Thread: Any experience with Honda and Mazda dealers in Pattaya?

After 4 years its time to replace my wife's Honda City.
Thought about getting the new one and visited our dealer in Rayong, where we bought it and regulary serviced our current one.
When asked about a test drive, was told to go to Pattaya for that.
"Smart move Mr. Salesman" - I thought.

Went down the road to Mazda and looked at the new Mazda3 sedan.
After 10 minutes a demonstrator was idling outside.
Did the usual Thai-test drive of "once around the block" - with 2 sales staff onboard gasping for air every time you press the accelerator.
But pressing I did.

A much better car in every aspect relevant to me:
Nice driving feel,
much bigger and stronger engine,
very much upmarket interior,
good looks inside and out.

Sadly non of the criteria are relevant for my wife.
The following points are:

The city is more spacious inside,
has a bigger boot,
Is easier to see the corners from inside,
comes with rear camera as standard,
more airbags,
the list goes on…

90% of the driving will be done by my wife, so she's going for:
The Mazda.
Don't ask!

Anyhow the sales staff could (due to lack of english skill) not explain to me, why the navigation wasn't working, nor the head up display.
Even thought I drove the top of the range model they told me i'd have to buy that extra.
The differences between the top 2 specs (diff. 60.000 Baht) they couldn't explain either, apart from the different rim size and xenonlights, which I gathered from the spec sheet myself.

So, I'm planing to visits the Honda and Mazda dealers in Pattaya hoping for better communication (and probably still a test drive in the City).
Anybody has any experience with them?

Mazda Pattaya speak Ingrish and have a great service centre.

https://teakdoor.com/motoring-in-thai...a-pattaya.html (Good job Mazda Pattaya)

What do you expect from any of these sellers that would be working in a farm if they were not in a car dealer by chance or accident ?

New car salesmen have no clue about customer service and answering technical questions about the vehicles they sell. This should be clear by visiting any new car dealership in Thailand.

I once visited the Nissan dealer in Udon with the thought of trading my Toyota Vigo. They quoted a good trade in price, but when it came to answering questions about Nissans, nobody spoke English. WTF, how can you expect to sell a product without any English speaking sales people?

Needless to say, I kept the Toyota and never went back to the Nissan dealer. When will dealerships figure out to have at least one English speaking intelligent person working at all times to maximize their sales?

Originally Posted by rickschoppers

When will dealerships figure out to have at least one English speaking intelligent person working at all times to maximize their sales?

because english speaking expats make up a minuscule proportion of vehicle buyers?

Buy in SriRacha is the advice I got. Less stupid farang who are easy prey. Take a Thai that speaks ingrish.

I bought a Honda Jazz a few years back. Sold it three years later for almost what I paid.

What colour seats in that "topSpec" you drove ?

Originally Posted by Fondles

What colour seats in that "topSpec" you drove ?

It's black.
And before you tell me, it should be white, thats only available in the hatch.
I'm looking at the Sedan.

Did the round yesterday in Pattaya.
Honda didn't have an demonstrator there either.
I'm wondering (since Honda Thailand is down to 60% capacity and cancelling shifts at their plant as much as I read form the BKK Post) whether they are a bit shy about letting people experience the new CVT.
THat CVT transmission is the only reason i want to test drive that thing. Because if it feels anything like the one in the old Jazz its a knock out criteria.

Anyhow, visited Mazda as well and had some English speaking staff at hand.
Went through the specs with him and came back with the impression, that you could even buy the base spec, as the only worthwhile spec they don't have are the (black) leather seats.
According to that guy its a 6.000 Baht factory option.

I wouldn't need the 18" alloys as I would be going for some much wider aftermarket rims and some good rubber anyway.
The Xenon lamps and fog lights are no must haves for me.
The inbuilt screen and toggle between the seats would be nice, but at 80.000 Baht extra from the base model don't seem very worthwhile. Especially when you consider that navigation will still cost 13.000 Baht extra. The Bose audio system which makes the entertainment unit so great in other markets is not available in Thailand anyway.

So he made a quite good case for the base model, which would only run 90 Grand more than the city top model.

At that price point...

What engine is in the base model ?

Originally Posted by Fondles

What engine is in the base model ?

The same 2.0 like in the others.
Its a one engine/one transmission line up.