Want to buy a Mini Truck – Looking for Advice

[Once Bitten]

 I currently only own a saloon car , so I am now looking at buying a new basic mini type truck for general use ( moving rubbish , transporting household furniture , motorbikes , taking two large dogs to the Vets etc ) . I have not yet been to see a dealer ,and past same topics seem to be a bit out of date. So I thought I would first try and get some feed back from other members here

 

I did think about looking for  a second hand used mini truck , but knowing that second hand prices here, can be silly and there’s a good possibility that the mini truck has been thrashed to H , may be its best to stick with new.

 

From what I can see the two main and popular mini trucks - are 

 

1. The Suzuki Carry and The DFM mini truck

 

 

Does any one here have a mini truck / had one / used one , and can please comment / offer advice / suggestions .

 

 

 

Thanks 

[CharlieH]

You might want to check "Toyota Sure" a secondhand range of quality assured used vehicles by Toyota. Worth a look.

[johng]

Nissan NV....yes second hand but some are still in good shape

[Once Bitten]

On 7/29/2017 at 2:28 PM, CharlieH said:

You might want to check "Toyota Sure" a secondhand range of quality assured used vehicles by Toyota. Worth a look.

Thanks for the suggestion , I will check them out  

[Once Bitten]

On 7/29/2017 at 2:33 PM, johng said:

Nissan NV....yes second hand but some are still in good shape

Great vehicle , but a bit old for me 

[Once Bitten]

 Well my self and my Thai wife went and checked out two mini truck possibility's , the first was the

 

SUZUKI CARRY

Link    http://www.suzuki.co.th/webpage/carry/price.html

 

1.6 L Petrol / Manual gearbox / 5 Speed / Petrol type – 91 / 95

 

Prices in Thai Baht

 

369,800 Vehicle Cost

Paying Cash Discount 5,000

364,800

 

I pay for …….

Government compulsory insurance

Vehicle log book

Red number plate ( refundable )

Total Price …. 372,268

 

( There was a LPG version priced at 425,110 Baht )

 

Price includes

 

Window tint film

Bedliner

!st class one year insurance

Full Tank of Petrol ( 1,000 Baht value )

 

Vehicle warranty

3 years – Engine

1 year - battery ( or 20,000 km )

2 years - tyers ( or 50,000 km )

 

Service intervals and cost

 

First service after 1,000 km – Free

then every 10,000 km after , no charge for labour only parts used .

 

No test drive is available , which was disappointing, we only could start the engine to listen to the

inside cab noise , which was not to bad, but a test drive would give a better idea of how the vehicle

sounds / feels running on the road.

 

I’m going to see if I can find another Suzuki dealership that can offer a test drive.

 

Second Vehicle DFSK Plus

LINK

http://dongfeng.co.th/product/

 

1.1 L – Petrol and LPG combined / Manual gearbox / 5 Speed / Petrol type – 91 / 95

 

 

 

328,000 Vehicle Cost

Cash Discount 8,000

320,000

Dealer pays for -Government compulsory insurance

Dealer pays for - Vehicle log book

we pay for .. only red number plate , 3,000 ( refundable )

Total Price …. 323,000

Price includes

 

Window tint film

Bedliner

!st class one year insurance

Free 300 baht petrol + full LPG tank

 

 

The Suzuki Carry some how felt and looked well made , the down side was that the drivers  seat was not adjustable , so if you were a very tall person , then you may have a problem with the leg room and operating the control pedals , personally both myself and wife are not tall , so for us the drivers seat and manual gear stick position were not a problem , and I did not foresee any future issues with driving this mini truck.

 

The DFSK Plus ,  felt some how cheaply made , although it had the advantage of having a space behind the passenger / drivers seating that allowed both seats to be adjusted forward and back and the Petrol / LPG option is nice . The show room where we went to looked a bit run down and staffed with only one sales girl and one scruffy sales  man . A test drive was available , which due to shortage of time we did not take.

 

The over all appearance of the sales showroom / staff  , did not install much confidence with the respect to the  future and any warranty / service / breakdown issues . 

 

 

The other mini truck ive come across on the internet is the TATA SuperAceMint ( diesel )

 

LINK

http://www.tatamotors.co.th/promotion-detail.php?id=26

 

but so far Ive not found one to check out , but again how is TATA in Thailand for warranty and service issues .

 

So , so far its the Sukuzi Carry seems to be up front. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cornishcarlos]

Plenty Suzuki Carry on Kaiser.com You can pick them up quite cheap 2nd hand. I know you don't know the full history but if you are careful and take your time, you will find something good for around the 150k price.

[Once Bitten]

23 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

Plenty Suzuki Carry on Kaiser.com You can pick them up quite cheap 2nd hand. I know you don't know the full history but if you are careful and take your time, you will find something good for around the 150k price.

Hi and thanks for the suggestion , I could not find kaiser dot com , may be you were thinking of this Thai web site ..

 

 https://www.kaidee.com/categories

 

Ive now found another Thai  web site that lists some Suzuki Carry's ...

 

http://www.thaicar.com/car/suzuki/carry/

 

Just looking through this web site , it seems that the Suzuki Carry keeps its price well , even  a Suzuki Carry  2007 model is over 150,000 Baht 

[cornishcarlos]

Yup, that's the site... Predictive text got me :)

[phutoie2]

Toyota do have a short wheel base standard cab pick up truck, 4x2 , 2.4 diesel at 585,000 Baht.  Revo's haven't been out to long but I noticed a fair number on the new Sure forecourt recently opened here in Phetchabun.

[ttakata]

Bump, did you buy a truck?

 

I am thinking about the Carry to haul bicycles around too.  I wouldn't trust any Chinese car like the DFSK, look up the crash test videos. You are guaranteed death in a low speed accident; they are built like golf carts with turn signals.  I would hope the Carry does better in an accident but can't find any info on crashing them.  The front end looks like the APV but that doesn't mean it crashes the same.

[Once Bitten]

20 hours ago, ttakata said:

Bump, did you buy a truck?

 

I am thinking about the Carry to haul bicycles around too.  I wouldn't trust any Chinese car like the DFSK, look up the crash test videos. You are guaranteed death in a low speed accident; they are built like golf carts with turn signals.  I would hope the Carry does better in an accident but can't find any info on crashing them.  The front end looks like the APV but that doesn't mean it crashes the same.

 

Well I did spend some time looking at second hand versions , they were either very high kilometer usage or a few years old and relatively low kilometer , but very near the cost of a brand new model.  So I went for a brand new version ,  this was the final deal I managed to get......

 

369,800 TB - Vehicle Cost 
Paying Cash Discount 10,000 TB 
359,800 TB 
Free – bed liner / window tint / floor mats / one year first class insurance / 1,000 TB petrol  

 

As I did not manage to get a test  drive before I purchased the vehicle I was surprised at the outcome .  One of my concerns was the fact that both the front seats were not adjustable in any way , but being fairly short I found that sitting in the drivers seat and operating the manual gear stick , was not a problem. The internal cab noise is a bit louder than I expected , at high speed and when I selected the 5th forward gear , it feels that the engine rev's seem a bit high and there should be another next gear up that you could select that would then lower the engine rev's / noise . Cruising at high speed while in the 5th gear is generally ok , but a bit on the noisy side.  Sitting in the cab gives a good all around view but one thing I miss is a reversing camera , which I will be fitting at a later date. One other thing I am going to do is install extra sound dampening material inside the cab area , I know the Carry is a work truck but a little quieter in cab area  would be nice.  Over all for the price and functionality , I'm Happy .
 

 

 

 

 

[VocalNeal]

Just a thought . Have you checked the tire pressure. Probably too high , even from the dealer!  You'll get used to the noise eventually you'll hardly notice? That being said you are sitting on the engine:-) 

[DavisH]

2 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Just a thought . Have you checked the tire pressure. Probably too high , even from the dealer!  You'll get used to the noise eventually you'll hardly notice? That being said you are sitting on the engine:-) 

There's not much to a carry, so I think the noise can be expected. I wonder if better tires would help?...and more insulation. The few I've seen on the roads were going like bats out of hell. They seem to go well, unladen at least. 

[Once Bitten]

2 hours ago, VocalNeal said:

Just a thought . Have you checked the tire pressure. Probably too high , even from the dealer!  You'll get used to the noise eventually you'll hardly notice? That being said you are sitting on the engine:-) 

Thanks for the suggestion , Ive just checked  the tire pressure on the new Carry and Inside the drivers door there's a stick on plastic label that shows the recommended tire pressures 

 

1.      Unladen

            FRONT  …... 29 P.S.I 
            REAR   …..... 35 P.S.I

 

 2 .   Laden

             FRONT  …...35 P.S.I
             REAR ….......51 P.S.I 

 

My current tire pressure ( from the Suzuki show room ) 

 

  FRONT ….. 40 P.S.I

   REAR …... 46 P.S.I 

 

For most of the time I don't have any heavy loads on the back of the Carry .

 

So I'm now going to adjust the tire pressures to ...

 

             FRONT  …... 29 P.S.I 
             REAR   …..... 35 P.S.I

  
And see if there's any difference in the road / inside cab noise. 

[Once Bitten]

10 minutes ago, DavisH said:

There's not much to a carry, so I think the noise can be expected. I wonder if better tires would help?...and more insulation. The few I've seen on the roads were going like bats out of hell. They seem to go well, unladen at least. 

Yes its a very basic vehicle , I'm going to see what the road / inside cab noise is like now Ive reduced the tire pressures , I was surprised at how quick the acceleration was and it does fly along 

Edited August 31, 2017 by Once Bitten

[mike324]

stick with Suzuki, DFM are junk. This is based on experience of many industry friends who have used work trucks. DFM prices are attractive, but they are not reliable and durable. But if its just light duty, I don't imagine it would be too bad, compare to the folks who use it daily for work.

[bbpbbp]

On 7/30/2017 at 9:22 PM, Once Bitten said:

 Well my self and my Thai wife went and checked out two mini truck possibility's , the first was the

 

SUZUKI CARRY

Link    http://www.suzuki.co.th/webpage/carry/price.html

 

1.6 L Petrol / Manual gearbox / 5 Speed / Petrol type – 91 / 95

 

Prices in Thai Baht

 

369,800 Vehicle Cost

Paying Cash Discount 5,000

364,800

 

I pay for …….

Government compulsory insurance

Vehicle log book

Red number plate ( refundable )

Total Price …. 372,268

 

( There was a LPG version priced at 425,110 Baht )

 

Price includes

 

Window tint film

Bedliner

!st class one year insurance

Full Tank of Petrol ( 1,000 Baht value )

 

Vehicle warranty

3 years – Engine

1 year - battery ( or 20,000 km )

2 years - tyers ( or 50,000 km )

 

Service intervals and cost

 

First service after 1,000 km – Free

then every 10,000 km after , no charge for labour only parts used .

 

No test drive is available , which was disappointing, we only could start the engine to listen to the

inside cab noise , which was not to bad, but a test drive would give a better idea of how the vehicle

sounds / feels running on the road.

 

I’m going to see if I can find another Suzuki dealership that can offer a test drive.

 

Second Vehicle DFSK Plus

LINK

http://dongfeng.co.th/product/

 

1.1 L – Petrol and LPG combined / Manual gearbox / 5 Speed / Petrol type – 91 / 95

 

 

 

328,000 Vehicle Cost

Cash Discount 8,000

320,000

Dealer pays for -Government compulsory insurance

Dealer pays for - Vehicle log book

we pay for .. only red number plate , 3,000 ( refundable )

Total Price …. 323,000

Price includes

 

Window tint film

Bedliner

!st class one year insurance

Free 300 baht petrol + full LPG tank

 

 

The Suzuki Carry some how felt and looked well made , the down side was that the drivers  seat was not adjustable , so if you were a very tall person , then you may have a problem with the leg room and operating the control pedals , personally both myself and wife are not tall , so for us the drivers seat and manual gear stick position were not a problem , and I did not foresee any future issues with driving this mini truck.

 

The DFSK Plus ,  felt some how cheaply made , although it had the advantage of having a space behind the passenger / drivers seating that allowed both seats to be adjusted forward and back and the Petrol / LPG option is nice . The show room where we went to looked a bit run down and staffed with only one sales girl and one scruffy sales  man . A test drive was available , which due to shortage of time we did not take.

 

The over all appearance of the sales showroom / staff  , did not install much confidence with the respect to the  future and any warranty / service / breakdown issues . 

 

 

The other mini truck ive come across on the internet is the TATA SuperAceMint ( diesel )

 

LINK

http://www.tatamotors.co.th/promotion-detail.php?id=26

 

but so far Ive not found one to check out , but again how is TATA in Thailand for warranty and service issues .

 

So , so far its the Sukuzi Carry seems to be up front. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the great report !

 

 

[Lamkyong]

here is a nice mini truck

[mogandave]

I have had a Spark for four years and while not the cheapest, they are arguably the best value. Easy on fuel, cheap parts and service, dealers everywhere.

I would recommend buying new., I think they go for 500-550k new.

I'm trying to sell mine with 20,000km for 350k


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[bbpbbp]

1 hour ago, mogandave said:

I have had a Spark for four years and while not the cheapest, they are arguably the best value. Easy on fuel, cheap parts and service, dealers everywhere.

I would recommend buying new., I think they go for 500-550k new.

I'm trying to sell mine with 20,000km for 350k


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can you show it ?

 

 

[mogandave]

You mean photos or you want to come look at it? If you want photos send me your email. If you want to come look at it I'm in Kabinburi. Where are you?

It was the top model when I bought it, it's mint in and out, I have all records, and it's silver. Manual transmission.

It's 4 years old, but it was the first year of the current platform/body style so it still looks pretty new.

No damage


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