buying a used car in Bangkok - help please!

[Dansolo]

hi all,

I'm trying to but my first car here. I have a budget of about 170k i found some nice cars which I have test driven and seem good but...

 

-I've found a few are dual petrol and LPG - I have been advised against LPG conversions - there seems to be fair evidence either way. is this normal?

-lots of cars have 200K+ on the clock... which is way more than (I'm advised) cars in the UK would be considered a good purchase - is it normal here to buy a honda or toyota with 200,000 km and expect to get a few more years out of it? or am I being naive... attracted to the newly polished v6 engine of a 15 year old luxury car?

 

Thanks for reading, any advice would be helpful.

 

Dan

 

[Yellowtail]

I would not buy anything that has been converted. 

 

200,000Km is a lot, but THB170K is not a lot. 

 

Lower mileage is better, newer is better. Best value for later model lowest mileage would likely be a Chevy as they have ceased operations in Thailand and the prices have dropped significantly. 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

Ensure you budget for repairs. 

 

I’d avoid an LPG conversion. Petrol is cheap enough in Thailand already.

 

Any 10+ year old car with less than 100,000 km on the clock has most likely been ‘clocked’.

 

 

[AlfHuy]

 170k i found some nice cars

 

Can't be anything nice at that price.

[AlfHuy]

 

 

They booked an appointment at the car "hospital" with Dr. Kilometre.

 

Only 9985 on the clock.

[Yellowtail]

One can certainly get a decent vehicle in that price range. 

[jvs]

Check out Bahtsold.com.Mostly foreigners advertising on there and i would think some good deals to be found.

Also check facebook pages used by foreigners,i bought a truck from a car tent,10 years old and 61000 on the clock,they can be found!

[OneMoreFarang]

58 minutes ago, AlfHuy said:

 

 

They booked an appointment at the car "hospital" with Dr. Kilometre.

 

Only 9985 on the clock.

About the clock - and the car in general.

I would ask a expert garage to check the car.

That shouldn't be a problem for someone who has a car in reasonable condition. And it should be ok for you if you pay for such a checkup to see what repairs are necessary and what you can expect to pay in the foreseeable future.

[Dansolo]

Thanks for the feedback. Do you think thai people drive their cars longer and harder in Thailand than westerners? Lots of cars going for 200,000 baht and upwards with over 250k km in the clock... someone must be buying them, or is it just the same people that buy sky hooks and chequered floor paint?

[steve187]

what you looking for size wise etc, maybe some on here will be able to help you, don't forget 160,000km is 100,000 miles, not excessive. old cars are expensive here.

[dddave]

Google really is your friend friend here.  heaps of specific information on which year and model cars tend to hold up better and lists of known weaknesses of specific models to look out for.   

A friend of mine paid a local mechanic who had been recommended to him to go with him and check out a car.  The mechanic was able to spot potential problems but thought the car worth it overall.  Turned out to be a very good buy.

 

Many cars on Facebook Marketplace and easy to search by location and model but beware that many of the listings are by dealers and the cars listed are often long gone.  Massive bait and switch.

[VocalNeal]

2 minutes ago, dddave said:

many of the listings are by dealers and the cars listed are often long gone.  Massive bait and switch.

 

I find this with Kaidee and motorbikes especially Vespas.

[Dansolo]

4 minutes ago, steve187 said:

what you looking for size wise etc, maybe some on here will be able to help you, don't forget 160,000km is 100,000 miles, not excessive. old cars are expensive here.

Thanks. I was looking at Honda civics and accords.  Just saw a nice civic drove well.. then read in the paperwork its ex lpg. The geezer wouldnt give me even a weeks gurantee so i left it. A thai friend tells me lots are cars het converted back and forth from lpg... but i never heard of no guarantee whatsoever. I also saw a nice accord, but again turns out to be a dual fuel car. And has 230,000km on the clock. Looked and ran like a dream. Maybe im being too picky for £4000?

 

[Saltire]

3 years ago when I was home in the UK for a couple of weeks, my brother in law won 500k on the lottery so he and my wife headed to Bangkok to buy a pickup. Neither had ever owned a car before. First I heard of it was a live video of them driving it home, both absolutely ecstatic. I was surprised to say the least.

 

When I got back I looked over the car, have always been a car guy, occasionally building my own, so I gave it the once over. 300k Kilometres, 5 years old, Toyota Hilux Vigo diesel, paid 400k Baht bought from Toyota Sure approved cars. With such high mileage I feared the worst. Fast forward to today. 30k more Km, never missed a beat, great mileage. No problems whatsoever.

 

For 170-200k you should be able to get a good deal, try the dealer 'approved' lists with 3 month warranty.

 

[jvs]

21 minutes ago, Saltire said:

For 170-200k you should be able to get a good deal, try the dealer 'approved' lists with 3 month warranty.

I do not think dealers are reselling cars around 200.000 baht.Too old for them.

[Yellowtail]

3 hours ago, Dansolo said:

Thanks. I was looking at Honda civics and accords.  Just saw a nice civic drove well.. then read in the paperwork its ex lpg. The geezer wouldnt give me even a weeks gurantee so i left it. A thai friend tells me lots are cars het converted back and forth from lpg... but i never heard of no guarantee whatsoever. I also saw a nice accord, but again turns out to be a dual fuel car. And has 230,000km on the clock. Looked and ran like a dream. Maybe im being too picky for £4000?

 

 

If you're buying from an individual I would not expect a warrantee. I would never provide a warrantee on a car I was selling, just way too many ways it can gets sticky.

 

Honda is a fine vehicle, but you will not get much bang for your buck buying one used as they will command a premium.

 

High resale value is great when you're buying new, but when used, not so much.

[mstevens]

On 11/28/2020 at 6:27 PM, Dansolo said:

Thanks for the feedback. Do you think thai people drive their cars longer and harder in Thailand than westerners? Lots of cars going for 200,000 baht and upwards with over 250k km in the clock... someone must be buying them, or is it just the same people that buy sky hooks and chequered floor paint?

 

My experience is that Thais can be quite hard on cars. Some also don't carry out maintenance according to the factory schedule.

 

High mileage is less of a problem if the vehicle has a full service history - and that is something I would be very keen to see....as opposed to service by Somchai's Village Auto & Tuktuk Services.

[mstevens]

On 11/28/2020 at 6:42 PM, Dansolo said:

Maybe im being too picky for £4000?

 

 

Some things in Thailand are much cheaper than the UK. Some things are much more expensive - and used cares are amongst those things which are much more expensive in Thailand than the UK. Try not to think about what sort of car the same amount of money would be in the UK, as hard as it may be to avoid that comparison.

 

[Dansolo]

Thanks everyone for the advice and comments. Had the kind husband of a colleague of my wife take me to some car tents... got a 10 year old lancer, 170k, one owner full Mitsubishi history. I paid a baht for every km it'a done, lol.

Super chuffed with it! 

 

[overherebc]

On 11/27/2020 at 5:37 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

About the clock - and the car in general.

I would ask a expert garage to check the car.

That shouldn't be a problem for someone who has a car in reasonable condition. And it should be ok for you if you pay for such a checkup to see what repairs are necessary and what you can expect to pay in the foreseeable future.

Unless the 'clocker' is an expert look closely at the numbers and if they are not in a perfectly straight even line it most likely has been clocked.

Obviously that doesn't work with the new electronic odometers. I'm not sure how they do that apart from maybe changing the whole unit from a write off or breakers yard model of the same kind.

[Yellowtail]

On 11/30/2020 at 10:29 PM, Dansolo said:

Thanks everyone for the advice and comments. Had the kind husband of a colleague of my wife take me to some car tents... got a 10 year old lancer, 170k, one owner full Mitsubishi history. I paid a baht for every km it'a done, lol.

Super chuffed with it! 

 

 

Glad you like it, have fun with it!