Toyota and status of owning a car in Thailand

Post by **phillostar** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 2:36 pm

Im now for a week in Thailand and i noticed that a lot of Thai are driving a Toyota (excluding taxi drivers), its seems almost like Toyota has shares in Thailand. What's the explanation for this? Example: When in Holland at least 1500 cars of one model are sold than the chance is above average you will see this car model in the street image.

Than the second part of my curiousity. I've only been 2 days in Bangkok and 7 in Hua Hin but i also noticed that you see less old cars (like about more than 10 years old) on the street while Thai dont earn that much money (correct me if im wrong). On my traintrip from BKK to HH i've seen rundown houses but in the carport next to it a brand new pick-up or sedan. Also on my walks through HH in the back alley ways i've seen covered up new cars.

Im a car fanatic so i noticed the above, any ideas or explanations?

Post by **Wanderlust** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 4:18 pm

One of the first things an old hand told me about Thais is that they will spend a lot more money (begged, borrowed or...) on their vehicle than they ever will on their dwelling, simply because more people will see what they drive, so yes it is a status thing.

Post by **crazy88** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 5:40 pm

Toyota hold value better than most others here with the obvious exception of Mercedes .Could be part of the reason .

Crazy 88

Post by **richard** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 5:54 pm

A lot are repossessed pretty quickly

Post by **lomuamart** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 6:24 pm

Most of it is on credit.
Too little hard cash chasing too many promises.

Post by **ste860** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:19 pm

thais can buy on credit very easy ,and the repayments are next to nothing ,only about 10,000 a month or something ridiculous

Post by **dtaai-maai** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:27 pm

richard wrote:A lot are repossessed pretty quickly

Yes, I understand that to be the case - so where's the cheap 2nd hand car market? Even an 8-year olf car seems to cost upwards of 200k baht.

Ste860

thais can buy on credit very easy ,and the repayments are next to nothing ,only about 10,000 a month or something ridiculous

The amount per month is neither here nor there, it's the interest rate that is relevant. Besides, 10k baht a month may not be much to you, but it's a fair old whack for me, and much more so for many Thais!

Post by **STEVE G** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 2:07 am

I think that basically the market for private vehicles in Thailand and other SE Asian countries has exploded in the last ten years or so. This means that there just aren’t enough second hand cars to go around hence the ridiculous prices.
Hopefully this will change over the years as all the new vehicles being sold now filter onto the market.
Thais I speak with are always amazed when I tell them that the reason I’m so lousy at riding a motorcycle is because I never had one in Europe due to the fact that when I was seventeen you could buy a beat-up old Ford Escort for about 7000 bt, so why would you mess around out in the rain, (Admittedly the first Escort I had leaked profusely through the windscreen and the passenger foot-well!)

Post by **chelsea** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 7:28 am

The new car flood into the market place could be due to a lot of the major factorys now using Thailand as an assembly point for their vehicles. As that is happening it may well release cheaper new cars of certain franchises into the market place.

I know for a fact that Toyota, Nissan & Honda have such plants, I will see if I can find out exact numbers for you.

I must say that I am always amazed at the amount of new models that are on the road in LOS, and also the models are mostly top of the range ones, not base or mid models.

Was in Ao Nang on my 1st trip 4 years ago and could not believe seeing the Izuzu Utes and top of the range ones with leather trim, being used to cart cement bags. What the dust did to the trims etc inside I shudder to think about.

Now those sort of vehicles costs fortune here in Australia, and even on finance, the payments are huge. If on finance they have to have fully comprehensive insurance for the length of the loan (another large expense ontop of your loan). So with the obvious gaps in salarys between LOS and the west, I do not know how they ever afford the payments.

Post by **phillostar** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 9:43 pm

chelsea wrote: So with the obvious gaps in salarys between LOS and the west, I do not know how they ever afford the payments.

Some cars i've seen overhere are also pimped up with nice big alloy wheels, lowered suspension, perfomance brakes, styling mods, noisy mufflers and this stuff also costs a fortune. So besides paying of the loan of the car they also have to get some for these mods.

Post by **Vital Spark** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 11:19 pm

phillostar wrote:
chelsea wrote: Some cars i've seen overhere are also pimped up with nice big alloy wheels, lowered suspension, perfomance brakes, styling mods, noisy mufflers and this stuff also costs a fortune.

If I was a car designer, and I lived in Thailand, I think I'd jump off the nearest tall building. They crucify cars. The designer has spent months or maybe years coming up with a good-handling, aerodynamic, sweet running car, and what do they do? Take off the wheels and stick oversized ones in their place, mess about with the suspension, and ruin the engine by sticking a stupid exhaust on it. Why?

They do the same with the little mopeds - anything under 150cc (I refuse to call them motorbikes!). Let's take off the factory exhaust and make it louder by taking out the baffles. 'Oh, my bike's not quite as fast as it should be, I wonder why?' And, once in a while, they could possibly adjust the chain tension.

Clunk, crunch, clunk, clunk...

The sad thing is - they have no idea what they're doing! It looks cool - that's cool! They have no mechanical sympathy.

One good thing is that if you buy a second hand car that hasn't had Carlos Fandango wheels put on it, and all the other useless attachments, it actually costs less.

VS

Post by **pete43** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:28 am

I completely agree with VS.

Couldn´t say it better!
Pete (retired car-mechanic from Switzerland)

Post by **phillostar** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 3:59 am

Car manufacturers make good cars but they can be made better with mods, if done well.

If the car is a status symbol so why not show it off with some more bling bling and wing. Most of the cars i've seen in Hua Hin are more show than go, allthough the exhaust sounds like its a racer. But there is a sub culture in Thailand with car fanatics, with also people who go for looks and performance (bought me some Thai car mags).

Last tuesday i had a walk up Phetch Kasem road and walked by quite a few garage shops that sell the stuff. These guys must earn some money with the sales and mounting.

Post by **Guess** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 5:55 am

chelsea wrote:The new car flood into the market place could be due to a lot of the major factorys now using Thailand as an assembly point for their vehicles. As that is happening it may well release cheaper new cars of certain franchises into the market place.

I know for a fact that Toyota, Nissan & Honda have such plants, I will see if I can find out exact numbers for you.

That, I believe is the main factor. To summarise.

Vehicles made here are cheaper and I believe get some tax concession
Depreciation is much lower here than in the West.

Thais will spend more on their vehicles than their houses. In many cases this is because they already own their house that they have lived in for years so have no need or desire to move.

Interest rates have been low over the past few years making monthly payments low. I have just paid for my Mitsubishi 2.7 litre 5 seater truck. It was on a 5 year plan at 7,300 Baht per month. It is now worth 250,000 Baht.

The weather condition seem to favour vehicles. They don't seem to rust easily.

A comment on customisation. I have seen many trucks modified and some with larger wheels. They are designed to cater for this and it is possible to change the differential to cater for it.

I have seen very few cars that have been modified in regards to the road gear. Low profile tyres improve handling but increase the chance of blow outs and wear much quicker. See what the Mexicans do to cars in California.

As for the status thing. I believe that is true and copied from the west. In the UK at least until recently your company gave you a car that related to your seniority within the company.

VincentD · Post by **VincentD** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:34 am

Japanese cars are favoured here because of the availability of spare parts countrywide, and a good dealership network. Unfortunately, they also believe in cheap (read almost non-existent) maintenance.

They are also wary of buying secondhand because of this poor maintenance. Many steer away from the european brands as they expect high maintenance costs.

As for modifications, in part I agree that many do not know what they are doing. The word 'bling!' brings up goose pimples. However there are many places that do a superb job where performance is more important than looks. Don't forget that car manufacturers need to keep costs down, so not everything is optimised for a production car...