So a few months ago I've asked members of a car enthusiast forum in Thailand about buying a few late model cars that were never sold in Thailand such as a Ford Mondeo, Ford Falcon, Holden Commodore (the Australian one, not the Opel), Vauxhall/Opel Insignia, etc.

 

I wasn't expecting to get any leads but a few members pointed out that the British Embassy uses a Ford Mondeo as their diplomat/company car.

 

My question is, is this true? Does the British embassy use a Ford Mondeo? And what cars do other embassies use? What does the Australian, German, and other countries use as their diplomat car? As I understand, they are likely to use a car that's either assembled in their country or a nameplate from their country. For example, I know that the Italian embassy uses a Maserati Ghibli.

No matter what brand each Embassy uses,  the duty free expires 5 years after it arrives in Thailand, which applies to official vehicles and private vehicles brought in by staff

 

So the only way to beat the exorbitant import duty is to purchase vehicles that have been brought in over 5 years ago 

 

Unless the Embassy has an auction you most likely will never find out when these over 5 year vehicles are available.  This is because local national personnel will know about private sales from Embassy bulletin boards, or newsletters

10 hours ago, MatteoBassini said:

What does the Australian, German, and other countries use as their diplomat car?

General Motors subsidiary Holden, and Ford Australia, while Toyota Australia manufactured local variants of its international models, particularly the Camry.

I would say Oz use a Camry.

Germans obviously Merc & BM's I would think.

Italians well that's a beaut, Ferrari engine.

There's 14 manufacturing companies in the world's auto industry. 

UK using a Mondeo instead of a Bentley is comical but economic.

As for many other Embassies the car would be chose by their countries foreign dept a make from there country if it has one.  

I would make all use the cheapest a Tata Nano.

The best s/h cheapest old cars to maintain apparently are Toyota and Honda.. 

 

14 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Germans obviously Merc & BM's I would think.

They have seriously downgraded

Ambassador on the left.

And it's not just a stunt. He is actually using it for short trips in the area.

I couldn't find what his representation car is.

Anything other than an S-Class Merc would be a surprise.

German consul in Pattaya drives a small Merc.

(I assume not duty free and assembled in Thailand)

Edited April 5, 20197 yr by KhunBENQ

Do you intend asking each embassy (if you get the answers)....Are they willing to sell their car?

The Australian embassy uses old Holden utes complete with spotlights and gun rack for roo shooting.

Makes them feel like they are back home. 

14 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

The Australian embassy uses old Holden utes complete with spotlights and gun rack for roo shooting.

Makes them feel like they are back home. 

struth! that'd outrun a dead dingo's donger!!

20 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

The Australian embassy uses old Holden utes complete with spotlights and gun rack for roo shooting.

Makes them feel like they are back home. 

More likely they use Mercs imported from Germany to screw the Ozzie taxpayer for the maximum.

I haven't been in a while, but I was at the Aussie Embassy in 2012 and they were using commodores, which i thought was pretty cool. Probably not the same now. 

On 4/7/2019 at 7:22 PM, Lacessit said:

More likely they use Mercs imported from Germany to screw the Ozzie taxpayer for the maximum.

 

or maybe still Commodores... now imported from Germany (Opel).

 

I did enjoy driving one of the later Aussie versions a couple of years ago.

My deceased FIL was a diplomat in the Solomon Islands they used a Range Rover.

On 4/7/2019 at 11:08 AM, dotpoom said:

Do you intend asking each embassy (if you get the answers)....Are they willing to sell their car?

Yes but not necessarily "are you willing to sell your car right now", because I'm sure they have a structure in place to sell the car at a certain point based on a budget they've been given.

I'll just inform them that as soon as they want to sell theirs they just need to contact me and I'll buy it immediately - only if it's a Mondeo, Insignia or Aussie-made Commodore and Falcon of course.

 

Anyway, contacting the embassy and asking what car they use would probably raise security concerns. Guess I'll have to travel to Bangkok and "stalk" their parking lots ????

 

10 hours ago, MatteoBassini said:

Anyway, contacting the embassy and asking what car they use would probably raise security concerns. Guess I'll have to travel to Bangkok and "stalk" their parking lots

Just sit in the outdoor section of Coffee Club on Whittayu Road.  You'll see a bunch of embassy cars go past.  Might start a whole new fad too...