New car, driving without plates

[KhunBENQ]

Picked up my new car at the Toyota dealer today, fully paid.

There is an insurance policy in my name and frame number of the vehicle.

But as usual the car is not yet registered at the DLT (signed a power of attorney for the dealer) and sign plates might take a while.

Dealer insured that there is no problem driving without plates and just show the insurance policy if stopped and advised against red plates.

 

From observation its clear that quite frequently `vehicles without plates are on the road.

But does anyone know written/unwritten rules about this?

Edited May 12 by KhunBENQ

[transam]

The law is, you must have red plates, you can use them for 30 days before having a problem with the BiB....

If me, I would go to the LTO and get a police waver notice in case you are pulled.

Let them know you were not given red plates...

[IvorBiggun2]

According to the Motor Vehicle Act, every vehicle must carry and show a license plate when in use on public roads. In case of failure, the driver can be fined up to 2,000 baht. Furthermore, every vehicle must be registered with the Department of Land Transportation (DLT) before being used.Aug 15, 2555 BE

[SAFETY FIRST]

13 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Toyota

driving without plates

You should have been issued red plates. 

 

I would not accept the car without plates. 

 

[digbeth]

advised against red plates? that's a new one but it's understandable if the dealer knows local police are tough on the issue

 

 

Maybe the dealer ran out of red plate, unscrupulous might give you fake red plate without informing you which lead to trouble with the police later

 

no plate is better than fake red plate definitely, driving with no plate is minor ticket vs forging government documents

 

Insurance is not a problem 

 

 

there is a shortage of red plate, some dealer would ration real front plate with fake rear and vice versa to stretch their supply, or fake plate with real log book while other customer would have real plate with no logbook, there was talk of scrapping the red plate scheme years ago, DLT said problem's not on their end, and in me experience when registering new car, if the paperworks are in order getting real (black letter) plate from the DLT took only a day

 

If you paid cash, hound them to get the plate to you as soon as possible, in the future, you can ask that the car be delivered fully registered,

 

it's between the dealership and the manufacturer that has to release the 'registration kit' to them, this is often with conditions that the car stock was 'on loan' or free credit to the dealer and the registration kit released to dealer to get registered to the buyer after they have settled the cost of the car, if you had paid cash and the dealership dragged their heels for months to get your car registered, you can see there is incentive to the dealership to delay paying the manufacturer as long as possible 

 

Other reason to delay registration is to save on the courier cost going to the DLT with many customers' paperwork all at once 

[mfd101]

In short, the usual semi-corrupt greatly incompetent Thai shambles, which never gets better.

 

Complexity for the sake of complexity. We love it.

[delgarcon]

This is an "I've got a new car thread" surely! I can't believe you don't know that you need red plates.

[KhunLA]

You'll be able to drive as fast & reckless as you want ... 

[soi3eddie]

1 hour ago, digbeth said:

 

Other reason to delay registration is to save on the courier cost going to the DLT with many customers' paperwork all at once 

 

I have often wondered why the delay in issuing plates. I suspect that the dealer doesn't want to either send someone to DLT, or pay for a service until they've got a larger number of new registrations needed.

 

We bought a new Hilux Vigo in 2005 and the dealer gave no plates. We drove it all the way from Nakhon Si Thammarat to Loei and back even through central Bangkok with no issue at all. I did get stopped for speeding (legit) and not having any plates was no issue at all. When I bought my motorcycle in 2020, I categorically told the dealer I would not purchase unless he registered it immediately - he had never done a registration for a foreigner before - and he was able to get it registered in 2 days before I collected it. So, it can be done.

 

Edited May 12 by soi3eddie

[KhunBENQ]

55 minutes ago, delgarcon said:

This is an "I've got a new car thread" surely! I can't believe you don't know that you need red plates.

I had red plates and logbook on my first car 12 years ago.

And that is WHY I started the thread.

No need to play clever dick.

If you read trough the thread you see that the situation is not unusual.

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, digbeth said:

If you paid cash, hound them to get the plate to you as soon as possible, in the future, you can ask that the car be delivered fully registered,

That's what I will do tomorrow. Insist on expedited registration.

In the meantime I get accustomed to Thai style and wait for the fine to come or not.

As long as insurance is OK I don't loose sleep.

Edited May 12 by KhunBENQ

[KhunLA]

1 minute ago, KhunBENQ said:

That's what I will do tomorrow. Insist on expedited registration.

In the meantime I get accustomed to Thai style and wait for the fine to come or not.

As long as insurance is OK I don't loose sleep.

Make sure they agree to pay for any citation you will incur.  The one dealer had to pay one of ours, as they were shy red plates the first month we had a new car.

[worgeordie]

Cannot drive at night or out of the province you live in ,  I believe......

 

regards worgeordie

[digbeth]

54 minutes ago, soi3eddie said:

 

I have often wondered why the delay in issuing plates. I suspect that the dealer doesn't want to either send someone to DLT, or pay for a service until they've got a larger number of new registrations needed.

 

We bought a new Hilux Vigo in 2005 and the dealer gave no plates. We drove it all the way from Nakhon Si Thammarat to Loei and back even through central Bangkok with no issue at all. I did get stopped for speeding (legit) and not having any plates was no issue at all. When I bought my motorcycle in 2020, I categorically told the dealer I would not purchase unless he registered it immediately - he had never done a registration for a foreigner before - and he was able to get it registered in 2 days before I collected it. So, it can be done.

 

 

The settling of cost to the Manufacturer (Hondas, Toyotas...) to get necessary papers are probably bigger than calling the courier

[prakhonchai nick]

I am about to buy/order a new Toyota. Can arrange my own insurance rather than free insurance for 1 year and have been offered a 20,000bt discount.   Free film, free full tank of petrol, but what about a discount for full cash payment? Anyone been successful?

[digbeth]

5 minutes ago, prakhonchai nick said:

I am about to buy/order a new Toyota. Can arrange my own insurance rather than free insurance for 1 year and have been offered a 20,000bt discount.   Free film, free full tank of petrol, but what about a discount for full cash payment? Anyone been successful?

 

They actually earn more commission from finance companies, so there's no incentive to cash buyers, at least they don't put the price up for cash buyers like motorcycles. Sure you could argue cash buyers take less of their time filling out forms and back and forth with the finance companies/credit check

 

Take off the 'free' film and accessories and you might get more discount, the sales person has a 'margin' of discount they can work with getting you freebies thrown in, any more and they're cutting into their commission

[prakhonchai nick]

Better the sales person gets some commission rather than none, if I take my order to Honda or MG

MG offered me a promo 100,000bt discount if I buy this month, but the wife was not impressed with the car

Edited May 12 by prakhonchai nick

[EVENKEEL]

2 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

That's what I will do tomorrow. Insist on expedited registration.

In the meantime I get accustomed to Thai style and wait for the fine to come or not.

As long as insurance is OK I don't loose sleep.

I bought a new car 2 yrs ago. No red plates given, drove that way for months till plates came in. No problem. Drove through checkpoints, no problem.

[delgarcon]

2 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

I had red plates and logbook on my first car 12 years ago.

And that is WHY I started the thread.

No need to play clever dick.

If you read trough the thread you see that the situation is not unusual.

You're obviously not a clever Dick if you drove away your fully paid car with no plates. I'm sorry about my original post, I thought you had more sense. You'll probably get away with it. but don't expect Toyota or the insurance company to come to your rescue if you have an accident without plates on the car

[CharlieH]

Posts removed.

 

Please do not advocate breaking the law. It may well be "in reality" in some places, but let's stick to what the law states, not what someone has gotten away with.

[delgarcon]

2 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

I bought a new car 2 yrs ago. No red plates given, drove that way for months till plates came in. No problem. Drove through checkpoints, no problem.

Reminds me of my ex wife. When we went out to a restaurant in the suburbs and we couldn't find a parking spot, she used to encourage me to park illegally as "everyone else was doing it". She soon changed her tune when she saw that one evening, everyone had been given a ticket.

[prakhonchai nick]

I will insist on Red Plates. No plates NO PAY!!!!!!!!!!!

[richard_smith237]

Op - very simple this one.

 

You 'should' have Red Plates and an accompanying brown book which theoretcially you fill out for each journey. 

Police are very slack on this so its not usually an issue, but it an issue the Police 'could' pull you up on if they wanted to. 

 

Dealers in Thailand are notoriously lazy when it comes to getting the vehicle registered, often taking months. 

 

A while ago, it was reported that there is a 'months leeway' between collecting the vehicle and picking up the car (announced in one of the many crackdowns etc a few years ago... numerous other crackdowns on other things since then).

 

-------

 

Resolution: 

Go to the DLT and get your own Plates...  This is something I have done with my last two motorcycles and last 3 cars. 

 

Its a fairly simple process and easily done by yourself.

 

Once you have the 'slip' from the DLT you take that back to your dealer who gets 'official' number plates made up and about a week later they should be ready to affix to your car (and you receive the Blue Book).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

1 hour ago, prakhonchai nick said:

I am about to buy/order a new Toyota. Can arrange my own insurance rather than free insurance for 1 year and have been offered a 20,000bt discount.   Free film, free full tank of petrol, but what about a discount for full cash payment? Anyone been successful?

 

Full cash won't get you a discount...  (not whenever I've tried anyway)...   

But... It paying cash can sometimes help you jump the queue if there is a waiting list - particularly if the sales team have a quota to hit.

[CFCol]

17 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Cannot drive at night or out of the province you live in ,  I believe......

 

regards worgeordie

Certainly at night

Have done both numerous times over the last ten years, gone through police checkpoints and never had a problem.

[Andrew Dwyer]

14 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Full cash won't get you a discount...  (not whenever I've tried anyway)...   

But... It paying cash can sometimes help you jump the queue if there is a waiting list - particularly if the sales team have a quota to hit.

Got a cash discount at Honda, MG and GWM.

Toyota and BYD weren’t negotiating for cash, Toyota would “ sort something out “ if by paying by finance.

[actonion]

14 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Full cash won't get you a discount...  (not whenever I've tried anyway)...   

But... It paying cash can sometimes help you jump the queue if there is a waiting list - particularly if the sales team have a quota to hit.

It's my understanding, buying a new Bike or Car the dealers much prefer  a sale with  Hire purchase as we know it ,  because of Commission they receive from the  Money lender, Cash deal means zero commission.

[JAS21]

17 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Op - very simple this one.

 

You 'should' have Red Plates and an accompanying brown book which theoretcially you fill out for each journey. 

Police are very slack on this so its not usually an issue, but it an issue the Police 'could' pull you up on if they wanted to. 

 

Dealers in Thailand are notoriously lazy when it comes to getting the vehicle registered, often taking months. 

 

A while ago, it was reported that there is a 'months leeway' between collecting the vehicle and picking up the car (announced in one of the many crackdowns etc a few years ago... numerous other crackdowns on other things since then).

 

-------

 

Resolution: 

Go to the DLT and get your own Plates...  This is something I have done with my last two motorcycles and last 3 cars. 

 

Its a fairly simple process and easily done by yourself.

 

Once you have the 'slip' from the DLT you take that back to your dealer who gets 'official' number plates made up and about a week later they should be ready to affix to your car (and you receive the Blue Book).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I believe that white plates cannot be issued until the dealer has paid the tax on the car…he wants to hang on to that money as long as possible. My wife always registers any new can we buy. Many dealers charge for this simple process, and sometimes quite a lot.

Edited May 13 by JAS21

[richard_smith237]

3 hours ago, actonion said:

18 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

Full cash won't get you a discount...  (not whenever I've tried anyway)...   

But... It paying cash can sometimes help you jump the queue if there is a waiting list - particularly if the sales team have a quota to hit.

It's my understanding, buying a new Bike or Car the dealers much prefer  a sale with  Hire purchase as we know it ,  because of Commission they receive from the  Money lender, Cash deal means zero commission.

 

I think thats true...  but securing the finance takes a little time...  A cash sale can be 'immediate'.

 

Our previous car, I walked into the dealership in a Friday, saw the car I wanted, and said, I want that one...  ok we'll order it. 

No, I want that exact one....  When ?....  Now !....      Thats another customers.. OK, but I want that one or one exactly the same.... 

When?... Now !...      OK...     they went away and said they are still waiting for the 'rest of the deposit'...   

I picked up the car the following Monday...   There was otherwise a 6 month waiting list. 

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

56 minutes ago, JAS21 said:

18 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Op - very simple this one.

 

You 'should' have Red Plates and an accompanying brown book which theoretcially you fill out for each journey. 

Police are very slack on this so its not usually an issue, but it an issue the Police 'could' pull you up on if they wanted to. 

 

Dealers in Thailand are notoriously lazy when it comes to getting the vehicle registered, often taking months. 

 

A while ago, it was reported that there is a 'months leeway' between collecting the vehicle and picking up the car (announced in one of the many crackdowns etc a few years ago... numerous other crackdowns on other things since then).

 

-------

 

Resolution: 

Go to the DLT and get your own Plates...  This is something I have done with my last two motorcycles and last 3 cars. 

 

Its a fairly simple process and easily done by yourself.

 

Once you have the 'slip' from the DLT you take that back to your dealer who gets 'official' number plates made up and about a week later they should be ready to affix to your car (and you receive the Blue Book).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Expand  

I believe that white plates cannot be issued until the dealer has paid the tax on the car…he wants to hang on to that money as long as possible. My wife always registers any new can we buy. Many dealers charge for this simple process, and sometimes quite a lot.

 

I've never had a dealership 'charg' me extra for sorting out my own 'registration number' (two Bikes, three cars so far)...   maybe I misunderstood you.

I do recall a 'registration fee'... when making a purchase - but that involves getting the white plates made etc...and the dealer still has to pay the registration fee, even if I sort out my own 'registration number'.... 

 

I just tell them that dealerships take too long for the white plates and as we will be travelling at night and out of province I don't want any potential hassles with red plates... 

 

I just return to the dealership with a slip of paper from the DLT and tell them I want the White Plates ready to fit within the week.