High End Autos

[kiakaha]

High end autos are ridiculously expensive here because of the tax/duty. Lamborghinis, Ferraris etc.... ie: a new Lambo Murcielago in NZL is around 12m, here it is 30m.

I have heard that many high end auto owners in thailand buy their cars overseas and then ship them to Thailand as 2nd hand.

What would the tax/duty on a 2nd hand auto be ?

[LivinLOS]

To legally import forget it.. 100's of % of the value they asses.. They basically keep putting the price up until you walk away and they then steal your car.. You cant even get a quote until its in thier hands and you then owe the tax if you wish to move it back out again..

On the other hand I have heard of people getting cars into Thailand visa cambodia without leaving a 'bond' for the tax.. Leaving it on home country plates.. The car is technically supposed to leave the country and visa run every 6 months (look at how many harleys are running on USA plates etc) but it seems that some people even just forget to ever visa run it.. The system of checking the cars time incountry is weak.. Secondly one person can bring the car in.. then leave.. You drive thier car..

I have seen multiple cars down on Phuket like this (running on right hand drive British plates) and I was very tempted to bring in a cheap 7 series from UK to test the water..

Once in country finding bent books, written off vehicles, or other thai options involving bribes all start to come into play..

UK prices on a nice SL500 = 500k baht.. here 2mil ish..

7 series 200 - 300 k baht.. here 800k to a mil..

Range Rover 2mil into 8 mil

I have to visa run anyway.. And at those price differences, why not ??

[mikethevigoman]

High end autos are ridiculously expensive here because of the tax/duty. Lamborghinis, Ferraris etc.... ie: a new Lambo Murcielago in NZL is around 12m, here it is 30m.

I have heard that many high end auto owners in thailand buy their cars overseas and then ship them to Thailand as 2nd hand.

What would the tax/duty on a 2nd hand auto be ?

Forget it, up to 200 per cent on luxury ( over 2.5 litre ) I tried to import a volvo from the uk, it was 2k in the uk, they valued it at 600.00 baht here and wanted tax on that figure,. buy locally, another guy i know tried the mark down system on importing two mercs, he lost both cars and spent time in the nick here, the thais are not stupid, and try and evade their taxes and suffer the consiquences./

[Rdrokit]

High end cars are expensive because the import tax is high. On a car over 3000 cc and or 220hp (which most high end cars are) the tax is almost 300% on a new car. I think the Thais do this because they want cars assembled in Thailand on the roads and no high end cars are assembled in Thailand. Bringing a high end car illegally can be very dangerous. If caught, they take your car plus you have to pay a heavy fine. If you want to see some of the cars that have been confiscated go to the customs auction website, you might be able to get a bargin at the next auction.

http://www.katha.co.th/category.php?id=ALL

Edited April 27, 2007 by Rdrokit

[hakku]

duties on new are 308% all in, but you must have an import permit first. second hand can be brought in, you get discount on a part of the duties. I checked it all out for a 10 year old porsche and ended up buying local. you'll find all official info here http://www.customs.go.th/Customs-Eng/Perso...Nme=PersonalPer

Good luck

[LivinLOS]

Your all of course discussing importation as final destination.. Transit documents are a very different story..

They wont give me PR so why should my car have it..

[djinn]

High end cars are expensive because the import tax is high. On a car over 3000 cc and or 220hp (which most high end cars are) the tax is almost 300% on a new car. I think the Thais do this because they want cars assembled in Thailand on the roads and no high end cars are assembled in Thailand. Bringing a high end car illegally can be very dangerous. If caught, they take your car plus you have to pay a heavy fine. If you want to see some of the cars that have been confiscated go to the customs auction website, you might be able to get a bargin at the next auction.

http://www.katha.co.th/category.php?id=ALL

A Ferrari 288 GTO on auction on this site at 4650000 is A BARGAIN

I think they don't know what they have in hand.They could think this is a 308 GTB but it is a very rare car only produced from 1984 and 1986

http://www.automobile-sportive.com/guide/ferrari/288gto.php

Perhaps the guy who imported it tried to cheat customs and make false papers of a 308

I just look in my archives and I found one for sales (in mint condition) at 495 000 deutche marks in 2000 in germany

And price went up since then

If somebody in TV has enough cash here he could buy it even at 10 mios bahts,make it repair (look the photos ) and send it back to Europ or US or better to Japan to win the jackpot

But you must be sure the actual motor is not a Toyota's Supra one

[ajahnlau]

To legally import forget it.. 100's of % of the value they asses.. They basically keep putting the price up until you walk away and they then steal your car.. You cant even get a quote until its in thier hands and you then owe the tax if you wish to move it back out again..

On the other hand I have heard of people getting cars into Thailand visa cambodia without leaving a 'bond' for the tax.. Leaving it on home country plates.. The car is technically supposed to leave the country and visa run every 6 months (look at how many harleys are running on USA plates etc) but it seems that some people even just forget to ever visa run it.. The system of checking the cars time incountry is weak.. Secondly one person can bring the car in.. then leave.. You drive thier car..

I have seen multiple cars down on Phuket like this (running on right hand drive British plates) and I was very tempted to bring in a cheap 7 series from UK to test the water..

Once in country finding bent books, written off vehicles, or other thai options involving bribes all start to come into play..

UK prices on a nice SL500 = 500k baht.. here 2mil ish..

7 series 200 - 300 k baht.. here 800k to a mil..

Range Rover 2mil into 8 mil

I have to visa run anyway.. And at those price differences, why not ??

How many Harleys have you seen with USA or other plates? I've never seen one. Seen a few plates from Malayasia and Indonesia but they were here on holidays. Prices there are same as here so no advantage.

[LivinLOS]

I know of 3 in my locality..

No tax paid.. 2 of them visa run every 6 months.. One of them has stopped bothering. Claims that when stopped the police dont understand how to check how long its been here anyway, no one has ever asked for paperwork.. Of course one day he may lose his bike, but when a nice harley is 100 - 200k baht in US and 600 - 1 mil here... So what..

Theres a new Range rover in town on UK plates.. Thats an >8.5 million baht car here.. I was given a price of 11.5 million for a 320SL which can be found at a trade price of a bit over 60k EUR in germany.. Sure pays to let a pro driver visa run the ###### thing every so often. leaves you almost 9 million baht for tea money and bribes..

Even at the low end.. You can get a good landcruiser in the UK, RHD, nice 3L Turbo D, great cars.. Spend 200k.. Drive it in.. Just keep it.. So it goes wrong in 5 years.. fine for 200k invested you have had your value.. Let the policeman have the ###### thing or drive it away (I read the MAX fine they can impose like over stay is 10k baht). Same kind of value proposition in a big 7 series BMW. You need to bring these through the Cambo or Lao side as the Malay side wants to take a bond.

[stingray]

I know a guy who payd over 1 milllion fine for a Lambo Replica. If he could not pay he had to go to the jail. They cofiscated his car too. After 2 years he got it back and the car was junk. They can play with you how they want. And what if you get involved in a accident? Whyat about insurance? to high risk.

[F1 Visa Runner]

High end cars are expensive because the import tax is high. On a car over 3000 cc and or 220hp (which most high end cars are) the tax is almost 300% on a new car. I think the Thais do this because they want cars assembled in Thailand on the roads and no high end cars are assembled in Thailand. Bringing a high end car illegally can be very dangerous. If caught, they take your car plus you have to pay a heavy fine. If you want to see some of the cars that have been confiscated go to the customs auction website, you might be able to get a bargin at the next auction.

http://www.katha.co.th/category.php?id=ALL

A Ferrari 288 GTO on auction on this site at 4650000 is A BARGAIN

I think they don't know what they have in hand.They could think this is a 308 GTB but it is a very rare car only produced from 1984 and 1986

http://www.automobile-sportive.com/guide/ferrari/288gto.php

Perhaps the guy who imported it tried to cheat customs and make false papers of a 308

I just look in my archives and I found one for sales (in mint condition) at 495 000 deutche marks in 2000 in germany

And price went up since then

If somebody in TV has enough cash here he could buy it even at 10 mios bahts,make it repair (look the photos ) and send it back to Europ or US or better to Japan to win the jackpot

But you must be sure the actual motor is not a Toyota's Supra one

If you can get plates on these cars and the price is not even close to what you will have to cash up.

A jz-80 supra for 355.000.. yeah right. You could not get a non turbo supra here for under 1.5 million.

Impreza STI 2002 at half price.. Sure I would go and buy them all tomorrow

Edited April 28, 2007 by F1 Visa Runner

[LivinLOS]

I know a guy who payd over 1 milllion fine for a Lambo Replica. If he could not pay he had to go to the jail. They cofiscated his car too. After 2 years he got it back and the car was junk. They can play with you how they want. And what if you get involved in a accident? Whyat about insurance? to high risk.

My point would be to simply walk away from the car.. Treat it as just the cost..

As to insurance its not usually hard to get legal accident cover on non national cars..

I lived outside the UK for 8 years while driving UK plated cars.. No speed cameras, no parking fines, no road taxes.. Just do a SORN declaration and treat the car as disposable.