Dealing with Honda Hua Hin, specifically looking at Brio

[thebears]

Does anyone have any experience of purchasing a new car with cash, at Honda Hua Hin? Was there any issue with putting the blue book in the foreigner's name?

As much as I dislike the Honda Brio, I'm in need of better transportation and reasonably soon. Furthermore, the Brio starts at a little over 400,000 THB and is therefore helpful from the point of view of depreciation. If anyone has experience of the Brio, I would very much appreciate any information. Thanks.

Incidentally, I do not have a Thai partner who can make the purchase, just for the sake of clarification.

[lizzy]

I have brough a car(Honda Jazz) through xpat motors in Bangkok. The delivery time from Hua Hin Honda was about 3 months at the time, Xpats got me the car within 2 weeks. Easy documentation.
Good follow up servicing with Honda Hua Hin

[thebears]

Thanks, however I am specifically looking for comments on dealing with Honda Hua Hin. I have purchased from Expat Motors before and was dissatisfied that the blue book for the new car, already reflected previous ownership of the employee at the main dealership who presumably was responsible for obtaining the staff discount.

[JW]

Honda Hua Hin are ok but wont do much of deal, a friend recently bought a Civic and got a better deal buying from a dealer in Bangkok.
You should look at the Suzuki Swift, driven one and they are a great town car and also better finished than the Brio.
We sold thousands of cars in UK that had been preregistered - we dont value the cars less when they came back in to us as trade ins if they had 2 owners - condition/mileage and demand are the factors when valuing a car.

[hhfarang]

We bought both of our Hondas at Honda Pranburi. I know you are looking for specific comments about Honda Hua Hin but Pranburi is not that far away, in fact, it is faster to get to if you live in the south end of Hua Hin or in Takiab. Honda Hua Hin was not open when we bought our cars so all I can tell you is that the service wait time is 60% less on average at Honda Pranburi. I have used both places for service and will never go to Hua Hin again.

[brianks]

Honda Brio is supposed to be the best driving and most economical of the eco cars on the market today if one can believe the reviews in the BKK Post. I purchased our Honda Jazz several years ago at Honda HuaHin and have been very pleased all dealings with them. We had a problem with the tint film on the windshield in the beginning but they stood back of it and replaced it twice before completely fixed. Another problem with an electrical repair but they stood back of it and in the end had to replace far more than I had paid for it. Never a question or a problem with them. Last service was at 110,000 km so have been in there a few times.

I could only give them my highest recommendation.

[Frank Hovis]

I have had no dealings with Honda Hua Hin but would advise you to look carefully at the Brio.
There is a reason why, unlike most other Honda models, it is not sold in Europe; that reason is because at the price point Honda are targeting they cannot bring the car up to high enough safety standards to sell it in Europe. The higher spec variants have more safety equipment but I believe it's the basic structure that does not meet EU requirements.
The Suzuki Swift would, in my opinion, be the better car both in terms of safety and specification and if they sell the 1.3 diesel variant the savings in fuel costs while diesel remains cheap will make a big difference in running costs even though the petrol versions are frugal already.

And they look better !

[JW]

Frank's right, the Brio feels like a toy, Swift feels like a real car, to be honest its a pretty good drive

[thebears]

...but would advise you to look carefully at the Brio.
There is a reason why, unlike most other Honda models, it is not sold in Europe; that reason is because at the price point Honda are targeting they cannot bring the car up to high enough safety standards to sell it in Europe. The higher spec variants have more safety equipment but I believe it's the basic structure that does not meet EU requirements.

Thanks Frank, I accept what you say. I notice that it indicates on Honda's site, that the Brio meets... "Safety standard specified by the UNECE’s regulations 94 (01) and 95 (02)".

Then reading up on that (yawn), it appears that UNECE is... "The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations is a working party (WP.29)[1] of the Inland Transport Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). It is tasked with creating a uniform system of regulations, called UN Regulations, for vehicle design to facilitate international trade."

So, on the face of it, it would certainly appear that it has met a European standard of some form. Perhaps while it has met those European standards, they are still insufficient for it to be sold. Or is it simply the case that such a low-spec vehicle is unlikely to sell in a more discerning market?

I see that in India, it sells for the equivalent of only 212,000 THB. We're overcharged here, it seems, as it starts at 433,500 THB.

With regard to the Brio models, according to Honda's site, there are four only. There is a manual and automatic, and for each of those, a low-spec and an even lower-spec. However, there appears to be no difference between safety specifications, despite what you say about safety. The specification sheet shows only a single variation between the two options - and that is the anti-theft alarm. Most of the variations seem to be non-essential features, such as USB, vanity mirror, pocket in the seat-backs and alloy wheels.

Yes, I like the look of the Suzuki Swift. I may be wrong, but isn't there a tediously long waiting list for it? If not, I'd be keen on that, because honestly I do regard the Brio as a bit of a joke, although I'm in need of cheap transport and that necessity outweighs the geeky look of the thing

I looked at Suzuki's web site and close to home, there seems only to be these two below, in Phetchburi and Ratchburi.

บริษัท กอบทรัพย์ซูซูกิเซลส์ จำกัด
151 หมู่ที่ 1 ตำบลสมอพลือ อำเภอบ้านลาด
จังหวัดเพชรบุรี 76150

บริษัท ซูซูกิราชบุรี จำกัด
99/8 หมู่ 4 ถ.เพชรเกษม ต.โคกหม้อ อ.เมือง
จ.ราชบุรี 70000

[Frank Hovis]

I didn't intend to put you off, only to alert you to the fact that the Brio is a 'local' car designed specifically for what Honda call 'emerging markets' and as such it hasn't been through any NCAP programmes like JNCAP (Japan), EuroNCAP, ANCAP (Aus/NZ) and hasn't been tested by the new ASEAN NCAP, although Honda always do well in NCAP tests but those are world cars, with a price to match.

I don't know what the UNECE standards are so can't offer any further advice.

You are quite right in correcting me regarding safety equipment. I was sure the lower spec did NOT come with ABS/EBD and only has an optional airbag, I may have been looking at Indian specifications, but as you rightly say the specification sheet shows that all models have dual airbags and ABS/EBD which is good to see at that price here.
The Brio is also available in South Africa and for 2014 Australia/NZ are considering it as an import, I suppose that will be the crunch time (pardon the pun) when the ANCAP people test it.

[thebears]

No, it's ok Frank, I'm glad you mentioned the Suzuki Swift (and JW also), because having looked at the pictures, I can see it's a far more substantial car with better safety. The Brio looks awful quite honestly and not only is Honda charging twice the price in the Thailand market, above the Indian market, it doesn't even have the steering-mounted audio controls here. This can be seen in some of the pictures of the Indian vehicle.

The entry-level Suzuki Swift is 4,500 cheaper than the entry-level Honda Brio. So, it's almost certainly a no-thanks for the toy-like Honda Brio.

Suzuki's web site isn't that great, I must say. I found some prices quite by accident for the Swift - they happen to be in the column headings of the "Major Specifications" link. The other vehicles on the site such as the SX4 (which is also interesting), show no pricing at all, so very inconsistent there. Only in Thailand eh?

But other than than, the Swift looks fine, including a much better looking interior than the Honda Brio. The prices, for the benefit of anyone else, are as follows.

GA - Manual 429,000
GA - CVT Auto 469,000
GL - Manual 467,000
GL - CVT Auto 507,000
GLX - CVT Auto 559,000

[malcolminthemiddle]

Any opinions on the Kia Picanto, another small car for around town?

[thebears]

Any opinions on the Kia Picanto, another small car for around town?

I saw one parked today and it looked extremely small. I also noticed that the tires are very narrow and in fact it was that which caught my attention and I thought of your question.

According to Kia's web site (append /th on the end), the price starts at 425,000, so it isn't much cheaper than the more substantial Suzuki Swift. Also looking at Kia's other model, the Rio, the price seems awfully high for a brand with such low prestige. Perhaps Kia is exploiting the Thai market's lack of discern.

I also looked at the e-brochure and noticed that it has what it calls "motor-driven power steering". It sounds quite scary. Goodness knows what happens if the motor starts going awry.

[Frank Hovis]

Also worth searching for Kia Picanto camshaft pulley bolt on the internet.
They may have changed the design by now but they fought long and hard not to pay out when it happened to one of my friends in the UK. The threat of small claims court eventually made them refund his costs.
Could you try that here? I don't know.
The way they dealt with him would put me off Kia (in the UK at least) permanently, because simple denial of a design/manufacturing flaw does not suggest that customer relations in any other department would be any better.