Thread: Which car?

Having recently sold the old ladies Vios and replaced it with a truck, looking to get rid of my SUV and replace with a smallish car, looking through what is available at a reasonable cost, (up to 1m) its non too exciting! Does no manufacturer do a 2 door car, dont need 4 doors and dont want to transport 2 extra doors everywhere! Rarely carry passengers and dont care that much for there comfort anyway, would prefer the extra room in the front where it will be used, any ideas?

Does it have to be brand new or can it be 2nd hand?

Most of the new (under 1 million) cars come with 4 doors over here. This pissed me off too when I just got mine. But I reckon you could get an older model with 2 doors.

Doesn't have to be new, would prefer 2nd hand - if I could be sure it was a "good un" but lived here to long to even vaguely trust car salesmen! Some of their prices are just plain bloody ridiculous....

Two door cars are damn hard to find here. Even the new eco cars from Nissan and Honda are going to have only four doors.

A new Toyota Altis, 7 speed with a quality LPG conversion (2.0G) would be my choice, at about 970k.

Or a 2.0 Diesel Focus (this is a better car, and smaller which might suit you, especially in a hatchback, but it doesn't hold its value so well).

I went for a smaller and cheaper car (Honda City) which I now believe to have been a false economy (of sorts), especially if you factor in the driveability/day-to-day comfort/enjoyment.

The wise buy would undoubtably be the Altis, Toyotas are just so "plasticy" inside though! I like the looks of the Focus, would be ideal as a 2 door, but as stated the resale value will suffer becauce it has a Ford badge!
Doesn't appear to be a lot else interesting on the new market.

A mate of mine just bought the new Altis for his wife and its now a factory made lpg/gasoline car. So when you pop the petrol cap there are 2 inlets. One for petrol and one for lpg.

I think it was the Altis.

^ I think it's CNG FP, and only in the smaller engine (1.6 or maybe the 1.8, but not the 2.0 litre) and lower spec, under 800k I think.

This car would have ended up exactly the same price as my Honda City when you add together the free insurance and cheaper fuel costs, but of course it has a much higher resale value and you're driving a bigger and more comfortable car - I basically mugged myself off for about 200k (over the 5 year term) by buying the Honda City at 650k...

Yep you're right.

To be fair when he was telling me about it I was still a bit gutted that he had just sold his Honda Civic for only 600k to buy it for her, so I wasn't paying full attention.

The newish Mazda 2 got good reviews and has a two door option :





Or even the new 3 door fiesta. Seen a few around already :

Are these available here? they are not on there websites! Only 4/5 door models...

Originally Posted by Bangyai

The newish Mazda 2 got good reviews and has a two door option :

Not in Thailand though. That's what I ended up buying. Couldn't get a manual gearbox either.

Mazda 2

Good car though, I got the 4 door version of the pic already posted.



Max AT Sport. 690k. Engine goes well and picks up speed quickly. The low profile tires and the stiffer suspension makes the ride a bit hard, you do feel the bumps and pot holes quite a bit.

Had a few people travel in the back and they said there was enough room even though it doesn't look like it from the body shape. And the dealership was pretty good. Threw in a load of extra's and gave me a really cheap price on the leather interior.

Gets good kmpl. A full tank of gas gets me around 470km now that the engine has fully run in.

Originally Posted by The Fresh Prince

Originally Posted by Bangyai

The newish Mazda 2 got good reviews and has a two door option :

Not in Thailand though. That's what I ended up buying. Couldn't get a manual gearbox either.

Shame that, although I could swear I've seen one or two on the streets.... a sort of sporty model. Might have been for advertising only ?

The secondhand market has plenty of two door coupes around. I picked mine up for 130,000 three years ago. With the back seats folded flat makes a pretty good hatchback and can even get my 26" bike in. :



Plenty of newer and bigger stuff around though mostly from Honda and Toyota.
The Honda Prelude is nice but feels a bit big. Costs around 350,000 up for clean one.

Originally Posted by Bangyai

although I could swear I've seen one or two on the streets.... a sort of sporty model.

Yeah, I thought the same thing about the Honda Jazz and I lost 1000bt betting on it with my mate. I was convinced but he proved me wrong.

Originally Posted by Bangyai

The Honda Prelude is nice but feels a bit big.

I love the Prelude. I was considering it but found it too hard to find a top of the range one that hadn't been thrashed.

Originally Posted by The Fresh Prince

Originally Posted by Bangyai

The Honda Prelude is nice but feels a bit big.

I love the Prelude. I was considering it but found it too hard to find a top of the range one that hadn't been thrashed.

True. Patience is a virtue when looking for secondhand cars especially anything with sporty pretensions. Took me 6 months to find mine after trying out several that were knackered. Still.....everything comes to him who waits ....... if he doesn't croak first.

Originally Posted by Bangyai

True. Patience is a virtue when looking for secondhand cars especially anything with sporty pretensions. Took me 6 months to find mine after trying out several that were knackered. Still.....everything comes to him who waits ....... if he doesn't croak first.

Guess I had better stick with new! patience not being one of my strong points!
Appears there are no "reasonably" priced 2 door saloons available new, obviously no call for them, apart from 3 or 4 folks here?

Tough to beat the entry level Nissan March for just a practical econobox.
375K

Nissan Home

A 2 year old Honda jazz will cost more than that!

How about the new Tata coupe?

The Tata coupe looks like it would function grand as a golf cart!
If the Mazda 2 was available in a 2 door I would probably go for it, but its not!
So far I'm thinking that the 2.0 Diesel Focus may be the one, just object to paying for loads of passenger comfort and doors that will rarely be used, why dont they just put a bench and a garbage bin in the back, it would please 95% of Thai's! Seatbelts, comfy seats, doors plus accesories and personnel air con are just wasted!

Originally Posted by Mr Earl

Tough to beat the entry level Nissan March for just a practical econobox.
375K

Nissan Home

A 2 year old Honda jazz will cost more than that!

used honda cars hold their prices .

the nissan march , is good value , if you intend keeping it , till it,s death .
a future partex price for it would be low .

The Mazda 2 and Nissan March are two cars I have been considering for a second car. I currently have a 2001 Nissan Frontier that I planned to trade, but they give nothing for trade ins. I will sell it outright. The Mazda 2 is my first choice due to looks, power, availability and the good track record of Mazda 3. It is quite a bit more that the Nissan March, so it just boils down to how you will be using it and personal preference. If you live in BKK and just plan to drive it locally, I would think the March would be just fine. If you live somewhere else and will be driving it long distance, the Mazda 2 seems to fit the bill. Due to the lack of two door models in Thailand and considering your budget and patience level, I would think the Mazda 2 wins.......

I've been very impressed with the Mazda 2 so far but originally I wanted the Mazda 3 but didn't have the down payment cash for the 2.0L Sport at the time. They had a great deal at the time for the 2 where they only wanted a 40k down payment, not sure if it's still going but you might be able to talk the dealer into it. I can give you the details of the girl that did the deal for us if you want them. pm me.

But for a bit more driving fun, and as I'm sold on Mazda's now, I really wanted an RX8 but the import taxes on them are out of this world so I've been looking at RX7's.



They've got 2 doors and you can find them for under 1 million baht

Although some of them are nearly the same price as the RX8. Doesn't make much sense.

Nice car and within Airportwo's budget. Is that RX6 under a mill? I am always hesitant buying a performance car second hand since original owners are usually going to thrash them since they have so much power. If you can find one that looks like that and was owned and pampered by a conservative farang and had low miles, maybe it would be worth it. I would even consider it, but can't get past the fact of paying the same price for a car in Thailand as a decent house.

^Thanks for the offer FP, money side is covered.
I am either too old or not old enough for a car like the RX7, not sure which, my Thai wife would be driving car, so need something for shopping and comfort for long journeys upcountry. I'm not that keen on the truck, they forgot the suspension.
The Mazda 3 looks ok, on a par with the Focus, wonder which has the best resale value?
I have a Mazda Tribute, wonder if Mazda do a good trade in?
Something else I need to find out is, I have a expat tenant in a house I own who works for Ford, wonder if he can get a discount? Somehow doubt it.

Decisions???

$11.99 for 18 cans of Coors light aint a bad price, 20 Baht a can! guess the cars not in Bangkok.