mustang. I do think all the vehicles sold here in Thailand are very good. People talk about how dependable Toyotas are. They may be but the worst vehicle I ever had here in Thailand was a 4X4 Toyota pickup. I won't waste time listing the myriad details of all the problems I had, mechanical and electrical. I guess you can find a lemon from any make.