New Car

[Gonzo 419]

Sorry Gonzo, Yokul is correct, the City is the larger of the 2.

 

Honda City specs

Length - 4410mm

Width - 1695mm

Height - 1470mm

Wheelbase - 2550mm

Weight - 1155kg

Hondacity.com

 

Honda Jazz specs

Length - 3845mm

Width - 1675mm

Height - 1525mm

Wheelbase - 2500mm

Weight - 1050kg

hondajazz.com

 

 

EDIT: my bad, just reread thread, I thought Yokul was comparing Jazz to city, not city to Civic, Gonzo, you are correct the civic is the larger of the 3 !!!!

Not a problem. Thanks for you interest and trying to help me find the right car.

[blacknight 5]

Honda dealer on Sukhumvit is ok but beware as the source / borrow many of their cars from the Rayong branch and if you have any major problems in the future it has to be returned to the original dealer. This happened twice with my new Jazz purchased last year.

 

If you can go the 700,000 baht I recommend the Vigo not because you need it but they are more flexible and certainly more suited to the rough terrain of Siam Country Club and surrounding Sois.

[LocalYokul 217]

with a Vigo you can also haul around the mrs. & her entire family, LOL

[Gonzo 419]

Gonzo: The Honda jazz seems to be discontinued. The last model I could find is from 2009. Most of the cars mentioned can be seen in our condo complex and there are quite a a few Honda Jazz models. It seems to be a very small car with very little loading space in the back to put you shopping. I prefer to buy a sedan.

 

It depends on how many people you transport in usual trips. With just the Mrs and I, the Jazz is more then adequate. The boot is pretty large in fact, due to the high roofline. On top of that, if you travel with only 2 in the car, you can flod down the backseat and the loading bay becomes huge. It looks and hadles like a small car, but in fact has very high interior usable space. I had trouble getting into a frontseat of a Honda City, and a Vios as well, without folding my head sideways, but with the Jazz with seat on low, just slide in without a hitch. Had my jazz now for nearly two years (the latest model) and am completely happy with it. frequently take long trips, like to Chiang mai or so, never had a problem.

 

And in town, it certainly beats a pick up truck in terms of handling.

 

I'd be very surpised to hear confirmation that it has been removed from sales, it has been a very succesful car to date.

 

Thanks for your interesting and useful post. I am probably wrong about the Honda Jazz being discontinued. It is more likely the 2010 model has not been released as yet in Thailand. There is a new car shown on the Internet, called Honda Fit. It looks similar to the Honda Jazz. Maybe they just changed the name? I rang a friend in Australia a while ago. He is a qualified auto mechanic and is full of praise of the Honda Jazz. He owns a Toyota Landcruiser 4-wheel drive, which is a necessity as he drives on bush roads you would not believe, when he goes fishing in flooded areas outside of Darwin. He drives through one metre deep water crossings and has his exhaust pipes on top of the roof of the Landcruiser. When he gets bogged he uses the electric winch, near the bull bar in front of his vehicle.

 

I will certainly have a good look at the Honda Jazz, when I visit the Honda dealer on Sukhumvit Road, near the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital. Now I have five cars on my list to consider. The Honda City, Honda Civic, Honda Jazz, Toyota Vios and the Toyota Vigo. Cheers

 

Honda Fit

[RWB 0]

Thanks for an interesting thread. I'm also looking at small car purchase in the next few months. Have to get really settled in and find out how much spare baht I'll have when all the retirement, SS, etc is added up and the reoccuring bills are subtracted. I considered a PU, I've owned one (Chevy 4X4) for many years, but too much room in the back. I really don't want to be the family taxi.

 

18 days and a seabag drag, one way.

[Gonzo 419]

Last Tuesday, I bought a new Toyota Vios 1,5 E/AT silver metallic, which will be delivered on Friday afternoon. That was not my first choice, but one of the cars available at short notice at the Thaiyont Chonburi Toyota CO.LTD, Pattaya dealer, on the left side of Sukhumvit Road, 3 or 4 kilometres from Pattaya Nua, driving towards Pattaya. The car cost THB 616500, including registration and the fee for the red number plates, THB 3500, which will be refunded, when I change back to normal number plates.

 

That will make the total cost of the car THB 613 000. I paid a THB 6500cash deposit and picked up a bank cheque for 610000 baht on my way home at my bank branch, will be handed over after I get my car on Friday afternoon, tomorrow. The sales person, Supervisor Miss Palika (Kaew) spoke fairly good English. If I were a young bloke, looking for a relationship with a nice woman, I would put the hard word on her. An Aussie friend found his wife to be at the Mitsubishi dealership in Rayong that way. When I asked her about the free 40% window tinting, she nodded her head and quickly added the free one-year insurance, floor mats, a numberplate holder, a First Aid box and a car cover.

 

I would have liked to buy the slightly dearer Vios G model, which comes with leather-covered bucket seats, whereas my Vios E model has only cheapish -looking plastic ones. I will get seat covers from Carrfour (?) to put on top of the plastic seating. Kaew also talked me into getting 60% window tinting and I am not sure, if I did the right thing with the darker tinting. I will soon find out.

 

I will tell you what happened last Tuesday, before I finished up at the Toyota dealer. My first three choices on my list were the Honda City, the Honda Civic and I added the Honda Jazz after a couple of good reviews on this thread and after talking to my English sister-in-law, who has been working and living in Vienna and drives a Honda Jazz as well.

 

We went to the Honda dealer next to the Bangkok Pattaya hospital first. They had 3 cars on display, a City, Jazz and a Civic. The had two demonstration models as well, a City and a Jazz, which can be taken for a ride. When we walked into the Honda show room, there must have been about fifteen sales people sitting behind their desks or standing around chatting. There were no other customers in the shop and not one of the many sales people paid us any attention. They did not even look at us.

 

I walked to a white Honda City, opened the door and pushed the levers to have a look at the engine compartment and the boot. I then got inside behind the steering wheel. Martin was right, getting in and out of the car, if you are over six foot, is a pain in the arse. It was even worse sitting inside the car. I had to push the seat right back and recline it, so my head would not touch the roof. The Honda City is a car for shorter and slim people. Buy one for you Thai girl if you must.

 

The car next to the City was a light blue-coloured Honda Jazz with all of its doors open. In the past I never paid this tiny-looking car any attention. I got inside the Jazz and was really surprised how much room there was for my 6’2” 86 kilo (187-lbs.) body. The impeccable finish of the interior of the Honda Jazz really impressed me. It is better than what the Toyota Vios has to offer, which looks cheap by comparison. The two rear seats in the Honda Jazz can be laid flat, which gives you a big loading space. The Honda Jazz is a small-looking car on the outside but large inside. The Honda Jazz had a THB 650 000 price tag on it. We were still not getting any attention from the sales staff. I had to walk to one of the desks and asked for Landon, the guy MM recommended. Landon does not work at Honda any longer, according to the woman I asked.

 

I told the woman I was interested in the blue Honda Jazz. Her English was rather poor and she answered: Not can, man order. You wait 3 months. I said I wanted to buy the car now and pay cash. Not can. I asked to see the big boss. Ok, I ring manager. She went to the telephone and started a long conversation. The missus went over to her desk and it turnded out she was talking nonsense to a husband or boyfriend.

 

I then went over to the Honda Celica with a THB 846 000 price tag and an unattractive brownish colour. I got inside and was shocked that sitting in the driver’s seat was not much of an improvement than sitting inside the Honda City. A bloke with broader shoulders than me would have even more problems. The Honda Civic has a very large dashboard, but what good is that? The sales woman ambled over and said can buy now. No thanks. I gave her the missus’s phone number to ring us, in case they had a change of heart about not wanting to sell the Honda Jazz. I asked someone outside how far it was to walk to Toyota. We were told it was about one kilometre. We walked about 2 kilometers and asked again. One more kilometres was the answer. We walked in the midday sun and I had just gotten over the flue. This must be the only stretch of road in Pattaya, where there is no shop with a cool drink to be found. We walked another 2 kilometres and found a small eating place with a fridge. They tried to sell us Som Tam and Khao Pad for 15 baht per dish, but I just wanted water. I opened their fridge and found three bottles of Sprite for 10 baht each. There was no water, but the fridge was full with Leo. I gulped down two bottles of Sprite and the missus had one. When we walked outside I spotted a small Toyota sign in the distance.

 

 

When we eventually got there, there were lots of people getting their Toyotas serviced. There were quite a fewVigos for immediate sale as well. Like I said previously, I had a Hilux in Australia and you could not kill it with a stick. I don’t need a pick-up truck here, and there is no way I will ever cart any Thai family members around. Those trucks look so huge, when you compare them to the mid-sized cars. I want a smaller car to go shopping and do the odd trip to places within a hundred-mile radius. For longer trips I will use the bus, train and planes.

 

Walking inside the Toyota show room was like chalk and cheese compared to the Honda experience. I don’t give a stuff if I will later come to the conclusion, that Honda cars are superior to Toyotas. If the Honda sales stuff is of such poor quality, what will their service department be like? What I saw at Toyota was very impressive. The customers book their cars in for service and then wait there until it is done, which normally takes less than two hours. They servive the cars every ten thousand kilometres and it costs 800 to 900 baht. In Australia, you drop your car off at 8AM in the morning and pick it up at 5 – 6 PM with a huge bill to be paid.

 

[MM 6,562]

Well done.

Sorry about your Honda dealer experience, and, if she can be believed, I'm sorry Landon is gone. He always managed to fast track everything for me during the sales and service phases.

So, how is the seating in the Vios for entry and exit?

[Gonzo 419]

Well done.

Sorry about your Honda dealer experience, and, if she can be believed, I'm sorry Landon is gone. He always managed to fast track everything for me during the sales and service phases.

So, how is the seating in the Vios for entry and exit?

I have driven a friend's Toyota Vios a few times for short distances, say from Soi 8 On Jomtien Beach Road to Big C on Sukhumvit, via Soi Wat Boon and then to Friendship supermarket on Pattaya Thai, to buy a few more items or to visit Tukcom, parking inside the nearby temple complex for 10 baht

 

Getting in and out of a Vios is certainly easier and the car drives well. I have heard people complain about getting a sore back, after driving for longer distances. In Australia I would have probably bought a Toyota Camry. The Toyota Camry in Thailand is more than twice the price of a Vios here in Thailand.

 

I will know a lot more about the Vios after I take delivery. I just bought it to drive around town and if I am not happy with it, I will let readers know. Investing a bit over 600 000 baht in a car is not a big deal. If the car would have been in the 1 to 2 million baht range, then I would have probably done more research, before buying it.

[halfaboy 31]

Last Tuesday, I bought a new Toyota Vios 1,5 E/AT silver metallic, which will be delivered on Friday afternoon......

 

 

Gonzo, thank you very much for your long and interesting story. It contains all sorts of details I would like to hear (including the gossip over the sales lady).

 

Next time no need to walk all this distance as there are baht busses driving on Sukhumvith Road. The colour is white and if you don't go too far it will cost you 10 baht per person.

 

Good luck with your purchase and any updates will be appreciated.

 

Hb

[Gonzo 419]

Gonzo, thank you very much for your long and interesting story. It contains all sorts of details I would like to hear (including the gossip over the sales lady).

 

Next time no need to walk all this distance as there are baht busses driving on Sukhumvith Road. The colour is white and if you don't go too far it will cost you 10 baht per person.

 

Good luck with your purchase and any updates will be appreciated.

 

Hb

 

On the way back, we took the white Baht bus outside the Toyota dealer on Sukhumvit, which turned right into Naklua after a few hundred metres, where a standard blue Baht bus was waiting haf way on the street from Sukhumvit to Naklua Road. All the passengers were transferred to the blue baht bus at no charge and then went all the way to the Pattaya Thai, Pratumnak Road intersection, where we caught the Jomtien Baht bus outside the school.

 

One poster previously said to check out the Mazda 3. I replied I did not like the bubble looks of it. That is the Mazda 2 I was referring to. This evening we walked past the latest Mazda 3 and it is a very nice-looking small to medium-sized car, well worth to have a look at.

 

I don't know what happened at Honda. MM says he always had good experiences there. Maybe the ample staff had an off-day, or they were on a go slow after someone got the sack. I have a suspicion the girl might have been lying, about Landon having resigned. Thai girls will tell fibs occasionally. Honda has been making very good cars for a very long time. The problem with the Honda dealer in Pattaya is, as far as I am concerned, they don't have more than three cars in their show room. They want you to choose a car and a colour and then wait for three month until the car arrives. If you are lucky they might have a car you like in their small selection inside their shop and let you buy it. Well, they offered me the Honda Civic, but would not let me have the blue Honda Jazz I wanted badly.

 

The reason I want to buy a car now and not want it delivered in three months time, is, that in three months time I am due back in Australia to make some changes to my will, do my tax return and catch up with some old friends. I also want to do some refurbishing in my condominium and discuss the subdividing of a block of land with the lands department. I wanted to buy a new car in 07, when the markets started to get the wobbles, again in 08, when we had a financial meltdown, when lots of people thought the end was near. In 09 I dithered over a costly court case, which I thought would drag on forever, but in the in the end things went well. I got sick and tired of being a ditherer and wanted a car in a hurry. I could have bought a better car, but not in a corrupt country like Thailand, with its uncertain future and the forever changing idiotic regulations for Farangs. I think the Vios will be alright.

 

I jumped the gun and got the resident certificate this morning, which apparently won't be required until the red company plates get exchanged for the white ones. Before I went to the Immigration office, I went to a clinic to get a doctors certificate for a hundred baht. I got the doctor's certificate from the receptionist, without seeing the doctor as usual. Immigration told me you don't need a doctor's certificate at the Immigration office for the resident certificate for just buying a car. You only need a doctor's certificate to get the resident certificate for a driver's licence. I felt a bit like an idiot. Cheers

[derycolin 1]

Two years ago this month, I went to the Honda Dealership near the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital, with a view to buying a new Honda Jazz. However at that time there was a 3 month waiting list for the Jazz.

Also on the showroom was a Honda City ZX, not the present model, I took an instant liking to the car a few days later the car was mine for 650,000.- baht !

It turns out that the boot of the City is bigger than the Jazz allowing me to get 4 golf bags ++, the Jazz will only take 3 bags unless you fold down the back seat.

So in my case I did not have to wait, I just took the car in the showroom.

 

Derycolin

[torrenova 644]

Not a Jazz story but when we bought a truck the one we'd chosen and arranged to pick up on such and such a date just wasn't available. It turned out that someone had come in and wanted my truck and had paid over the odds for it. The Thai salesman sold it and then proceeded to lie to me and the missus with some bullshit story about Isuzu only producing brown trucks that week !

[jacko 8,823]

Not a Jazz story but when we bought a truck the one we'd chosen and arranged to pick up on such and such a date just wasn't available. It turned out that someone had come in and wanted my truck and had paid over the odds for it. The Thai salesman sold it and then proceeded to lie to me and the missus with some bullshit story about Isuzu only producing brown trucks that week !

Yes of course he did.....

Perhaps if he had told you that someone paid over the odds for it you would have been less distressed. After all, greed is good.

Edited May 2, 2010 by jacko

[Gonzo 419]

I have only driven my new 2010 Vios for 4 days now and so far I am very happy with it. If I had to buy a car tomorrow, with the 5 different cars I had on my original short list available, the Honda Jazz, City, Civic, the Toyota Vios and Vigo, I would not hesitate to buy the same car I purchased. It handles very well, has plenty of room inside for a compact car, uses little fuel, looks better than the previous Vios models and the interior of the car is a lot better than what I first thought.

 

My first choice was the Honda Jazz, but it was not available at short notice. The Honda Jazz is probably a very good car, but looks like a pig-ugly little runt of a thing, when I park my 2010 Vios next to it. I liked the Honda City, but there is insufficient room for a tall guy sitting behind the steering wheel. The Civic had surprisingly little room inside as well for a bigger-looking car on and costs at least THB 200 000 more. I liked the Vigo, as I had a Hilux for many years, driving in the Australian bush and it was one of the best vehicles I ever had. The reason I did not buy a Vigo, was that I only need a compact car for running around Jomtien, Pattaya and Naklua. So I finished up with a Toyota Vios E/Automatic 1.5, purchased from the the very nice sales people from the Toyota shop, a few kilometres past the Bangkok Pattaya hospital on Sukhumvit Road.

 

I might have a different opinion about buying a Toyota Vios in a few months time, if things go awry, but I doubt that will happen. The Vios is the most sold car in Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia and surely most of those people would not buy the car if it was a heap of shit. I hope I am not proven wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[halfaboy 31]

Last Tuesday, I bought a new Toyota Vios 1,5 E/AT silver metallic, which will be delivered on Friday afternoon. That was not my first choice, but one of the cars available at short notice at the Thaiyont Chonburi Toyota CO.LTD, Pattaya dealer, on the left side of Sukhumvit Road, 3 or 4 kilometres from Pattaya Nua, driving towards Pattaya. The car cost THB 616500, including registration and the fee for the red number plates, THB 3500, which will be refunded, when I change back to normal number plates.

 

I went through your psot again and I missed any information on discount. Did you try to get some ?

[phomsanuk 1]

I was in a little Honda, until I got inside, recently there was so much room I wondered where they put the

 

rather peppy engine..

[Gonzo 419]

I went through your psot again and I missed any information on discount. Did you try to get some ?

I think most dealers are reluctant to give any cash discounts. I was given a free 1. class insurance for the first year, free window tinting, floor mats, number plate holders, jumper leads, a halogen light, a good tow rope, a First Aid box and a car cover, which I will use when I go for my 2-month trip back to Oz next July.

 

I had to initially pay for the THB 4500 insurance, which will be refunded to me, when I change from the red number plates to standard ones, which can be done 45 days after buying a new car.

[torrenova 644]

I think most dealers are reluctant to give any cash discounts. I was given a free 1. class insurance for the first year, free window tinting, floor mats, number plate holders, jumper leads, a halogen light, a good tow rope, a First Aid box and a car cover, which I will use when I go for my 2-month trip back to Oz next July.

 

I had to initially pay for the THB 4500 insurance, which will be refunded to me, when I change from the red number plates to standard ones, which can be done 45 days after buying a new car.

 

Is that Bt4500 your car tax ? I know we paid Bt2000 deposit on the red plate which we got back from the garage when the white plate came through. You should have a log book which goes with the red plate and which lists all the vehicles it has been on over the years. I think you are supposed to keep that in the car as presumably you don't have a tax disk because they don't know what your registration will be.

[doolish 14]

Hi,

Gonzo. Heard different stories from different people, so put car in wife's name. Paperwork took less than 20 mins to complete and no trips to imm. or doctor etc. Driving home in less than a hour as they already had the car in the showroom.

All in all hassle free. The way I like it. Had to check to see if I was still in Thailand, could not believe it could be this quick.

[Gonzo 419]

Is that Bt4500 your car tax ? I know we paid Bt2000 deposit on the red plate which we got back from the garage when the white plate came through. You should have a log book which goes with the red plate and which lists all the vehicles it has been on over the years. I think you are supposed to keep that in the car as presumably you don't have a tax disk because they don't know what your registration will be.

I just had a look at the receipt. It is all written in Thai, but the missus helped me make some sense out of it. I paid THB 609000 for the car, THB 3400 for registration, THB 3500 (not 4500 as I previously said) for the red numberplate and a charge of THB 646, which has something to do with the processing of the free 1. Class insurance for one year, according to the missus, when I get the red plate, which belongs to the Toyota branch in Pattaya, changed to the white plate. I will then get the THB 3500 for the red plate refunded from Toyota.

 

Yes, I have the old and worn logbook for the red plate from Toyota in my glove box, but have not had a good look at it. Maybe I am a bit complacent. I have no registration, tax or insurance sticker on my windscreen as yet. They will be added when I change to the white plates. The sale manager said he would arrange all of that when I come to collect the white plate.

 

I thought with a red plate one could only drive within a designated area and not drive your new car after 6 PM at all. The sales manager from Toyota said that did not apply to their red plates and I could drive at all times all the way to Bangkok, if I wanted to.

[Gonzo 419]

Hi,

Gonzo. Heard different stories from different people, so put car in wife's name. Paperwork took less than 20 mins to complete and no trips to imm. or doctor etc. Driving home in less than a hour as they already had the car in the showroom.

All in all hassle free. The way I like it. Had to check to see if I was still in Thailand, could not believe it could be this quick.

Putting the car in the wife's name saved you a lot of hassles for sure. I have been in a good relationship for more than 5 years, but I still want the condo, the car, my bank accounts in my name. I have seen too many blokes getting taken to the cleaners. Being in a good relationship is no guarantee it will last forever, in my opinion.

[MM 6,562]

I thought with a red plate one could only drive within a designated area and not drive your new car after 6 PM at all. The sales manager from Toyota said that did not apply to their red plates and I could drive at all times all the way to Bangkok, if I wanted to.

 

From my recollection, with the red plate and that log book that goes with it, the rule is that if you were to leave province shown on your red license plate, you are to go to the Transport Office out on HWY 36, and apply to drive elsewhere in Thailand, perhaps even listing your destination(s). I think that is what the line entries are in the book.

 

And, driving after sunset is prohibited.

 

I never paid attention to either rule, and drove to BKK at night a couple of times. TIT, though, so you could get pulled up if they started to enforce the rule.

[Gonzo 419]

From my recollection, with the red plate and that log book that goes with it, the rule is that if you were to leave province shown on your red license plate, you are to go to the Transport Office out on HWY 36, and apply to drive elsewhere in Thailand, perhaps even listing your destination(s). I think that is what the line entries are in the book.

 

And, driving after sunset is prohibited.

 

I never paid attention to either rule, and drove to BKK at night a couple of times. TIT, though, so you could get pulled up if they started to enforce the rule.

 

I will be glad, when I get to exchange the red plate for a white one. The red plate sticks out like a sore thumb. On the other hand it makes it easier to find your car in a parking allotment, with so many Toyata Vios and Honda City compact cars in Pattaya.

[torrenova 644]

Drove everywhere at all times of day and night and was never pulled up in Pattaya or anywhere, even for nightime driving, though I had heard the rumours. My red plate was from up country, not even Pattaya.

 

I was going to get a Bangkok plate as it was only a little more expensive but there was some delay and I just thought sod it, and got the regular plate.

[Gary 4,119]

My wife wanted a Vios so we had a look at them. Sitting in the driver's seat, I thought the visibility sucked. AND, I would NEVER buy a car that had the instrument cluster in the middle of the dash. Stupid design.

 

On the way home, we passed the Ford dealer. I really like the looks of the Focus and ended up buying the top of the line Focus Ghia. It is the best handling car I have ever had and has all the options.

 

That said, it will be the LAST car I ever buy here in Thailand. I hit a dog and it cost the insurance company 39,000 baht to replace all the plastic shit. Shortly after I got it back from the shop, I hit another useless dog a glancing blow and one side of the plastic bumper and grill is cracked again. There are many places I can't go because the thing just sits too low.

 

Yes the car drives great but I'd rather drive my diesel pickup.