Car prices Thailand

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johanthomsen
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Car prices Thailand

Post by johanthomsen » January 20, 2019, 9:05 pm

Hello guys..
I thought I should ask here, since I am a little confused about the Thailand car market.. I have been looking to purchase a car for the last year so I dont have to rent a car when staying in Thailand, but I am completely baffled by the prices there..

Is it something that is isolated to Thailand only, or is it something that is in the area of countries there, that prices are so out of proportion??

Btw, moderators, please put this in the correct forum if I misplaced it :confused:



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sometimewoodworker
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Re: Car prices Thailand

Post by sometimewoodworker » January 20, 2019, 9:10 pm

johanthomsen wrote:
January 20, 2019, 9:05 pm
Hello guys..
I thought I should ask here, since I am a little confused about the Thailand car market.. I have been looking to purchase a car for the last year so I dont have to rent a car when staying in Thailand, but I am completely baffled by the prices there..

Is it something that is isolated to Thailand only, or is it something that is in the area of countries there, that prices are so out of proportion??

Btw, moderators, please put this in the correct forum if I misplaced it :confused:
Out of proportion to what?
Prices are higher than in other markets due to government tax.
Jerome and Nui's new househttp://bit.ly/NJnewHouse

johanthomsen
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Re: Car prices Thailand

Post by johanthomsen » January 20, 2019, 9:17 pm

Well, mainly out of proportion to house prices and the average Thai worker.. Or I just find the cars quite expensive.. Especially the used ones... A new car is not that expensive (or I atleast dont think the new ones are so expensive).. I was just thinking about buying a used car to use the 5-6 months I yearly live in Thailand.

But ok, I was not aware of the government tax being the culprit for the relative high prices that I have encountered :)

dunroaming
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Re: Car prices Thailand

Post by dunroaming » January 20, 2019, 10:07 pm

House prices here are cheap compared to western world standards but cars are universal in price plus government taxes. Thais will always choose a car over a house as it's a status symbol don't believe me just drive around any village and look at the cars parked in front of what I would personally call a barn

johanthomsen
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Re: Car prices Thailand

Post by johanthomsen » January 20, 2019, 11:16 pm

dunroaming wrote:
January 20, 2019, 10:07 pm
House prices here are cheap compared to western world standards but cars are universal in price plus government taxes. Thais will always choose a car over a house as it's a status symbol don't believe me just drive around any village and look at the cars parked in front of what I would personally call a barn
That is excactly what I find a little odd... An house usually holds value instead of a car which only depreciates in value (unless it is some rare old exotic) but that status symbol makes sense even though personally it does not make sense... But thats the beauty with us people, that we are so different :D

But that pretty much seems to answer my curiosity about buying a car in Thailand

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Isaanfarang
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Re: Car prices Thailand

Post by Isaanfarang » January 21, 2019, 12:05 am

2nd hand cars are way overpriced in the provinces but much cheaper in Bangkok.
Take a look at www.bahtsold.com or https://www.one2car.com/en.
I prefer www.taladrod.com and https://rod.kaidee.com but it is in Thai language. Needs a while to read it.
Cars are also to find on Facebook marketplace.
By the way, cars from Thai owners can be in better shape than from foreigner. Thais have to go in depts to buy a car and use it for a longer period. So they take good care. Have seen a lot of good looking 20 years old cars. Ask for the service book and you know more. If it is gone it might be a re-painted taxi.

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UdonExpat
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Re: Car prices Thailand

Post by UdonExpat » January 21, 2019, 1:28 am

Here's a link to the tax scheme for new car sales in Thailand. In the past the scheme used engine displacement. The current scheme uses emissions in determining the tax rate.

An unusual aspect of the used car market is that the cost of the tax tends to stay with the value of the vehicle rather than being a one time cost when the car is new. This is a result of the way new cars are priced. The list price displayed on a vehicle is inclusive of the tax and from the consumer's point of view the tax is not disclosed. The last new car I bought in Thailand was in 2011 and there was no mention of tax in the sale paperwork.

https://paultan.org/2015/12/03/new-co2- ... x-revenue/

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Re: Car prices Thailand

Post by saint » January 21, 2019, 6:02 am

Just my two bahts worth .
Cars in Bangkok are slightly cheaper for a couple of reasons .
Firstly , traffic ! A car doing 50,000 k in Bangkok , is like a provincial car doing 100,000 plus simply because it spends its life doing stop , start driving . Extra ware on the running gear ect .
Secondly ,theres a lot more people looking for cars, with more money to spend , and a lot more cars for sale , so more competition for the retailer , or who ever .
I also dispute the fact that Thai owned cars are better looked after than a farang owned car !
Thais buy a new car with very little deposit , have it on the strap for up to 7 years , and struggle to make the payments . so servicing is not a priority to them . There are exceptions to this , but they are exceptions .
Trying to find the monthly payment is more important , than changing the oil ect .
Also bare in mind that the vehicle does not need any sort of government check for road worthiness for the first 5 years of it life , and when it does need checking after 5 years , its a very limited check at that in order to re tax the vehicle.
Its sort of like , well you drove it here so it must be O K , check the chassic and engine numbers with the blue book , check the brakes , and emmisions , and off you go .
No real need to keep the vehicle in tip top condition .

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Re: Car prices Thailand

Post by dunroaming » January 21, 2019, 6:20 am

saint wrote:
January 21, 2019, 6:02 am
Just my two bahts worth .
Cars in Bangkok are slightly cheaper for a couple of reasons .
Firstly , traffic ! A car doing 50,000 k in Bangkok , is like a provincial car doing 100,000 plus simply because it spends its life doing stop , start driving . Extra ware on the running gear ect .
Secondly ,theres a lot more people looking for cars, with more money to spend , and a lot more cars for sale , so more competition for the retailer , or who ever .
I also dispute the fact that Thai owned cars are better looked after than a farang owned car !
Thais buy a new car with very little deposit , have it on the strap for up to 7 years , and struggle to make the payments . so servicing is not a priority to them . There are exceptions to this , but they are exceptions .
Trying to find the monthly payment is more important , than changing the oil ect .
Also bare in mind that the vehicle does not need any sort of government check for road worthiness for the first 5 years of it life , and when it does need checking after 5 years , its a very limited check at that in order to re tax the vehicle.
Its sort of like , well you drove it here so it must be O K , check the chassic and engine numbers with the blue book , check the brakes , and emmisions , and off you go .
No real need to keep the vehicle in tip top condition .
Saint agreed my brother in law bought his second hand 10 year old car with payments spread over 7 years. I expect he will still be paying for it when it's long gone! I asked about maintenance costs just got a dumb look back hard enough to find the money each month without worrying about that and anyway it works why fix it

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sometimewoodworker
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Re: Car prices Thailand

Post by sometimewoodworker » January 21, 2019, 8:51 am

johanthomsen wrote:
January 20, 2019, 11:16 pm

That is excactly what I find a little odd... An house usually holds value instead of a car which only depreciates in value (unless it is some rare old exotic) but that status symbol makes sense even though personally it does not make sense... But thats the beauty with us people, that we are so different :D
It very much depends on which country you are talking about. Where I've been living for the past few years a house looses value yearly until by about 20~25 years it goes negative, as anyone buying the land and house has the expense of clearing before rebuilding. Cars there do depreciate faster than houses.

The other reason for the slower depreciation of cars here is there is no need to spread corrosives on the roads so rust in newer (10~20 year old) vehicles is virtually eliminated

However we just got a 4 year old, lowish kilometre car for about ½ the new cost
Jerome and Nui's new househttp://bit.ly/NJnewHouse

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Isaanfarang
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Re: Car prices Thailand

Post by Isaanfarang » January 21, 2019, 12:56 pm

Crap cars are everywhere but it is no rocket science to find a good one in Bangkok. There are more wealthy people living than in the provinces. Reading the advert and translate it into English (Mr. Google helps) if it is in Thai language. Then get on the phone or let the lady do the job. Easy to find a car with only one owner and complete service book. Several times I helped friends to buy a car in Bangkok and we met owner who work in bank, government, insurance or have own business. We signed the documents in houses which had a standard I will never have. Reason for sale mostly was the new car, sometimes parking there already. The seller were excited to get cash money on the table and more than they can expect from a car dealer. Clean deals and everybody happy. All the cars we bought are still running around in Udon and only had minor repairs as brake pads, clutch or new tires which doesn’t cost a fortune. We mostly searched for used premium cars from Toyota or Honda never for the cheap cars in basic edition which nearly everybody gets financed.

saint
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Re: Car prices Thailand

Post by saint » January 22, 2019, 2:20 am

Isaanfarang wrote:
January 21, 2019, 12:56 pm
Crap cars are everywhere but it is no rocket science to find a good one in Bangkok. There are more wealthy people living than in the provinces. Reading the advert and translate it into English (Mr. Google helps) if it is in Thai language. Then get on the phone or let the lady do the job. Easy to find a car with only one owner and complete service book. Several times I helped friends to buy a car in Bangkok and we met owner who work in bank, government, insurance or have own business. We signed the documents in houses which had a standard I will never have. Reason for sale mostly was the new car, sometimes parking there already. The seller were excited to get cash money on the table and more than they can expect from a car dealer. Clean deals and everybody happy. All the cars we bought are still running around in Udon and only had minor repairs as brake pads, clutch or new tires which doesn’t cost a fortune. We mostly searched for used premium cars from Toyota or Honda never for the cheap cars in basic edition which nearly everybody gets financed.
Premium cars maybe . But this is not what you implied in your previous post .
There is also a lot of over priced crap in B K K also , plus a lot more scammers , and its a long way to go to look at a pile of nonsense . So if your giving out advice on here , state the whole story and not just your happy endings .
I was very interested recently in an Audi S 6 in Bangkok being sold by a German enthusiast , seemed a good deal for what is a rare car , until my Mrs asked for a copy of the blue book , which stated the car was in actual fact an A 6 .
When questioned on this , the owner said it was because the transport office did not know what an S6 was , when it was first registered .
Yet i know they copy whatever it says on the import manifest which comes with the car .
So buyer beware , where ever you buy your next car .

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Re: Car prices Thailand

Post by dunroaming » January 22, 2019, 9:01 am

Your eye is your merchant end of story, due diligence is paramount to getting a good deal

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Re: Car prices Thailand

Post by glalt » January 22, 2019, 9:44 am

It doesn't make much difference if the owner is a farang or a Thai. Some people take good care of their vehicles and others run them to death with no decent care. Appearance means very little, The savvy dealers can make a piece of crap look like new. Mechanical problems can be competently repaired but a badly wrecked vehicle is never the same.

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runrunshaw
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Re: Car prices Thailand

Post by runrunshaw » January 22, 2019, 3:55 pm

I think the OP suggested he had "sticker shock" in looking at the prices of used cars in Thailand. I had the same sense ten years ago when I first came to Udon. Maybe I was spoiled, because in Los Angeles--a real car town--good solid used vehicles can be gotten quite inexpensively, and California is known for its high taxes. I still think used cars are overpriced here based on what I'd pay for a comparable vehicle in LA.

Not only overpriced, but Thai-manufactured cars are not nearly as well-made as those from elsewhere.

Good information already given by the other posters. Private-party sales seem to offer up the best prices. I've bought three used vehicles that way: all were winners.
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Re: Car prices Thailand

Post by johanthomsen » January 22, 2019, 4:29 pm

I thank all you folks for food input... I am still somewhat confused over prices compared to what many have to live for, but I have gotten atleast a insight into a few things I did not know 🙂

udonman
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Re: Car prices Thailand

Post by udonman » January 22, 2019, 6:59 pm

I would say that the high price of second hand goods does just not just apply to cars. Thai seem to want near enough the new price for everything second hand. I

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