Rent a Scooter or buy one?

[peter zwart]

What are you doing? A scooter in Thailand is an ideal means of transport. However, the purchase of a scooter is a costly affair. Which is cheaper and what do you do? Rent or buy?
 

[CharlieH]

MOVED to Motorcycle forum.

[CharlieH]

Depends how long you want to use it, are visiting or living /working here.

 

 

[peter zwart]

1 minute ago, CharlieH said:

Depends how long you want to use it, are visiting or living /working here.

 

 

What did you do?

[CharlieH]

1 minute ago, peter zwart said:

What did you do?

I lived here 20 years, so bought one , several actually over the years.

[Tom H]

Rent or buy

 

die or live:)

[scubascuba3]

if you buy it will pay for itself within 2 years, they are quite cheap so buy, cheaper than back home

[MrJ2U]

3 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

if you buy it will pay for itself within 2 years, they are quite cheap so buy, cheaper than back home

Also, Keep it in good shape and you'll sell it easily for a good price.

Especially if its a Honda.

Edited April 15, 2022 by MrJ2U

[phetphet]

My opinion is it's better to buy.  I am presuming you are talking a new bike.

 

Say a new PCX.  I doubt you could rent one for less that 6000 -7000/month.

That's 72000-84000/year.  A new one list is 89600 non ABS, but you will probably pay around 97000 in a dealership. So by buying, you will be ahead money wise early in the second year.

 

Better to buy your own first class insurance, so that is a negative cost. Say 5000.

 

You can do any modifications if that's your thing, without problems. I put a 34L box on mine.

 

I just sold a 3 year old PCX for 55000. Was told that was cheap.

 

One thing I will add. If you are going to buy, plan ahead a little. I have a new PCX non ABS on order. Been told 1-2 months delivery.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2022 by phetphet
added info.

[Moonlover]

Bought two, we now have his 'n' hers. I've been here 8 years and they're definitely the best purchases I've made since being here. Love my Aerox.

[Gottfrid]

1 hour ago, peter zwart said:

A scooter in Thailand is an ideal means of transport. However, the purchase of a scooter is a costly affair.

What? Costly affair???? Really? I assume you are living in Thailand or planning on living here, as you want to compare renting or buying. However, if you consider buying a scooter a costly affair, then I would say that you will have a hard time to afford living in Thailand.

[Kwasaki]

If I was on holiday here for say 6months I'd by a secondhand wave for say 5000 - 8000 bht and sell it forwhatever when I leave.

[peter zwart]

8 minutes ago, Gottfrid said:

What? Costly affair???? Really? I assume you are living in Thailand or planning on living here, as you want to compare renting or buying. However, if you consider buying a scooter a costly affair, then I would say that you will have a hard time to afford living in Thailand.

Nope. living in Thailand for 6 years now and doing fine. 

[2 is 1]

40 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

If I was on holiday here for say 6months I'd by a secondhand wave for say 5000 - 8000 bht and sell it forwhatever when I leave.

Or donate to neighbor granmom ????

[Gottfrid]

59 minutes ago, peter zwart said:

Nope. living in Thailand for 6 years now and doing fine. 

Not possible that it´s fine, when you consider buying a scooter a costly affair. ????????

[Fab5BKK]

..."However, the purchase of a scooter is a costly affair"...

 

I bought a brand new Yamaha Nmax in Feb 2016 for THB76,000

I still have it (6 years = 72 months)

Therefore, the average monthly cost has been : THB76,000 / 72  = THB1,055

 

OK we need to add the insurance, the annual tax & maintenance...

Overall, I still consider that it's very cheap, don't you think?

 

BTW, I plan to part exchange it for a Xmax / Forza / etc. and the dealer offered me THB40,000 (before negotiation !)

 

Therefore, the real monthly cost should be :

THB76,000 - THB40,000 = THB36,000 / 72 = THB500

This is VERY cheap !

[bbko]

5 hours ago, peter zwart said:

What are you doing? A scooter in Thailand is an ideal means of transport. However, the purchase of a scooter is a costly affair. Which is cheaper and what do you do? Rent or buy?
 

Yes, because every farang in Thailand is cookie cutted to fit your exact style. Buying or renting a motorbike fits the exact same requirements for everyone. 

[Hummin]

4 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

If I was on holiday here for say 6months I'd by a secondhand wave for say 5000 - 8000 bht and sell it forwhatever when I leave.

I would like to see what you can get for Under 10k baht. Not sure I would like to even try it for that price. 

 

Saw one they managed to sell to my previous neighboor at 13000 Honda click 55000km, and added 3k more in service and parts to make it safe enough for his local driving. I belive he also changed suspension for another 2500,- later on.

[London Lowf]

Last visit I paid B5,000 a month for five months for a four year-old Nmax and next visit will probably rent the exact same bike for the same length of time, so basically I've paid for it. I've thought about buying one but can't be arsed with the paperwork and finding somewhere to leave it for half of the year.

 

If i lived there full-time then it would be a different story.

[freedomnow]

Whether buying or renting...ABS a good point to consider...

 

ABS will save your ass from the Thai driving style.....daily.

[Aforek]

13 minutes ago, freedomnow said:

Whether buying or renting...ABS a good point to consider...

 

ABS will save your ass from the Thai driving style.....daily.

If you stay in Thailand, buy , of course ; i have a nmax Yamaha, ABS, cheap to maintain, no punctures , only tyres and oil to change ( every 4000 kms for oil ) 

[Onerak]

If you have a condo, you can park it in the garage. I parked mine in the garage for the last nine months. I bought a used for 18K (Yamaha Nouvo and may be spent a few more thousands for tires, brakes, batteries). Drove it full two years during the Covid-19 (20/21) and then left for US and kept it in the condo garage. Will buy an Aerox (used) when I again go to Thailand for extended periods. Found buying makes more sense for me. It depends on individual cases. For example leasing an buying a car in the US. Most buyers will be better of buying a car than leasing unless like my friend who wants to drive different brand new models every three years and he has been doing it since graduating from college for the last thirty years. 

[Kwasaki]

8 hours ago, Hummin said:

I would like to see what you can get for Under 10k baht. Not sure I would like to even try it for that price. 

 

Saw one they managed to sell to my previous neighboor at 13000 Honda click 55000km, and added 3k more in service and parts to make it safe enough for his local driving. I belive he also changed suspension for another 2500,- later on.

Cheap deals are about if you look private also depends where you live.

I have a 28 year old wave in perfect running order wouldn't get more than 5 - 8k for it.

[Lacessit]

About 10 years ago, I bought a Yamaha TTX with 8000 km on the odometer for 23,000 baht. 28,000 clicks now, spent 3000 baht on it recently for an overhaul. Has never missed a beat.

Hondas are the most popular brand in Thailand, to me the Yamaha is just as good.

If the OP is only going short distances, renting or buying secondhand IMO is the best option. For long distance travel, either flog the guts out of a rental, or buy new.

[FriendlyFarang]

If you are staying in Thailand for less than 3 months just rent one, not worth the hassle of buying/selling for such a short period. If you plan to stay longer than that I would recommend buying one.

[sawadee1947]

If you love your life and don't want to end up in a statistic of fatal Road deaths......then buy a Car.????

[scubascuba3]

58 minutes ago, sawadee1947 said:

If you love your life and don't want to end up in a statistic of fatal Road deaths......then buy a Car.????

Really miss out if you only use cars

[sawadee1947]

14 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Really miss out if you only use cars

Yeah, but I'm still alive☺️

[Will B Good]

As a rule of thumb....if three years rent is more than the 'total' cost of buying......buy it.......

 

And if you can stand to buy second hand, buy second hand.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

I just finished paying off my Yamaha Grand Filano, 2600 baht a month for 3 years. Yes, this ended up being a bit more than the cash price, but to me it was worth it. I unfortunately don't usually have 60k baht laying around.

 

2600 baht was a small price to pay for good, reliable transportation each month. Consider how much taxis and songthaews add up each day. Then me and my wife actually completed several 400 km trips on it across the country.

 

I'm a teacher and had initially been living in BKK, where I didn't need a scooter. Then I moved out to the provinces for work. "You got a bike?" was the question then hurled at me by many farangs, coworkers and those at the local watering holes. They of course all had extra bikes they wanted to rent, older, beat up models. They all kept asking for 3k a month, plus silly things like a security deposit and charges for repairs. It sounded like a good deal until my wife let me know, are they kidding? You can get a new one for cheaper. She was right, and I'm glad I did.