Financing Requirements For Farang

[fm2002]

Interested in purchasing a car or truck in Thailand (live Pattaya). Have read that if your willing to put down 40% it's doable without much else. However visited Mazada yesterday and received a call from there finance department today saying I need 50% down, a 1 year Visa of some sort, business financials from my USA company and a Thai cosignor.The 1 year Visa I can understand, but the rest seems excessive IMO, especially at 40-50% down. Am I off base ? Note I haven't decided on manufacturer yet. Also interested in Toyota and Honda.

[torrenova]

Why off base ? You don't live here, are not a national of this country, want to borrow the equivalent of many years average salary against a moveable and depreciating asset.

However, last April I researched me buying a truck and was told around 40% down, in my name but with a Thai guarantor unless job, work permit, sufficient salary, credit history etc. As that was too high for me, my wife bought at 15% down.

In Pattaya, one of the guys at Toyota said he could fix it as the guy who decides (likely from Siam Leasing or similar) was always in his garage and it could be "pushed through".

You have to get to talk to the people who will be putting up the cash and my experience is that they speak little english at best. Do you have a good interpretor to ask just what they need to see, not what the garage thinks they will want to see ?

[nikster]

I think I had to pay about 30% down. I had a Thai guarantor (my wife), my bank statements from the last year, and a Thai company I had just founded. Wife showed land papers. And a guarantee of address from my home consulate in BKK. That one was weird, but they really wanted it, it's also needed for registering the car in your name though.

I think most of this is down to negotiations. How much do they want to sell you the credit, how much does the dealer want to sell the car etc.

Didn't know the wife can buy for 15% down, that's amazing. Did she have to show salary?

[torrenova]

The starting point is 10% down but this is rather hard and really only for government employees - or that is what we were told.

We found out she was pregnant in the November and we knew we'd need a motor. So I went to the gargaes and asked about finance. They said they'd like to see 6 months of salary deposits and savings etc. The free income over existing committments needed to be about 200-250% of the monthly repayment on the car to make it an easy application or about 150-200% for a more stringent check. So for 16k repayment, you'd need a maximum of 40k so that is what we placed in an account each month and she "saved" 30k from it. Not exactly 40k but within Bt500 of that figure each month.

Of course, this was only a ficticious salary but we didn't need any other paperwork apart from her tabien bahn, ID card etc. We could have provided more paperwork but nowhere were we asked for tax payments or salary slips. They didn't care where it came from.

[moo9]

The starting point is 10% down but this is rather hard and really only for government employees - or that is what we were told.

We found out she was pregnant in the November and we knew we'd need a motor. So I went to the gargaes and asked about finance. They said they'd like to see 6 months of salary deposits and savings etc. The free income over existing committments needed to be about 200-250% of the monthly repayment on the car to make it an easy application or about 150-200% for a more stringent check. So for 16k repayment, you'd need a maximum of 40k so that is what we placed in an account each month and she "saved" 30k from it. Not exactly 40k but within Bt500 of that figure each month.

Of course, this was only a ficticious salary but we didn't need any other paperwork apart from her tabien bahn, ID card etc. We could have provided more paperwork but nowhere were we asked for tax payments or salary slips. They didn't care where it came from.

40% down for me, employment contract, bank references, work permit, visa.....but the truck is registered in the name of my wife. It was quite easy.

Done at Toyota at Sukhumvit heading Laem Chabang side.

Good Luck

[torrenova]

Can I just ask why if you qualified for finance you would put the truck in your wife's name. I mean I did, because I wanted the cheaper finance deposit.

[bendix]

I put 50% down for my Camry. Had to show proof of income, but didnt need a Thai co-signatory and the car is in my name. Not a big hassle.