I know there have been posts about this in the past, but I think they are selling new models since then, so forgive me for asking again.
Anyway, I’m in the market for a new motor and have shortlisted the 5 and the Wish. I’m not keen on second hand.
Does anyone have up to date knowledge on both and can give some simple advice on which may be a better buy? They seem to be the same car (to all intents and purposes*), with their own little quirks and features. There’s countless taxi drivers running the Wish, so I figure they can’t be too bad but the Mazda looks and feels equally good to me.
(I should add that the 5 is on sale in the UK so I can check reviews easily enough. The Wish is not sold over there, so it’s more difficult to find a decent review.)
Thanks in advance.
Colin.
An (old) Englishman in Tainan
*I realise they are not the same, but 7 seater/hatchback/2 litre/150hp(ish) etc.
[quote=“ColT”]I know there have been posts about this in the past, but I think they are selling new models since then, so forgive me for asking again.
Anyway, I’m in the market for a new motor and have shortlisted the 5 and the Wish. I’m not keen on second hand.
[/quote]
I was thinking about a new car recently and was shortlisting the same two models. My preference would go for the Mazda 5 because of the sliding rear doors which I find very convenient. However I don’t like much the design of the third generation Mazda 5 (the one on the market today), I would go for a second hand second generation.
[quote=“Bobarctor”][quote=“ColT”]I know there have been posts about this in the past, but I think they are selling new models since then, so forgive me for asking again.
Anyway, I’m in the market for a new motor and have shortlisted the 5 and the Wish. I’m not keen on second hand.
[/quote]
I was thinking about a new car recently and was shortlisting the same two models. My preference would go for the Mazda 5 because of the sliding rear doors which I find very convenient. However I don’t like much the design of the third generation Mazda 5 (the one on the market today), I would go for a second hand second generation.[/quote]
Yeah, the sliding doors is a definite bonus. Not fussed about the design, per se, but am fussy about a car which has been driven by some nutcase before it comes into my hands.
Disclaimer: I’m far from being well-informed about the car market here, so my facts could be wrong but hopefully there’s some food for thought in what I write:
If I were in the market for a new car here, I’d most of all want to avoid models made specifically for the developing countries. These cars are never expected to go through the Euro NCAP, so you can be certain that corners were cut in a lot of places, starting very early in the design stage. The Zinger is an extreme example of this, consisting essentially of a large car body being put on top of a very narrow chassis, which gives it the stability of a motorboat (or should I say buoyancy). The Wish, I believe, not being sold either in the EU or the US, is also one such car, while the Mazda at least holds some hope of having been initially designed to better standards as it’s basically a rebadged European Ford Focus C-MAX.
If it were within my budget, I’d want to avoid the cars assembled locally in Taiwan. Even though they look just like their international counterparts, I’d expect them to have gone through a lot of cost-cutting, mostly where it’s least noticeable, i.e. in areas such as engine efficiency, pollution standards, and most importantly safety. While the export sector of the economy is quite remarkable in Taiwan, generally all the stuff made just for the local market is abysmal and best avoided, and as far as I know, none of the cars assembled in Taiwan are exported to any more demanding markets (with the exception of a few Luxgens sold in Qatar). Now it might be just that the trade barriers are preventing this anyway but the companies doing the assembly here are essentially guaranteed a government-sanctioned oligopoly so that they don’t even need to compete too much between themselves, and I guess we all know who it is that ends up getting screwed in such a case of business-government collusion.
At the same time, European imports seem to be ridiculously overpriced here, to the point that driving a VW Polo becomes a manifestation of status. What seems like a good option though is that there are some cars imported from Japan that are sold here and also in Europe. To my knowledge, Toyota RAV4 is one such option, and the price level it is sold at is more or less European. This is the path I’d pursue, but of course you’d need to double-check that the model you are getting is not a Taiwan-specific stripped-down version. There are some knowledgeable posters here who might shed some light. Most notably, there’s Jamie of Autocheckers, whom you might want to consult.
Also note: Wikipedia has an (unsourced) claim that Mazda 5 will be discontinued in 2015.
[quote=“Doraemonster”]Disclaimer: I’m far from being well-informed about the car market here, so my facts could be wrong but hopefully there’s some food for thought in what I write:
If I were in the market for a new car here, I’d most of all want to avoid models made specifically for the developing countries. These cars are never expected to go through the Euro NCAP, so you can be certain that corners were cut in a lot of places, starting very early in the design stage. The Zinger is an extreme example of this, consisting essentially of a large car body being put on top of a very narrow chassis, which gives it the stability of a motorboat (or should I say buoyancy). The Wish, I believe, not being sold either in the EU or the US, is also one such car, while the Mazda at least holds some hope of having been initially designed to better standards as it’s basically a rebadged European Ford Focus C-MAX.
If it were within my budget, I’d want to avoid the cars assembled locally in Taiwan. Even though they look just like their international counterparts, I’d expect them to have gone through a lot of cost-cutting, mostly where it’s least noticeable, i.e. in areas such as engine efficiency, pollution standards, and most importantly safety. While the export sector of the economy is quite remarkable in Taiwan, generally all the stuff made just for the local market is abysmal and best avoided, and as far as I know, none of the cars assembled in Taiwan are exported to any more demanding markets (with the exception of a few Luxgens sold in Qatar). Now it might be just that the trade barriers are preventing this anyway but the companies doing the assembly here are essentially guaranteed a government-sanctioned oligopoly so that they don’t even need to compete too much between themselves, and I guess we all know who it is that ends up getting screwed in such a case of business-government collusion.
At the same time, European imports seem to be ridiculously overpriced here, to the point that driving a VW Polo becomes a manifestation of status. What seems like a good option though is that there are some cars imported from Japan that are sold here and also in Europe. To my knowledge, Toyota RAV4 is one such option, and the price level it is sold at is more or less European. This is the path I’d pursue, but of course you’d need to double-check that the model you are getting is not a Taiwan-specific stripped-down version. There are some knowledgeable posters here who might shed some light. Most notably, there’s Jamie of Autocheckers, whom you might want to consult.
Also note: Wikipedia has an (unsourced) claim that Mazda 5 will be discontinued in 2015.[/quote]
Thanks for that. Much of what you say seems to fit with other info I’ve cobbled together, although I’m not entirely convinced that the built in Taiwan argument holds water. From what I’ve seen Jamie (Autocheckers) posting, buying a locally built car makes more sense than an import, not least because of the pricing.
Since posting the original question we’ve now looked at the CRV, RAV4, SX4 Crossover, Mitsubishi Challenger, Subaru Forester and I’m off to check the Kuga tomorrow. Frankly, the CRV is already looking unbeatable in this price range, although Mazda have offered the best discount by far, which perhaps points towards the discontinuation statement (not that it bothers me, as I still rate it as a pretty good fit for what we need within a reasonable budget). I reckon we’ll go back to the dealers a few days before the month end and see how good a deal we can achieve. If they won’t play, we’ll walk away and wait until another time - there’s no hurry.
Somewhere in the archive there’s a discussion of the relative merits of the CR-V vs. the RAV4, with, if I recall correctly, the conclusion pointing towards the latter. The CR-V is locally-made in Pingdong. Except the models you mentioned, there’s also Nissan Rogue (related to the European Qashqai, or however it’s spelt) and Subaru XV (an Impreza-based cross-over), both Japanese-made. Then, for completeness, there’s also the locally-made Mitsubishi Savrin.
Perhaps, towards the lower end of the market; but with your budget I think you have some room for manoeuvre. This link will be useful (if you don’t have it already): newcar.u-car.com.tw/ That’s a price/specs list of all the new cars sold here, which you can also filter by country of manufacture.
I’m not saying all the imported models are intrinsically a better deal, just some of them, and I leave it to the more knowledgeable people to say which these are. In any case, enjoy your test drives, and good luck with the choice!
Does the same link exist for second hand ? (where you put brand / model / year / km and get an estimate of the market price) ?[/quote]
There you go: usedcar.u-car.com.tw/ ocar.com.tw/ 8891.com.tw/
Which factors make the CRV unbeatable? From the pics I’ve seen on 8891, the interior seems a bit lackluster with a very dated looking center console. I’m not sure if the model you looked at had that tiny infotainment screen with an old analog cellphone style menu, but finally some of the locally built cars are including the full touch screens that have become expected in many other countries. I also feel that the CRV is under powered, if hp is important to you, there are definitely other options that are just as good with much more power.
but the Mazda looks and feels equally good to me.
