Golfs have better residuals than CRV’s!.
Even now the old 2004/2005 1.9tdi’s with about 4 owners, high milage, rattling engines and crash damage are going for well over 500k!.
New that car was under a million.
[quote=“sulavaca”]
What I believe is happening recently is there is a number of car buyers who are buying the cars of their “dreams” and are doing it because they have given up on the idea of ever owning a property.[/quote]
This is a growing factor in the 'wan, I think. The same thing happened in Japan after the early 90’s economic bust, and Japan has never recovered, but the count of exotics has grown. I’ve always wanted to have a look at the apartments of the guys driving Ferraris around Omotesando… I’m pretty sure it would be “apartment” and not house. Likewise, all the Mercs and Bimmers in Tokyo.
[quote=“maunaloa”][quote=“sulavaca”]
What I believe is happening recently is there is a number of car buyers who are buying the cars of their “dreams” and are doing it because they have given up on the idea of ever owning a property.[/quote]
This is a growing factor in the 'wan, I think. The same thing happened in Japan after the early 90’s economic bust, and Japan has never recovered, but the count of exotics has grown. I’ve always wanted to have a look at the apartments of the guys driving Ferraris around Omotesando… I’m pretty sure it would be “apartment” and not house. Likewise, all the Mercs and Bimmers in Tokyo.[/quote]
My sister in laws husband driva a brand new Infinety G35, is 38yo and live in a tiny apartment.
Who need a car when you live 10min walk away from the MRT and a buss pass by our doorsteps.
My wife don’t want a car and me neather. When I first came her I wanted to get my hands on something like a omega mv6 because I’m quite used to work on opels and there is quite a few performance parts you can get for them from germany, but I found out that everything fun is forbiden and/or owerprized in this bloody country.
I think I stick to borowing the car from my mother in law and use bus, feet and schooter other times.
Thank you Sulavaca for your advice. Wife so far hates Mazda, even though I would go for the Mazda 5 also, and wants a small Toyota which is an Audi, yet not a German car not to make the managers in our company jealous, very tiny but room for two large dog cages, cheap and low on gas but we can spend more on a car this time and power is important. 
Or something like that.
Could not make up my mind and watched photos from the car show in Taipei 2010.
pbase.com/albertjou/2010autoshow&page=1
Would definitely go for the Volkswagen “models” this year 
Well its been about 4 days now and skoda have not replied, more specifically brian liu assistant general manager of skoda taiwan hasnt replied.
So I have to tell them and you openly on these forums.
THIS IS NOT HOW YOU DO BUSINESS
Its hard enough pushing a new brand in Taiwan, if a guy with cash in his pockets comes asking for a car, you move at least make the effort to sell the damn car, im not even getting a email back!.
I can only see them failing badly if this is how their senior staff behave!.
Maybe its all just a money laundring operation, you know losing money on purpose!.
:fume:
My Taiwanese colleague has CRV. He said that one of the reasons he bought it was because he “wants to see the road better”. I suppose what he meant was that driver’s viewpoint is higher in CRV.
I guess besides perception of providing larger space, this is may be common factor in decisions to buy car.
(i.e. assumption they are “easier to drive”)
[quote=“maunaloa”]This is a growing factor in the 'wan, I think. The same thing happened in Japan after the early 90’s economic bust, and Japan has never recovered, but the count of exotics has grown. I’ve always wanted to have a look at the apartments of the guys driving Ferraris around Omotesando… I’m pretty sure it would be “apartment” and not house. Likewise, all the Mercs and Bimmers in Tokyo.
[/quote]
This perhaps applies to some areas in Taipei but not the rest of Taiwan.
I live in a place in HsinChu with plenty of people with nice houses and cars (BMW 630, 730, plenty of 3 series, R350, E280 etc)
whatcar.com/car-reviews/skod … #OnTheRoad
That would put me off:
[quote]Unfortunately, the Yeti’s ride is jiggly at all speeds unless the road is smoother than a cue ball.
[/quote]
1.2 turbo yeti 880,000nt. 2.0 tdi 1,110,000nt. If you want the former, then september delivery and 30,000 deposit. The latter, 2011 only.
[quote=“redwagon”][quote=“sulavaca”][quote=“redwagon”][quote=“sulavaca”]
The CRV is a large somewhat now average status symbol, but it also comes with the bullet proof trust in the brand.[/quote]
That may change when more people figure out they are now made in China.[/quote]
Well, some components. Its quality is still extremely high, at least until until this time of writing.[/quote]
As I understand it the current model is assembled in Guangzhou. I don’t know where the parts come from, but I would like my Honda to be assembled in Japan or the USA.[/quote]
All present Taiwan, Honda models including the CRV and Fit are built in Pingtung county.
Ah, seems I was misinformed then. I thought they were being a bit cheeky charging that price for a China model. I think they have things pretty well sorted down in Pingtung, which is the old Taching (Subaru) plant they bought. Thanks for the correction.
I spoke to skoda at the factory, they told me that they cant deliver any new yetis until december… if you can confirm september i will be there tomorrow with a deposit.
[quote=“smellybumlove”]I looked at the new scoobies… well i nearly vomited, what are they thinking with that styling?!
[/quote]
Thought this might be of interest to you.
Sorry mate, but sometimes I think you make stuff up as you go along.
In 2009 Lexus sold 6,032 new cars while Merc sold 6,138. So far this year Merc are completely hammering Lexus with more than 1,000 cars ahead of their Japanese competitor.
BMW were not far behind with 5,630 cars and Audi sold around a third of that.
The luxury Germany market has been doing well not because people can’t afford houses but because during a recession the only people with money are the really wealthy. Many of the really wealthy also happen to be the biggest bargain hunters so they are snapping up recession prices on luxury motors.
And you keep banging on about German cars being unreliable hunks of junk but I have had no issues with mine; neither have my friends with theirs.
[quote=“llary”][quote=“sulavaca”]
Sorry mate, but sometimes I think you make stuff up as you go along.
In 2009 Lexus sold 6,032 new cars while Merc sold 6,138. So far this year Merc are completely hammering Lexus with more than 1,000 cars ahead of their Japanese competitor.[/quote][/quote]
Yes, that’s Lexus with thousands more cars a year sold than when they first started out, not many years ago. Mercedes are making a loss on historic sales trends because of Lexus. Put another way, if Lexus were to cease sales tomorrow then Mercedes would be jumping up and down clapping their hands. Audi and BMW probably wouldn’t mind too much either.
There is one pie and one pie only in the Luxury car bracket and the fact that Lexus, having come from nowhere has taken such a massive chunk of it in almost no time at all is an extremely strong statement.
Mercedes and BMW are loosing out because their total sales potential is being eroded by the faster growing Lexus brand. In terms of investment in this case, I know where I would be putting my money. Lexus aren’t loosing out, they are expanding and have been since starting out.
Mercedes have been going for how long to get where they were? And Lexus? Now that’s what I call a success story!
I don’t “make this stuff up” as you are so quick to claim.
And as far as the “hammering” which you so boldly state. A lot of it has to do with the currency markets and the Japanese’s own [10 percent] rise in their overall pricings to combat the effects of their own imbalances. This to me shows no reflection on car quality at this time, but more to do with the global currency markets. Its the same reasoning why I don’t claim that all new cars must suck just because trends in used car sales have until recently been stronger and have pushed supporting prices up on average.
Feeling a bit hot an bothered today are we? I’m glad to hear you and your friends are so happy with your cars.
I do actually recommend German cars to people sometimes, in case you hadn’t been paying attention. I have even sourced quite a few, albeit almost always VW T-4s.
There are quite a few facts, as well as opinions of countless professionals as well as customers to support the statement than German cars are not generally more reliable or as simple to maintain than their many of their Japanese competitor’s cars however.
I don’t believe this position I have taken, or the advice I give is out of line with the facts, whether they be technical or opinionated. I have nothing against the Germans, or the French, or even the British and Italians personally. I just don’t believe they offer too many leading transportation solutions to Taiwan.
[quote=“sulavaca”]Mercedes and BMW are losing out because their total sales potential is being eroded by the faster growing Lexus brand. In terms of investment in this case, I know where I would be putting my money. Lexus aren’t losing out, they are expanding and have been since starting out.
Mercedes have been going for how long to get where they were? And Lexus? Now that’s what I call a success story!
I don’t “make this stuff up” as you are so quick to claim.[/quote]
Uhm… I am basing my part of this debate on MOTC numbers for new registrations. You?
Lexus have been dropping sales in Taiwan year on year since 2006. Mercedes are looking to be 2,000 cars up on Lexus by the end of 2010 if the second half of this year as as good as the first. The latest recall on Toyota’s V8 engines ain’t gonna help either.
Mercedes got lazy a few years back and paid for it but they are still the strongest brand by far.
Volvo are doing a sneaky number because their sales are up consistently year on year little by little. Interesting just how consistent they are since all the other brands are up and down like yo-yos.
Glad you’re not my financial advisor if you think that falling market share is a good outlook for Lexus
[quote=“llary”][quote=“sulavaca”]Mercedes and BMW are losing out because their total sales potential is being eroded by the faster growing Lexus brand. In terms of investment in this case, I know where I would be putting my money. Lexus aren’t losing out, they are expanding and have been since starting out.
Mercedes have been going for how long to get where they were? And Lexus? Now that’s what I call a success story!
I don’t “make this stuff up” as you are so quick to claim.[/quote]
Uhm… I am basing my part of this debate on MOTC numbers for new registrations. You?
Lexus have been dropping sales in Taiwan year on year since 2006. Mercedes are looking to be 2,000 cars up on Lexus by the end of 2010 if the second half of this year as as good as the first. The latest recall on Toyota’s V8 engines ain’t gonna help either.
Mercedes got lazy a few years back and paid for it but they are still the strongest brand by far.
Volvo are doing a sneaky number because their sales are up consistently year on year little by little. Interesting just how consistent they are since all the other brands are up and down like yo-yos.
Glad you’re not my financial advisor if you think that falling market share is a good outlook for Lexus [/quote]
I don’t tend to consider my experience in vehicle quality relating to the first two quarters of a single report, or even to a year or two. I wish a vehicle’s quality and future could be determined by such simple things. Mercedes have new models out, Lexus don’t (aside from a daft, yet popular SUV). Lexus have increased their prices and reduced their supply due to JPY, Merc haven’t because it has a fantastic falling Euro. Merc and BMW have introduced non luxury cars to a new segment. Lexus haven’t.
Well back on topic, i test drove a octavia combi today…
Lovely car with plenty of ‘pep’ from its 1.8tsi engine, going from a 3.5 to this wouldn’t be such a big deal to be honest.
But the spec, oh the spec.
15’’ rims with 60 height tyres… my goodness what were they thinking, a suzuki swift comes with 15’’ rims not an upmarket european sedan!!!
Inside it gets worse, no multi function wheel (only a £90 option back home) no satnav, no parking sensors, no HID lights… you get NOTHING and to make it worse there is no options list, this is the car take it or leave it, over a million please :loco:
Sitting in the superb is… well superb as it comes with electric seats with leather (an option on the octavia odly) lovely 3 spoke wheel, satnav, hids, 17’’ rims with dunlop sportmax tyres… i could go on.
But of course thats 1.3 million :raspberry:
If they bothered to spend a few quid more on the spec of the octavia they would of had a winner on there hands, as it stands no taiwanese is going to buy a car for a million without a dvd screen,satnav or a decent set of alloys.
octavia in taiwan = fail 
Now the yeti is sounding promising, 868,000nt for the base model but at least you get 16’’ rims!.
Oh and its a PQ35 platform car and as i just discussed with the wife, if we like the car that much we could spend about 300,000nt on a R32 engine swap and still come out quids in compared to the crackpot pricing of the other models.
Getting my hands on the yeti on saturday, fingers crossed it can at least spin the wheels in 1st 
I hate those things.
They scream at me and when I get out of the car there is still space.
I tend to turn it off when I use my inlaws Toyota and trust mirrors and my own judgement instead.
satnav on the other hand is something I would love. My wife expect me to be able to cross 4lanes of trafick to make a right hand turn in just 10meters so replacing here with a digital unit to show me the ways around Taipei would save my life and marriage.
satnav on the other hand is something I would love. My wife expect me to be able to cross 4lanes of trafick to make a right hand turn in just 10meters so replacing here with a digital unit to show me the ways around Taipei would save my life and marriage.[/quote]
Haha no it wont save your marriage!.
I have never argued so much with the wife since moving to taipei!.
You see the roads here are so complex and condensed, its nigh on impossible for the sat-nav to be able to show you every little lane and turn you must take… so the wife will still scream at you to turn here or there and blame you not the sat-nav for screwing up… despite the road signs telling her in her own language where to go (which of course we cant read) :raspberry: