Yeah Im not talking about Thai made cars Im talking about cars put together here in this country, like Toyota/Mitsubishi ect, as opposed to an imported car from Europe.

Steve, great post that gives some reasoning I can understand about Audi pricing.. I still dissagree that Audi is in general a weaker brand or less reliable than generic jap cars but thats just my experiences in other countries.

On the sportage, someone weighed in with exactly the opposite impression (go one forever, strong little thing, never break down on you, etc).. Dont know if they drive carlike and stable ?? I rented a Vitara one time and it was horribly unstable (may have been rental car shocks) over about 100 - 120 just felt like it was dangerous. I am not suggesting a little car should be winging along at 180 kph but on a clear road it should feel stable at 140+.. Never driven a sportage.

I simply refuse to spend the money asked here for luxury vehicles as I just think its daft, especially with the roads and amount of kms I would be doing.. But it is hard to go back to picking the kind of cars I drove in my teens.

Really I have no need of a car, just nice to have one in case of shopping, visa runs, or trips round the south.

It might be not popular, but as soon as i can get my hands on a 2nd hand good passat 1.9 tdi, it is gonna be mine! Trying to do my own service will decrease my reliance... long live the euro car!

I agree with an earlier response that the problems with Audi/VW lay with the local distributon

set-up.

The Volkswagen Group ( who owns Audi ) has a sizeable operation in China. Go to various

cities in China and you'll see plenty of Passat Taxis ( long-wheel base versions even ! ).

Not to speak of the original Santana and Santana 2000.

Also the country is flooded with black Audi A6's ( sold under Red Flag ) which is the choice

of car for any chinese bureaucrat.

If the cars survive in China ( road conditions and climatic conditions are in some areas

the same if not even worse ), they also should hold up well in Thailand. Unless

serviced by some incompetent distributor.

Next on VW's list is India for a new plant and unfortunately not Asean.

Put a factory in the region here, which eleminates high import duties and many people

won't choose blindly their Toyotas et al anymore.