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Buying a New Car in Pattaya


jamie2009

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I am thinking of buying a new car, mid range hatch back. I had the Toyota Yaris and the Honda Jazz in mind. I set off today on foot on Sukhimvit Road. First one showroom I came across was Chevrolet, 2 saloon cars, no other models, both over my budget. Next was Honda, they had the Jazz, one of the two I had my eye on, no discount for cash but at least they had a model on show and available. I asked for a Test Drive nope we don't have car for a test drive ! I moved further along to the Mitsibushi garage, again 2 Saloon Cars, over my budget. Eventually I reached Toyota, there were more staff than cars, 1 Saloon car, 1 Truck again above my budget, enquired about a Yaris, 'no have'.

Hey how do dealerships expect to sell cars when they don't have a stock or cars for a Test Drive or is this just in Pattaya ?

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mitsubishi do 3 cars the mirage from 383,000 baht, attrage from 456,00 baht and the Lancer the dearest from 799,000 baht, so what budget did you have in mind. The jazz starts at 555,000 baht, what about the brio hatch starts at 436,000 baht.

don't forget the motor show would have reserved a lot of the production run for a while.

Pattaya is not the best of places to get a great service, they are used to rich people buying, did you try the honda dealer at jomtein end. toyota are also up that way.

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I had a similar situation with Toyota Pattaya a few years back. wanted to get a top of the range Fortuna B 1,400,000

No have! But you are a Toyota dealer? We sell this month already.

From what I can gather, they order one a month and it is a take it or leave it basis. The ones they had ordered for delivery over the next two months were black. I wanted white. Cannot have!

So they have nothing to test drive and there is no choice of color or spec. Only what they have pre-ordered! Insane!!

Got ours from Bangkok in the end but it turned out a bit tricky registering it in Chonburi.

SNAFU

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mitsubishi do 3 cars the mirage from 383,000 baht, attrage from 456,00 baht and the Lancer the dearest from 799,000 baht, so what budget did you have in mind. The jazz starts at 555,000 baht, what about the brio hatch starts at 436,000 baht.

don't forget the motor show would have reserved a lot of the production run for a while.

Pattaya is not the best of places to get a great service, they are used to rich people buying, did you try the honda dealer at jomtein end. toyota are also up that way.

I 'googled' Honda and Toyota and both came up on Sukhamvit, I didn't realise they had Showrooms in Jomtiem. My budget is between 5 and 7 but as I said the Mistibushi garage only had 2 salon cars in the showroom which I wasn't keen on and above my budget.

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You have my sympathy with Pattaya main dealers.

Some 5 years ago I wanted to buy a Honda City and went to the main dealer. "No have, but look we have new Honda Jazz". I said I wanted a City because of the boot size for playing golf.

"No, no, you want Honda Jazz" was all I could get out of the mini skirted girl.

Eventually, I got the manager and the best they could do was show me a City in the poorly lit underground car park, the car belonging to an employee!.

I just left and went to Toyota and tried a Vios. I decided to buy that instead. So I ordered it in a specific colour. Two weeks later they phoned me and said it was ready. Blow me, if it wasn't the precise colour I ordered, but funnily enough I preferred the colour of the offered car and went ahead with the purchase. I've been very pleased with the vehicle.

However, when I went back a few weeks later to pick up the English version of the owners handbook the salesman admitted that the car I bought had been ordered by another farang who could not get the finance!!

So, basically, both main dealers are pretty shoddy in the way the deal with customers. Obviously, if the car had been a completely different colour (i.e. I ordered black and the vehicle was Yellow) then I would have refused it. But, you have to admire the brass neck of the salesman who admitted to me when I picked up my owners book, it was not the colour I ordered but it was the 'new, must have' colour!!

Both offered the major incentive of free mats. facepalm.gif

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Yes, Pattaya dealers are particularly dismal, unprofessional and apparently unwilling to sell.

If I was buying new again I would probably go straight to Bangkok. It's chalk and cheese. They have stock and they want to sell.

Another possibility might be to try the dealers in Ban Amphur or Laem Chabang. Both are close enough. I use a Ban Amphur dealer for all my servicing now. When I bought my vehicle they did not yet exist otherwise I would have bought from them also.

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Yes Pattaya car dealers are generally not very nice in my experience.

I think the dealers find us expats too demanding compared to Thai buyers, asking too many questions.

I asked at one dealer; How many HP? Whaaat, don't know was the answer from the mini skirt biggrin.png

For some reason, it mostly Thai lady's in the sales department so heavily maked-up that they could start at a go-go bar right away.

Unfriendly service at Honda near BKK/Patt hospital and nice service at Ford. We had a City sedan before.

Not possible to test drive the Ranger we had our sights on but we bought one anyway and have been very happy with it and the service so far (almost 3 years now).

The test cars/trucks are pendling between the dealers I think, so If you really want a test drive you should contact the head office from the car you are interested in and they might tell you where you can get one.

Free-bies also wary a lot between the dealers, best in Bangkok I heard, as one poster also mentioned.

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You have my sympathy with Pattaya main dealers.

Some 5 years ago I wanted to buy a Honda City and went to the main dealer. "No have, but look we have new Honda Jazz". I said I wanted a City because of the boot size for playing golf.

"No, no, you want Honda Jazz" was all I could get out of the mini skirted girl.

Eventually, I got the manager and the best they could do was show me a City in the poorly lit underground car park, the car belonging to an employee!.

I just left and went to Toyota and tried a Vios. I decided to buy that instead. So I ordered it in a specific colour. Two weeks later they phoned me and said it was ready. Blow me, if it wasn't the precise colour I ordered, but funnily enough I preferred the colour of the offered car and went ahead with the purchase. I've been very pleased with the vehicle.

However, when I went back a few weeks later to pick up the English version of the owners handbook the salesman admitted that the car I bought had been ordered by another farang who could not get the finance!!

So, basically, both main dealers are pretty shoddy in the way the deal with customers. Obviously, if the car had been a completely different colour (i.e. I ordered black and the vehicle was Yellow) then I would have refused it. But, you have to admire the brass neck of the salesman who admitted to me when I picked up my owners book, it was not the colour I ordered but it was the 'new, must have' colour!!

Both offered the major incentive of free mats. facepalm.gif

the Jazz has MUCH more actual storage space than a city because the seats fold down. If you want 4 passengers neither is going to hold anything anyway.

Just my two cents..bit I hope you are happy with your Vios.

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I just got new Toyota REVO all the Pattaya Toyota dealers (All 3 of them) I was told 3 months to order 2.8 G A/T4x4 model, a friend told me about Siam motor world in Bang na, So I looked them up and spoke to an English guy called Tim who was very helpful, he told me if I was not fussy about the colour he could get me in a day or two. He called me back later that day and said he could get a gray, silver or white one that day in the spec that I wanted, so much for a 3 month wait from the Pattaya dealers. I set my heart on a blue one, Tim said as Toyota don't make that many blue ones I might have to wait 3 or 4 weeks for it, 8 days later got call from Tim saying I could have the blue one a week later, So I sent SMW the deposit by ATM and a week later I had my shiny new blue Toyota REVO. Tim at SMW was so helpful he did everything for me and got me a loads freebies thrown in. Overall a fantastic experience I would use SMW again and would recommend them 5 star service, far better than having deal the main dealers who I think are too lazy to call around and find the vehicle you want.

Mac

post-44182-0-58236500-1453225879_thumb.j

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Got ours from Bangkok in the end but it turned out a bit tricky registering it in Chonburi.

I've been told before that having a BKK registered car in Chonburi province is a) no problem and b ) might get you a better deal when you sell, because it's not Chonburi registered and thus hasn't "lived" in salty air from the sea. No idea whether there's a grain of truth to either wink.png

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The internet is your friend!!! I bought a new Nissan Almera by e-mailing the dealers NOT IN PATTAYA. My experience with the Pattaya Dealers was dismal... No service, No Deals, No Help...

I sent an e-mail to the dealers indicating which model, options and extras I wanted and ended up with two dealers in Bangkok giving me exactly what I wanted.

I had NO trouble transferring the car to Chonburi when the next sticker was due.

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My general experience of the Pattaya hasn't been negative...more just disinterest. However, up until recently its been a sellers/dealers market. Now, with the economy in the dumps the worm has turned so they may actually work to make a sale rather than just taking orders at list price.

I have found the newish Nissan dealer down at Na Jomtien and the Isuzu dealer on Second Road to be more proactive than the offers and seem actually interested in making a sale. I'm considering the new Nissan X-Trail, they have test drive vehicles, and offer the standard incentives of free insurance, floor mats, window film, stainless exhaust, rust undercoat, and at least 60k off list price.

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I am surprised Honda sell any cars. When i was looking at went to their main dealership in Na Jomtien. I asked for a test drive - no can do. I asked for a discount - no can do. I asked for free insurance - no can do. I asked if they had the model i wanted in stock - no have. I went across the road to the Mitsubishi garage and they said yes to all my questions and delivered the car within 3 days.

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mitsubishi do 3 cars the mirage from 383,000 baht, attrage from 456,00 baht and the Lancer the dearest from 799,000 baht, so what budget did you have in mind. The jazz starts at 555,000 baht, what about the brio hatch starts at 436,000 baht.

don't forget the motor show would have reserved a lot of the production run for a while.

Pattaya is not the best of places to get a great service, they are used to rich people buying, did you try the honda dealer at jomtein end. toyota are also up that way.

I 'googled' Honda and Toyota and both came up on Sukhamvit, I didn't realise they had Showrooms in Jomtiem. My budget is between 5 and 7 but as I said the Mistibushi garage only had 2 salon cars in the showroom which I wasn't keen on and above my budget.

The Honda dealership is just past The Ambassador heading towards Sattahip. They have 5 cars on display.

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The Honda dealer down by the Ambassador is quite nice. They've got quite a few cars in the show room. But test drives here seem to be something they don't do. At least here in Pattaya.

So which is it...there seems to be quite different experiences here blink.png

My own experience there has been one of indifference...I've been in there a few times and often the "salespeople" don't even approach me and say "boo." [And I even showered and had shirt-sleeves on.] I went also with a friend when she wanted to buy a HRV and it was basically list price and 1 year insurance...and they took her order. The car did arrive within the promised 30 days however so kudos for that.

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You have my sympathy with Pattaya main dealers.

Some 5 years ago I wanted to buy a Honda City and went to the main dealer. "No have, but look we have new Honda Jazz". I said I wanted a City because of the boot size for playing golf.

"No, no, you want Honda Jazz" was all I could get out of the mini skirted girl.

Eventually, I got the manager and the best they could do was show me a City in the poorly lit underground car park, the car belonging to an employee!.

I just left and went to Toyota and tried a Vios. I decided to buy that instead. So I ordered it in a specific colour. Two weeks later they phoned me and said it was ready. Blow me, if it wasn't the precise colour I ordered, but funnily enough I preferred the colour of the offered car and went ahead with the purchase. I've been very pleased with the vehicle.

However, when I went back a few weeks later to pick up the English version of the owners handbook the salesman admitted that the car I bought had been ordered by another farang who could not get the finance!!

So, basically, both main dealers are pretty shoddy in the way the deal with customers. Obviously, if the car had been a completely different colour (i.e. I ordered black and the vehicle was Yellow) then I would have refused it. But, you have to admire the brass neck of the salesman who admitted to me when I picked up my owners book, it was not the colour I ordered but it was the 'new, must have' colour!!

Both offered the major incentive of free mats. facepalm.gif

Typical "Thai service" ie they havent a clue.

Went to buy the new HRV once walked in asked for Black?........no have, Blue?.....no have.........grey/silver? yep u guessed it "no have" ...................what colour have you got to order ?(TO ORDER not in stock) "white" and no top model...............walked out bought Nissan Juke, In stock delivered next day updated model...............Nissan gain 900k Honda lose 1.2million...........Im sure if Mr Honda Japan knew he'd be livid alas retarded businesses like this abound in Thailand

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1984 in Miami the honda dealers could get 3000 bucks over list with no cars to see or touch, a 3 month wait and non refundable 500 buck deposit.most had around 100 cars a month and foot traffic of over 1000 people...Jacksonville dealer was importing from Guam and adding a warranty like a used car,selling as new[known as swimmers].the dealers here would try something like it if they could but it takes organisation..service sucks here but if you saw the dealer service prices in USA you would have a heart attack..some of the models and price changes [wanted honda,bought mitsu] show many people do not really compare like for like and most are happy just to be in a new car...sorry ,as you drove it home it became used and worth a lot less.555

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Having recently bought a Honda Jazz and visited a couple of dealers, I found out that they do not give discount for cash, I bought mine outright. But they give you extras instead, like spoilers, leather seats, tinted windows etc. First dealer offered 11 freebies and the dealer I bought from offered 15. Seems to be the way they operate here. Also I have no complaints about the Jazz either.

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I wonder if it is just a Pattaya thing. The service was quite good at Honda when I bought my car in Nakhon Pathom. I went in to my local, nearly every car on display. I told them which car I wanted and in what colour after a test drive. They didn't have the colour I wanted but they rang around other dealers and reserved one for me. They couldn't speak a word of English but they were very helpful.

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Yes, as others have said go to Bangkok, if nothing else there are many more dealers.

​I purchased a pickup a few years ago and in the process I went to many dealers, no problem with talking with sales staff but they couldn't supply what I wanted with up to 3 months wait. I went to the local Mazda dealer and they were able to supply me with a superseded model, floor stock, 2 months old, no kilometres on the clock, great price and good after sales service. I have however noticed in some of the big malls being served sometimes becomes a chore.

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Yes, as others have said go to Bangkok, if nothing else there are many more dealers.

​I purchased a pickup a few years ago and in the process I went to many dealers, no problem with talking with sales staff but they couldn't supply what I wanted with up to 3 months wait. I went to the local Mazda dealer and they were able to supply me with a superseded model, floor stock, 2 months old, no kilometres on the clock, great price and good after sales service. I have however noticed in some of the big malls being served sometimes becomes a chore.

This makes perfect sense...I'm only guessing but as Bangkok is the dominant economic and wealth generating center of Thailand by a wide margin maybe 75 percent of the new cars sales in any given year are made to Bangkokians. Therefore, the dealers there would order or have allocated to them the majority of the domestic stock of available vehicles (especially cars) and therefore would have lots more stock on hand for sale, display, and testing.

If one wanted to best possible deal or wanted their vehicle quickly buying in Bangkok would be the way to go.

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I have been warned about the Honda dealer in Na Jomtien by several Thais so I would tread very carefully if you should deal with them

In fact, as I have stated on several of the car purchase threads, every Honda dealer in Pattaya has the same litany of how long it takes to get one of their cars into your hands, and my opinion is if Honda Thailand can't keep cars in stock why should I assume that they will have an adequate stock of parts in the future if I need something

I think if you do some investigating you will find that all the Toyota dealers in both Pattaya proper and moving south towards Sattahip are all owned by the same "family"

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From speaking to my friend who works for a company that owns quite a few dealships this is quite common. His company have the capital to front a large supply of cars so they generally hold a fair amount of stock. But a lot of other dealers are family businesses/independents so they take bookings instead. Once the cars arrive they get your money and x amount is payed to the manufacturer.

I don't know to what extent this happens across dealerships in Thailand but I've been told this is very common. I know everyone was selling like crazy in the run up to the CO2 tax changes so may be low on inventory but my friends explanation kind of lines up with the day to day nature that I see in Thai behaviour.

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