new pickup Mazda BT-50

[cookie]

Did someone of the forum bought this pickup,
or do you know someone that owns one.
I just want to know if it is a good pickup,
or if some people had some problems with this pickup when they bought it??

[Prenders88]

It shares a lot of the running gear with the Ford Ranger.
Not a popular brand in Udon.

[Doc]

Bought one about 3 years ago. Never have had a problem with it.

Only problem is that the Mazda dealership is kind of inconvenient. However, Mitsubishi will service Mazda for warranty work and everything else. Owned by the same company. The sales manager at Mitsubishi speaks excellent English and will assist you with all aspects of ownership - (licensing, insurance, etc) at no charge and will continue assisting you for as long as you own the vehicle. So, that is an added plus.

[Mudshark]

Since we're on the subject of buying pick-ups in Udon....

Last month we looked at this Toyota truck in the subject line, at the dealer in Udon on the ring road (?). The price seemed cheap compared to (a) North America and (b) Toyota cars at the dealership. Sales lady, who spoke good english, said Toyota trucks were cheaper than Toyota cars because they were assembled in Thailand.

So my question....the sales lady gave me a price sheet that she said was non-negotiable. Every month there is a "campagne" with a small incentive. In October this was free insurance for the first year. On Oct 28-29th they added on free registration, probably to try and meet a monthly quota or something like that.

Can I ask if anyone else has had experience with buying new pickups, preferably Toyota's, in Udon/Thailand. In Canada you can usually haggle about a 3-4% discount on Toyota's, much more on domestic vehicles. Is what the sales lady in Udon the general case in Thailand....price fixed by head office and small incentives each month to buy?

Thanks in Advance ! Graham

[Dakoda]

...price fixed by head office and small incentives each month to buy?

Thanks in Advance ! Graham

yes, and whatever else you can get them to give you, sounds like you should wait til next month and get more, plus end of year savings, but the latter maybe is just the US

[Doc]

This is Thailand - and everything is negotiable.

My experience has been that the first year insurance is almost always included - as well as registration.

If you hold cash under their nose - and get up to walk out if they don't meet your expectations - they will decide that things can be negotiated.

Might be worth a run up to Nong Khai or Khon Kaen to do some comparative shopping.

[BKKSTAN]

I read, somewhere,that the reason p/u's are less expensive is because the gov't doesn't charge as many fees on p/u's versus cars.They assemble both p/u's and cars in Thailand!

[Prenders88]

I read, somewhere,that the reason p/u's are less expensive is because the gov't doesn't charge as many fees on p/u's versus cars.They assemble both p/u's and cars in Thailand!

Pickups are classed as commercials so the tax on them is lower. If it has a green plate.

We have a green plate on our pickup, a Nissan Frontier 3.2 Dti Z, its a two door individual Cab. My friend who has just bought a brand new Izuzu Highlander with four doors has a black plate and pays the same tax as a car.

[Doc]

All of the 4 door trucks are taxed at the higher rate.

Mine is a two door, with the "rear access system" which means that technically it has four doors. However, after a lot of litigation by Ford, the Government backed off from taxing these trucks as four doors because the doors do not, and cannot open independently. The rear doors can only be opened if the front door is open.

So, technically, I have "kind of" a four door truck with lower taxes.

For some reason Ford, and hence Mazda (since Mazda is part of Ford) stopped making these kind of trucks about the same time that the litigation was settled. Don't know if that was part of the settlement or not.

[Mudshark]

Thanks for the advice guys.

We'll try the "let's make a deal" approach for vehicles that rules in North America and see what happens. Got to remember to keep it lighthearted though

[polehawk]

My experience has been that the first year insurance is almost always included - as well as registration.

What is included in that first year insurance? Will I still have to purchase liability, for example? I'm awaiting delivery on a Toyota product and the "free" insurance offer was one of their incentives. In midst of all of the negotiating, I forgot to ask. I realize that auto insurance in Thailand isn't a big buck item but just don't like the idea of dealing with two insurance companies in event of an accident.

[Doc]

What is included in that first year insurance? Will I still have to purchase liability, for example?

Typically, it is full coverage insurance.

There are two types of insurance in Thailand. First, there is the government required insurance - which would be your typical liability insurance. This insurance is relatively cheap - typically under 3,000 Baht if I remember correctly. This is typically included in the registration incentive package.

You will see many vehicles with 2 stickers on their windshield. One is for the registration. The other is for the mandatory liability insurance.

The second is the comprehensive insurance. This is separate from the liability insurance. If the dealership is offering an insurance package - I would suspect that this is the insurance that they are talking about. For my truck when I bought it - it was something like 18,000 Baht. This insurance will cover everything - as the term comprehensive implies.

The amount of this insurance will go down every year as long as you have no claims.

Needless to say, the dealership gets a commission on the first year insurance coverage - which no doubt dramatically reduces their cost for tossing in this incentive. Most likely they also get a residual payment every time that you renew your insurance as they were the initial "agent" for the insurance.

Never fear - the dealership is not giving you anything for "free." The world just doesn't work that way.

[polehawk]

Thanks for that info, Doc. A full coverage package incentive is actually more than I would have expected from a dealer but repeat business does make it worthwhile, eh?

Back to the topic, sort of. We didn't look at Mazda pickups but did check out the Mitsubishi and Isuzu lines. Close to buying an Isuzu Highlander but the thought of maneuvering one through Udon and Bangkok-type traffic and parking made us decide on something smaller but not so small that I would wrench my back climbing in/out of one everyday so we test drove and ordered a Toyota Avanza miniwagon with ABS and airbags.