What things should I require before paying for car at dealership?

[Santogold]

I'm likely going to buy a 2017 BMW from a dealership (either in Bangkok or Chiang Mai). I will pay in cash. This will be my first car purchase in Thailand.

 

I plan to test drive a few from different dealership before purchasing. But aside from that, A) What should I look for/be wary of? and B) What should I require before handing over the money? i.e. documentation, paperwork, etc. I've seen mentions of a "blue book" on this forum but I'm not clear on what that means.

[Rdrokit]

God this has been covered upteen times. Way don't you do a search.

[Kwasaki]

9 hours ago, Santogold said:

A) What should I look for/be wary of?

Don't where your from but be expected to pay a cost of about 2.5 times more in Thailand than you would in UK.

S/h better IMO.

9 hours ago, Santogold said:

documentation, paperwork, blue owners book etc

All this is explained when buying the vehicle

[masuk]

Tell the dealer he will be paid in full when the vehicle is correctly registered and has official plates.  The red ones issued by the dealer have restrictions on them such as not driving out of the province, night driving, etc.

There is little or no reason why correct plates cannot be issued without a 6-week wait. 

I suspect the dealer is holding the money for some reason.

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Don't where your from but be expected to pay a cost of about 2.5 times more in Thailand than you would in UK.

S/h better IMO.

All this is explained when buying the vehicle

 

2 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

Don't where your from but be expected to pay a cost of about 2.5 times more in Thailand than you would in UK.

S/h better IMO.

All this is explained when buying the vehicle

 

[LukKrueng]

2 hours ago, masuk said:

Tell the dealer he will be paid in full when the vehicle is correctly registered and has official plates.  The red ones issued by the dealer have restrictions on them such as not driving out of the province, night driving, etc.

There is little or no reason why correct plates cannot be issued without a 6-week wait. 

I suspect the dealer is holding the money for some reason.

 

 

 

 

 

 

the registration process takes time in Thailand and there is nothing the dealer can do about it. The process only starts after the car is sold and fully paid for and no dealer will be willing to advance the full payment of a car to the importer/factory and then wait 4-6 weeks for his money. The red plates, although have limitations, allow the owner to drive the car while the registration is being processed.

to the op: when you order the car you pay a deposit of few thousands baht, and the balance is paid upon delivery of the car. You should have the car fitted with red number plates and a brown temporary registration book with the car's details in it. The dealer will tell you how long it should be for the white number plates to be ready, and when he gets the permanent plates they will call you to go to the dealership to return the red plates and have the white plates fitted. With the white plates you get the blue car registration book with full car details printed in it, the owner's name and amount of road tax paid. You also get a sticker for the windshield.

[MikeN]

Whatever happened to the plan announced nearly a year ago to speed up the registration process ? DLT said there should be no need for temporary plates under their proposed changes. Guess they had set up yet another committee to consider it.

[scorecard]

13 minutes ago, LukKrueng said:

the registration process takes time in Thailand and there is nothing the dealer can do about it. The process only starts after the car is sold and fully paid for and no dealer will be willing to advance the full payment of a car to the importer/factory and then wait 4-6 weeks for his money. The red plates, although have limitations, allow the owner to drive the car while the registration is being processed.

to the op: when you order the car you pay a deposit of few thousands baht, and the balance is paid upon delivery of the car. You should have the car fitted with red number plates and a brown temporary registration book with the car's details in it. The dealer will tell you how long it should be for the white number plates to be ready, and when he gets the permanent plates they will call you to go to the dealership to return the red plates and have the white plates fitted. With the white plates you get the blue car registration book with full car details printed in it, the owner's name and amount of road tax paid. You also get a sticker for the windshield.

 

"...the registration process takes time in Thailand and there is nothing the dealer can do about it..."

 

Not always true, several years back we bought a new Honda, delivered to our house 10 days later with white plates and blue book.

 

[scorecard]

5 minutes ago, MikeN said:

Whatever happened to the plan announced nearly a year ago to speed up the registration process ? DLT said there should be no need for temporary plates under their proposed changes. Guess they had set up yet another committee to consider it.

 

I remember that and good question, where's the new process?

 

[scorecard]

16 minutes ago, LukKrueng said:

the registration process takes time in Thailand and there is nothing the dealer can do about it. The process only starts after the car is sold and fully paid for and no dealer will be willing to advance the full payment of a car to the importer/factory and then wait 4-6 weeks for his money. The red plates, although have limitations, allow the owner to drive the car while the registration is being processed.

to the op: when you order the car you pay a deposit of few thousands baht, and the balance is paid upon delivery of the car. You should have the car fitted with red number plates and a brown temporary registration book with the car's details in it. The dealer will tell you how long it should be for the white number plates to be ready, and when he gets the permanent plates they will call you to go to the dealership to return the red plates and have the white plates fitted. With the white plates you get the blue car registration book with full car details printed in it, the owner's name and amount of road tax paid. You also get a sticker for the windshield.

 

As always with buying anything, tell the dealer you will pay the balance when the white plates are fitted and you have the blue book in your hands.

 

 

[Wake Up]

34 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

As always with buying anything, tell the dealer you will pay the balance when the white plates are fitted and you have the blue book in your hands.

 

 

Are you saying leave the car with the dealer until white plates arrive.  I do not understand how a dealer would agree to wait until paid until blue book in buyers hand. Please explain where and how you were able to do this please.  

[Kwasaki]

4 hours ago, masuk said:

Tell the dealer he will be paid in full when the vehicle is correctly registered and has official plates.  The red ones issued by the dealer have restrictions on them such as not driving out of the province, night driving, etc.

There is little or no reason why correct plates cannot be issued without a 6-week wait. 

I suspect the dealer is holding the money for some reason.

 

Don't think the dealer will agree to that, the red plates are no problem we traveled every where we wanted except at night, and at night we wanted to sleep. 

[Booboo101]

If it’s a new car you pay a deposit when you order it, and pay the balance when it arrives, they won’t give you the keys until you paid in full, no dealership will let you take the car and pay the balance when the white plates arrive, they won’t in any country, not just Thailand !

 

Also he’s talking about buying a 2017 BMW, so he won’t have this problem .

[ExpatOilWorker]

Check the VIN number online. Sometimes they call a 2016 car a 2017 because it drove on red plates for a year.

 

https://www.bmwvin.com

 

https://www.mdecoder.com

 

 

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, Wake Up said:

Are you saying leave the car with the dealer until white plates arrive.  I do not understand how a dealer would agree to wait until paid until blue book in buyers hand. Please explain where and how you were able to do this please.  

Whoever is suggesting this has never bought a car in Thailand. 

 

To purchase a car:

1) Deposit & order.

2) Delivery & pay balance 

3) *Take ownership 

4) *Insurance 

 

*To take ownership you'll need an Affirmation of residence (from your embassy) or Proof of residence (From immigration, if you've recently submitted a 90 day report).

 

*Ensure you get 1st Class insurance. 1 year free Insurance is commonly include with a new car. 

 

 

[jackdd]

5 hours ago, MikeN said:

Whatever happened to the plan announced nearly a year ago to speed up the registration process ? DLT said there should be no need for temporary plates under their proposed changes. Guess they had set up yet another committee to consider it.

To register the car and get the white plates should be possible within a day (at least the DLT here in Udon confirmed this when i asked), so no need for red plates anymore. Of course Thais still like to have red plates to show everybody they have a new car.

[Santogold]

5 hours ago, Booboo101 said:

If it’s a new car you pay a deposit when you order it, and pay the balance when it arrives, they won’t give you the keys until you paid in full, no dealership will let you take the car and pay the balance when the white plates arrive, they won’t in any country, not just Thailand !

 

Also he’s talking about buying a 2017 BMW, so he won’t have this problem .

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Whoever is suggesting this has never bought a car in Thailand. 

 

To purchase a car:

1) Deposit & order.

2) Delivery & pay balance 

3) *Take ownership 

4) *Insurance 

 

*To take ownership you'll need an Affirmation of residence (from your embassy) or Proof of residence (From immigration, if you've recently submitted a 90 day report).

 

*Ensure you get 1st Class insurance. 1 year free Insurance is commonly include with a new car. 

 

 

 

The car will be used (2017 model). So do I just give them the money, then they will give me the car along with the documentation and blue book?

 

I will pay the full amount in cash (cashiers check from Bangkok Bank). Do I still need to show proof of residence in order to purchase the car?

I live in Chiang Mai. If I buy the car in Bangkok, will they mail the white plates to me in CM? 

[Sumarianson]

You will also need to provide your passport.  It will be taken to the DLT to complete registration for you. You can decide to do the registration yourself.

[jackdd]

6 hours ago, Santogold said:

I will pay the full amount in cash (cashiers check from Bangkok Bank). Do I still need to show proof of residence in order to purchase the car?

I live in Chiang Mai. If I buy the car in Bangkok, will they mail the white plates to me in CM? 

To purchase a car you don't need anything but money. To register the car in your name you need a certificate of residence.

If you live in Chiang Mai you can't get a certificate of residence in Bangkok, so you can't register the car in Bangkok. You have to take the documents and car to Chiang Mai, and do the registration there. To register it you have to go to the DLT, first change the province, then after a few days you have to go to the DLT again and change it to your name.

 

3 hours ago, Sumarianson said:

You will also need to provide your passport.  It will be taken to the DLT to complete registration for you. You can decide to do the registration yourself.

If the dealer does the registration they don't need the original passport, just a signed copy of it. But OP wants to buy in Bangkok but is not living there the dealer can't register it for him in Bangkok.

Edited July 22, 2018 by jackdd

[Rdrokit]

You don't have to change plates. You can have the Bangkok plates in CM if you want. I bought a car with Bangkok plates and I live in Korat. Had the car for 5 years then sold it here in Korat. All with the Bangkok plate. I could have gone to the transportation office and traded my Bangkok plates for Korat plates but it didn't matter to me what plates were on the car.