oscar76
3/11/2017 09:27 EST
hi guys,
since i am not sure in which place in panama we will live long term (we want to rent at different places a few times), i am not really sure which car brand to buy.
it is possible that we end up in pedasi, david or somewhere else.
my problem is that i want to make sure to have a car that can be fixed almost everywhere.
i know that toyota, nissan, hyundai and honda is everywhere to find in panama.
but, for example, what about bmw, audi or mercedes? they have only in panama city places where they sell the cars.
what if i buy a bmw and live in pedasi and have some kind of problem with it?
i guess thinks like oil, brakes, tires and so on will not be a problem, since every small garage can fix it.
but over here in germany you need to go to a car dealer for almost everything else. if a small lamp is on, every other garage says: "no, we need a special instrument for "reading" the mistake. without that, we don't know what to fix".
has anybody experience with that? i can not imagine that everybody with an audi goes to panama city for fixing it. :-)
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oscar76
3/12/2017 08:35 EST
yes, i know about toyota and nissan.
but what do the people do who drive an audi, or vw, bmw or whatever?
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tharin4prez
3/12/2017 12:59 EST
You can still get those makes repaired. Although it's much more difficult to find a capable machanic outside of the dealerships. And just like in North America, dealership repairs cost more.
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stgibson
3/12/2017 15:34 EST
Mitsubishi, Toyota, Nissan. I have a Mitsubishi L200 and have no problem buying OEM parts for it at the part houses which in general run 50%-100% less than purchasing the same part from a dealer. I had a VW Toureg for 2 years. Great car but to many bells and whistles especially electronic. In Panama we live on a thin strip of land between the 2 major oceans. Salt in the air does not mix well with electronics. Parts and service are almost solely found at dealerships which are expensive . I got rid of the Toureg and bought a much simpler Mitsubishi Nativa. Both are turbo diesels and get between 35-37 MPG and other than keeping up scheduled maintenance have only had to replace a windshield wiper arm in 5 years.
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Panama2017
3/12/2017 16:21 EST
I don't want to hijack Oscar's thread. But wondering how easy it will be to maintain a Toyota hybrid. I have one right now and want to buy one there when I move.
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stgibson
3/12/2017 23:19 EST
Talk to Ricardo Perez, he owns all the Toyota dealerships in Panama. https://www.toyotarp.com/
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kimbattlincoln
3/14/2017 10:54 EST
So what did we do wrong? Bought a 2008 Mitsubishi Montero four months ago. Appeared to be in mint condition. Now the transmission computer went out and we are told it'll take 1-2 months to get the part from Japan! Anyone have a car to rent?
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stgibson
3/14/2017 20:18 EST
@kimbattlelincoln
That sounds excessive and sounds like you took it to a dealer. Where do you live? Is it a US car imported or one originally from Panama? That is why I stick with standard transmissions here. It is difficult to find anyone good with automatics here. With a part number you can go online and probably have it here in a week. Dealers here wait for their parts orders to come in on regular 1 or 2 month intervals. I had the same problem with a windshield for my Toureg.
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