scooter and car purchase and warranty

[gspotman]

How do the prices compare in PTY to the US for scooter and car prices and any recommendations for dealers makes or model that would be reliable?

scooter for sure i need some help?

Cars, just which makes or models are most popular and have good warranty and prices?

 

Maybe there is a thread but didn't see what I was looking for

Thanks

[gogo dog]

Scooters cost from about B33,000 to B56,000. Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha are all well made and reliable. I don't know prices in USA for comparison.

 

Toyota, Honda and Nissan cars are popular as well as Toyota, Isuzu, Mazda, Nissan and Ford pickup trucks. Any new vehicle should be reliable. Prices start around B500,000.

 

Anything imported will be expensive as there is around 200% tax on imported vehicles. A Porsche 911 costs about B10,000,000.

[gspotman]

Thanks for the reply, the new scooter sounds like good for a start here then I can check with the dealers for slightly used cars with warranty.

Appreciate your help.

[Benny10]

If you plan to live in LOS, I recommend to buy a new car.

Limousines from Toyota and Honda are in very high in demand (re-sale), for Pick-ups Toyota and Isuzu. The Toyotas I had, came with a 3 year warranty.

 

Another hint: Don’t buy a red car, as many Thais see red as an unlucky color for a car (don’t ask me for the reasons), so it will not be too easy to sell it at a reasonable price.

Edited November 27, 2009 by Benny10

[gogo dog]

Thanks for the reply, the new scooter sounds like good for a start here then I can check with the dealers for slightly used cars with warranty.

Appreciate your help. :001_Thank_You5:

Forgot to say avoid the Platinum & JRD bikes, stick with the well known Japanese brands.

 

Second hand vehicle prices are extremely high here and Thais tend to be very hard on vehicles. You may well be better off buying new avoiding the potential pitfalls of buying used.

[Edge RIP]

...................Second hand vehicle prices are extremely high here and Thais tend to be very hard on vehicles. You may well be better off buying new avoiding the potential pitfalls of buying used.

I agree that the second hand car/truck prices are high (no salt here if you don't park on the beach) almost the same for a 1yo as a new one at dealers - but if you come to need to sell in a hurry it's a different story.

For that reason, if you have the time, I would scour the boards - internet classifieds and stores like Friendship, Carrefour etc. - in search of a distressed farang. There are quite a few about and the garages will be offering them crap prices for a quick sale.

The manufacturer warranties are 2-3 yrs so buying a 1yo from farang isn't that scary - just make sure they have the blue book in their name and get the paperwork done correctly.

If you're just going to buy second hand from a dealer it's a waste of time - buy new.

 

I bought a new top spec Fortuner for 1.2m and gave it away (sob sob big story) after 2 years.

I've just bought a 6 month old Isuzu 3.0 Hilander Platinum DoubleCab (leather, Kenwood, rear cam and s/s bars etc etc) for 600,000 - 20k km, 2.5 years manf warranty, 6months tax and insurance. It cost 850,000 plus extras when new, but that's the best offer she (Thai lady) could get changing to a new Honda City (pickup too big for small lady). Seems OK to me, but then I had seen it almost every day of its life.

 

For bikes buy new Japanese - all good no probs - just decide auto/semiauto/gears and off you go. If something expensive goes wrong it will be the auto box, but buying new and using it yourself you shouldn't have this problem. I prefer gears (Yam X1R) but it's not very handy for answering the phone and drinking your coffee. Get a good alarm fitted from new (1800) and use a decent wheel lock of some sort.

[Al.]

Agree with all the above, as a side note I was in Udon Thani one time when a car hire company brought a red car to the hotel for a customer his Thai wife/girlfriend refused to let him take it because it was red.

 

Al.