"tent" Dealers

[MichaelSong]

Has anyone ever bought a car (truck) from a Tent dealer?

I know more or less what to check to find out if the car has had an accident, or how many kms it really has run, but how about the paper work , do they take care of , and as these are second hand cars , how about the number plate ?

Why do they never mention the kms on the ad's ? (like one2car) , not that this is important, just curious

it safe to pay cash in advance , if so how much ?

how much discount can be bargained for ?

[Cuban]

...how about the number plate ?

Goes with the car unless the car is new, red/black plates. You normally pay a disposit for the loan, make sure they are real tempory plates - fake temp plates will result in fines from teh police. Your real plates will come in about 45 days.

Why do they never mention the kms on the ad's ? (like one2car) , not that this is important, just curious

Almost EVERY car that has been through the trade will have been clocked, odometer adjusted.

...it safe to pay cash in advance , if so how much ?

It is less easy to get hard cash back if there is a problem. Thais dealing with Thais will distrust face value and assume a problem rather than assume everything is perfect, consider people looking at goods in any shop or market.

These days consider the benifits of using a digital camera to record things that you have seen, spoken about and agreed upon at the point of sale. Changing tyres or wheels from the point of sale to teh collection is not unheard of, as is changing the radio/ICE. Take a CD/tape etc with you when looking at cars.

how much discount can be bargained for ?

Depends on so many things. I suggest that you spend some time visiting car dealers and practice getting a good price, you can see how they move from the first offered price. Don't practice at the dealership or with the car you are interested in. Do stop by the newstand and pick up the thick car magazines, only 60 Baht, to get a feel for what the current prices are.

If you are near the west side of Bangkok or Khorat these are two places that appear to be full of second hand dealerships, I know you asked about the roadside tents, but consider where they are getting their stock - local auctions. Many sellers will only clean the bodywork and maybe steam clean to engine bay as well as the inside. If you have an eye for cars consider buying directly from a private seller or auction, you will have the same amount of comeback (b_gger all) and you are not paying for Somthai's new house.

[taxexile]

mileage is not to be believed and service history documents are rarely present.

when i was looking for a car i spent a few days going round the bangkok tents , the prices were never displayed and often they wouldnt even let me take a test drive. it was not a pleasant experience.

some of the salespeople made arthur daley look like the pope.

i ended up buying new.

toyota and bmw and maybe some other brands now have dealer prepared and guaranteed used car section.

try expat motors , who advertise on this site , for a second hand car. they have a good reputation.

a friend of mine bought a mitsubishi pickup from a tent , and the transaction went well and he never had any problems with the vehicle. so i guess there are tents and then there are tents.

[lingling]

If you don't know exactly what you are doing, don't buy a car from a "tent" dealer. If you want second hand, buy it from the previous (first hand) owner. (Make sure it is his name in the blue book and that he has had the car for some time). If you don't know cars, bring someone who do to inspect it for evidence of accidents or any hidden mechanical problems. If you don't know anyone who know cars, ask if you can bring it to [the original] car dealer for inspection before you buy it. (Although that is no guarantee as the dealer mechanics tend to be incompetent - buffalo wagon mechanics that have been upgraded to car mechanics in many cases.)

[Firefan]

I wanted a special car - not many of them, so ended up at a tent-dealer. I KNEW that I was up against the usual used-car-sales-man .

I test drove, checked and got confirmations(in writing on repairs needed. I withheld a deposit until truely fixed (enough to get it fixed elsewhere if need be).

I had set myself a TOTAL budget, and after my above check Etc. I guestimated that an additional 50k or so should be kept by me as "buffer" for initial repairs/changes/upgrades. So my offer was then 50k below my budget(and below the initially quoted price ofcourse) I have sofar spend about 10k of those - but have also changed and updated a lot.

Also got a limited warranty for 3 months which I have used twice for some adjustments.

I.e. my point is; if one buys a used car from tent or elsewhere and have a 600k budget or whatever, then rather than buying for the full 600k, rather buy for 500-550k as there for SURE will be issues where the dealer was a bit too "smart" - tires, oil change, battery, refill fluids, break changes, electrical issues, air filter Etc. that one wants to get fixed right away - and mabe some more serious stuff down the road.

Cheers!

[Gary A]

I looked at enough tent dealer vehicles that I ended up buying both my truck and car new. If you want to buy second hand, I'd look for a farang selling one that he bought new. You can quiz him and understand what he is saying. The vehicle SHOULD have the service records with it even if it is out of warranty. Just look carefully or have someone knowledgeable look for accident damage that has been repaired. Most vehicles that have been hit hard are never the same after they are repaired. You can repair or replace mechanical drive train parts but making the chassis right after an accident is nearly impossible.

[Berty]

They're not all bad, shop around, and remember you get what you pay for.

[raybkk]

There is this Thai Joke about "what they fear most"

1. Snake

2. Indian

3. 2nd hand car sales men

You may guess the answer..

[danone]

my experience?

they never knew the exact price of the vehicle i asked for.

most of them put the prices on the cars.

when they noted my interes, they regularly increased the prices upwards.

"solly mister, forgot, plice is ..."

go to hel_l.

Edited March 22, 2007 by danone

[qualtrough]

A year ago my mother-in-law decided to buy my wife a used car. They listened to my advice to get a Volvo, but ignored my advice about the model. I wanted an older rear-wheel drive one with a manual since I am mechanically inclined and would feel comfortable working on one of those. Of course the wife saw an 1997 850 auto and had to have that. An argument ensued and I said fine, go ahead, but I am not interested in looking at it. Well, they went ahead and bought it from a tent dealer. The price was 290 K which I think was pretty good. Aesthetically the car was in tip top shape and ran well. Busted odometer like many of that particular model. We reconciled on the car and I replaced the serpentine belt and the other belt, the oil, all filters, etc. Knock on wood, but a year later it still performs flawlessly. Only repair of any note was to replace one of the CV joints, which cost something like 1500 Baht, give or take a few hundred. I downloaded a complete maintainence manual off the Web and found a good owners site. Turns out it is not as bad to work on as I thought. Cost of parts wasn't as bad as I thought too, with one exception. On day two one of the doors wouldn't open from the inside. Examining it after taking off the inside panel showed that a small plastic clip had broken. This was not available separately, and Volvo wanted something like 2000 for the inner assembly. I used a file and a hacksaw to make a new connection and the door works fine. I digress, but the point is you can get lucky, or if you know what you are looking for you can 'make' your luck.