Hi guys.
I am new to this forum, but i know a little about the chinese buses.
I am one european entrepeneur ( very very small entrepeneur in fact )
I live and work in a small west african country.
The market was held hostage by Toyota, with the strong and resistent Toyota Coaster. A wonderful bus but the spare parts were very expensive.
So i start to look in internet for a cheaper option.
I send request to a few Chinese traders and factorys. The products looked more or less the same, the price diference was minimum. But the thing that made me choose Boading Changan Buses was the quality of the service provided. All the requests that i made were answered in 24 hours, a few changes to the original project were aded.
So far in one year i bought 3 small buses of 23 seats, model sc6601 and i am closing the deal for another order.
When my competition saw the chinese buses they laughed and joked about the quality of product. What can i say the quality of the toyota is better i know. But i have air conditioned, better seats, electric doors, my company color in the buses and a good after sales service.
Now its time to buy more buses, what is my choice. Toyota or Changan buses?
Changan Buses for sure.
What problems did i find so far?
minor ones. one electrical cable burned out, a fuel pump blocked due to the bad quality of the diesel in africa, a blocked parking break, and a few minor problems
So far so good with my Chinese option.

Very interesting... do you expect to save some $ over the long run? Do keep us updated on your experiences!

Well
The Toyota spare parts are really expensive.

For instance some brake pads cost up to 200 usd, while the chinese ones with transportation and taxes cost less than 20 usd.
They will not last as long as the Toyota but on the long run its cheaper.

Very interesting. There's a great potential in West-African countries for new buses and light trucks. Isn't Chang'an SC6601 an exact copy of Coaster or does it just look the same ?

Could you post a picture of the bus you have bought ?
Also, I have seen beautiful 20-30 passenger buses from other manufacturers that look like first class European Busses. Do you have any experience with them ?

Very interesting. There's a great potential in West-African countries for new buses and light trucks. Isn't Chang'an SC6601 an exact copy of Coaster or does it just look the same ?



Toyota Coaster

http://www.toyota-africa.com/showroom/Coaster/index.html

Chang'an SC6601

http://www.changanbus.com/english/page_bus/page/6601.asp


I don't know what you think but they do look similar, except for the headlights and the doors .I would not say it is an exact copy if you carefully, the window design is different too

btw you can see a lot of Chang'an buses from that site too

Sorry for my silence to your questions, but i was away for a few days.
Raul you asked me if the sc6601 and the Coaster are the same. There are many diferences...
One thing for sure que quality if construction of Toyota as no equal. Many Coasters in here have more than 1.000.000 km's and in tough conditions.
The Sc6601 is shorter, carries less passangers. But listen to this: It was built to fit 2 units inside one 40 feet h.q. container. Meaning the price of transportation is real cheap. I pay 5.500 euros for transportation of a 40 feet container that carries 2 small buses like this.
The Coaster as a 6 cylinder engine ( i think its 5.200 cc diesel ) the SC6601 as only a 4 cylinder 3.600 cc diesel. Meaning is much more economical. My mileage consuption is similar os a 4x4 diesel pick up. With a top speed of 100 kms per hour. More than enough for my needs.
I just bought 2 more units of this Bus one for me and another to another company, due to arrive at January.
And one thing i must praise the costumer relation of Changan Bus is world class.
I mean i am a small client, but they gave me v.i.p. service all the time. I ask them for changes in the project like aisle seats, aluminium floor, safety belts, diferent colors.... And they never say its impossible, they are also very fast answering to my questions.

Thank you for your valuable impressions Vitordavid....

Looks like Chang'an is following a good business philosophy:

THE CUSTOMER IS THE BOSS!

It's no wonder that American businessman Michael Ward has been so happy doing business with Chang'an since 1999 that he's now investing in an assembly plant for Chang'an vehicles in Oklahoma.

Best wishes for success in your business.....

Many thanks for your coment Dragin.
Design, Quality of construction, after sales value, inovation, safety.... all are important and valuable. But they dont come easy and take many years and money to improve.
Sometimes just one email, a nice word, some free spare parts, a fast answer to a problem make all the diference

well theres a reason almost all the busses in china is chinese brand busses

D:\Documents and Settings\Hertz\Desktop\Changan Auto\sv04cu.jpg

I am having some problems posting photos, i will try later

They arent exactly luxury models but are cheap, economical and tough