New Versus Second Hand

[misterman21]

Just bought a new Honda City - total cost 521k including 20k worth of extras, so you could say the cost of the car without extras was only 501k.

After looking around at a number of second hand models i just couldnt see the logic in considering second hand. 2 year old cars were between 460 and 480k thats without the service package etc.

What is that all about or am i missing something!

[ray08]

Missing nothing , 9 times out of 10 ,better to throw in the extra money and buy new ,the asking price for secondhand is crazy , especially for ,Honda ,Toyota , Merc , the only real savings that i can see are in the 7 Series Bimmers , besides that anything a few years old is not worth it ,

[2long]

#1 buy new here, not used.

#2 do NOT look at the prices of things AFTER you have bought, because it usually makes you sad

[Gary A]

I have always heard the stories about certain makes of vehicles depreciating very badly. Buying a new car is a terrible investment so before buying, I always looked for a nice second hand vehicle. Where are these nearly new badly depreciated vehicles? I have come to the conclusion that second hand vehicles are an even worse investment than a new one. Once in a while you can find a distressed farang who is going back home and has a nice vehicle to sell. It would appear that I am not the only one who looked for opportunities like that. Those vehicles are usually premium priced. Looking at the options, I have decided that buying new and putting my own dings and nicks in my new vehicle is the best idea.

[torrenova]

Yeah second hand near new sucks. It also goes against the often quoted reason for high second hand prices that as labour is so cheap, the costs of repairing and servicing the motor mean it depreciates less quickly. <deleted>. Who on earth would pay say 90% of list for a second hand car ? Then again, who would pay 80% ?

[LivinLOS]

I hear this all the time.. And still think its complete crock.

My buddy who has made this argument over and over.. Bought a D-Max new.. Optioned up and with finance prolly around 700k or more.. Owned it 18 months before it turns out his missus cant handle the size, sold it for 500k. Lost >200k in a year, plus the payment costs. He prolly drove a few 1000 kms himself.

I could repeat that story with 10 different guys who have bought a car for very limited use, paid min 100k per year in purchase costs and cant sell them at those kind of 'high values' that keep being listed. The credit boom has put a lot of new cars onto the roads and thats compressing the prices from the top down. The bottom end holds up but you have to look a bit.

I found a guy behind on his payments, had to sell, bought an uber clean (been resprayed by pro, after a clean and polish looks near new inside and out) VW golf for 140k, its old (93 ??), but its perfectly straight, purrs from Chiang Mai to Phuket without a single hiccup, or BKK traffic with AC on and same engine temp, etc.. When I bought it I spent a little on making sure timing belts were done, new elecy window motor, serviced everything and AC, bits and pieces to make it 100% faultless. I could find a farang (thais dont like VW or Audi) here on Phuket to pay 200k I strongly suspect, but have no reason to think about getting rid of it. Its the perfect, economical, small car for holidays round the country, shopping runs and city parking. As its value is so low I can even happily let the missus learn to drive in it. Park it next a new jazz, yaris, etc and there is no obvious 'economy' applied. All that for less money than most people who buy new pay in a year. Only think I would like for the extra 500k spending is the airbag for her risk. If your looking for the lowest total cost of ownership, for a 100% reliable non beater car, how could I beat that ??

I see plenty of Audi 100's and A6's that this could be repeated with.. At <200k theres clean big heavy volvos if you want safer over economy, If you want pickup like storage room or like to have asian parts more available theres NVs (tho they do have a 'budget' image but they work) there are options. At that end of the depreciation curve you can own and if you maintain 100% and no one writes it off it will hold almost all its value, you lose amounts in the 10's of thousand over a couple years if your a hard buyer you can often break even.

I often think about going and speccing out a fortuna or even picking up a landcruiser.. But I left the west to get out of all that status scene BS and for simple / practical I cant buy the 'new is cheaper' line that seems to be common opinion.

[Pez]

I am told most debt recovery cars just go to the auction - in Ubon Ratchathani they have an auction every month or so. I am working on a Thai guy to come with me and see how it pans out. Like any auction around the world they are a hot bed of tricks - but with a degree of skill and the help of a knowledgeable person it is possible to get a gem. Many HP recovery's come from someone who has given a lot of TLC - sadly broke. I hope in the next month to get a handle on prices.

Sorry to state the obvious but check documentation!!!! crash rebuild/repair - service history(in your dreams).

Note: I am looking for a single cab for business use.

[LivinLOS]

Theres a big one outside of BKK, my brother said what was off putting was very little chance to actually examine the vehicles. tho he was a lone farang fighting through a language barrier. Its the same place he picked up almost new scooters at 1/2 price.

[hans1977]

No, i don't think you are missing something. I think the decrease in price has to be be bigger here (than in western countries) before it's even worth considering. That is because A) it's very common that people here couldn't tell the difference between service and repair and even if they would care about service, they are not likely to find a place where it gets properly done.

Simply, second hand is difficult! Especially here, i would say, but on the other hand; will you actually get the service properly done on your new car?

/Hans

Just bought a new Honda City - total cost 521k including 20k worth of extras, so you could say the cost of the car without extras was only 501k.

After looking around at a number of second hand models i just couldnt see the logic in considering second hand. 2 year old cars were between 460 and 480k thats without the service package etc.

What is that all about or am i missing something!

[Enigma56]

Just bought a new Honda City - total cost 521k including 20k worth of extras, so you could say the cost of the car without extras was only 501k.

After looking around at a number of second hand models i just couldnt see the logic in considering second hand. 2 year old cars were between 460 and 480k thats without the service package etc.

What is that all about or am i missing something!

No you are missing nothing misterman, you did the wise thing to buy new. My Thai wife and I bought an Audi A4 that was 3 years old and we had it checked out by the Audi dealer before paying for it. It turned out to be the biggest load of cr_p you could have ever bought. We replaced virtually everything except the engine and gearbox. Everytime we went out we planned to drive via the dealer in case it broke down again. After 8 months of driving hel_l we sold back to the original secondhand dealer , so pleased to be rid of it.

The problem was that whoever had owned it before obhviously could not afford to pay the service charges so p[ossibly a ":back street buddy" did the work for him...!!!! well sort of. So unless you are very well up on cars as far as knowing what to look for "DONT BUY A SECONDHAND CAR IN THAILAND". I also believe that Thai's sell cars when they become a liability so if they dont want it why would you ?

[Thaiboxer]

It depends on the model. Isuzus sell for very close to the price of a new vehicle, so perhaps new is the best way to go with Isuzus. However, if you shop around you can get a decent secondhand vehicle with few or no headaches. New cars are so expensive and labor so cheap, that it would be worth it to get something five or 10 years old with low mileage and perhaps a minor problem (such as alignment or CD player, etc). It shouldn't cost much to have a mechanic check it over for you. On top of this, the Thai government recently passed a law which puts more pressure on the tent sellers not to conceal any problems as you now have more recourse if something goes bad. New is great if you can afford to pay in cash, otherwise you should consider something secondhand. With all the people who insist on buying new and then having to sell it soon after, there are tons of vehicles to choose from. Try these websites:

www.unseencar.com , www.one2car.com , www.thaicar.com and our own: www.expatmotors.co.th

[samran]

Ok, so what is wrong, say, with purhcasing a 1 year old Fortuna. Still under warrenty, and would still be in good nic. They are going for about 200K less than new price.

So you've saved yourself USD$6,000, which would have depriciated away if you bought new. The car is still under warranty, so it will cost you nothing to service and fix. That is $6000 odd that I could invest elsewhere, and still get the usage of a car which does the same job as a as new car.

Am I missing out on something here?

[raybkk]

It all depends where you are planning to buy your second hand car from. For me I stick with leasing companies.

1. Perfect record of maintenance

2. Background checking on driver of the car during lease period.

3. Background checking on accidents.

All straight open.

Got my BMW from them, 2 year old. With 5 year maintenace or 100K package still valid.

50% of new price as the leasing companies dont sell for profit, just writing of their assets.

Mine was chauffeur driven for Executive from ING Bank. Spoke to her too...

Great transactions and trouble free. Several of my friends have gone the same way....

Now selling it within the next 2 years I will get the same, if not more, as I bought it for looking at the current market price.

So what did I loose? Nothing.. absolutely nothing at all. Still have maintenance for the coming 2 years.

Now, I would not go to a tent and buy a second hand car....

[rixalex]

It all depends where you are planning to buy your second hand car from. For me I stick with leasing companies.

1. Perfect record of maintenance

2. Background checking on driver of the car during lease period.

3. Background checking on accidents.

All straight open.

Got my BMW from them, 2 year old. With 5 year maintenace or 100K package still valid.

50% of new price as the leasing companies dont sell for profit, just writing of their assets.

Mine was chauffeur driven for Executive from ING Bank. Spoke to her too...

Great transactions and trouble free. Several of my friends have gone the same way....

Now selling it within the next 2 years I will get the same, if not more, as I bought it for looking at the current market price.

So what did I loose? Nothing.. absolutely nothing at all. Still have maintenance for the coming 2 years.

Now, I would not go to a tent and buy a second hand car....

That certainly sounds like a good way to buy second hand. Where and how do these leasing companies advertise the cars that they are selling on?

[raybkk]

It all depends where you are planning to buy your second hand car from. For me I stick with leasing companies.

1. Perfect record of maintenance

2. Background checking on driver of the car during lease period.

3. Background checking on accidents.

All straight open.

Got my BMW from them, 2 year old. With 5 year maintenace or 100K package still valid.

50% of new price as the leasing companies dont sell for profit, just writing of their assets.

Mine was chauffeur driven for Executive from ING Bank. Spoke to her too...

Great transactions and trouble free. Several of my friends have gone the same way....

Now selling it within the next 2 years I will get the same, if not more, as I bought it for looking at the current market price.

So what did I loose? Nothing.. absolutely nothing at all. Still have maintenance for the coming 2 years.

Now, I would not go to a tent and buy a second hand car....

That certainly sounds like a good way to buy second hand. Where and how do these leasing companies advertise the cars that they are selling on?

Ask them:

Phatra Leasing Public Company Limited

Muangthai - Phatra Complex

29 FL. 252/6 Ratchadapisek Rd

They have loads of stock.

[rixalex]

It all depends where you are planning to buy your second hand car from. For me I stick with leasing companies.

1. Perfect record of maintenance

2. Background checking on driver of the car during lease period.

3. Background checking on accidents.

All straight open.

Got my BMW from them, 2 year old. With 5 year maintenace or 100K package still valid.

50% of new price as the leasing companies dont sell for profit, just writing of their assets.

Mine was chauffeur driven for Executive from ING Bank. Spoke to her too...

Great transactions and trouble free. Several of my friends have gone the same way....

Now selling it within the next 2 years I will get the same, if not more, as I bought it for looking at the current market price.

So what did I loose? Nothing.. absolutely nothing at all. Still have maintenance for the coming 2 years.

Now, I would not go to a tent and buy a second hand car....

That certainly sounds like a good way to buy second hand. Where and how do these leasing companies advertise the cars that they are selling on?

Ask them:

Phatra Leasing Public Company Limited

Muangthai - Phatra Complex

29 FL. 252/6 Ratchadapisek Rd

They have loads of stock.

Thanks. Will do.

[jaideeguy]

Three years ago I bought a new chev colorado, thinking I would spend less time and money in the shop and worry less about breakdowns......NOT!!!

With the required services and misc breakdowns, one that left me stranded and had to call the chev servicee truck to haul into the service center for a few days down time, I am wishing that I had kept my old 2nd hand nissan that i drove for 3 yrs trouble free and could pick my mechanic at much cheaper rates than the 'official' dealership.

Just my experience........

next time, I'll go for a 3 yr old, well maintained 2nd hand vehicle that has already had all the bugs worked out.

[Greenside]

No you are missing nothing misterman, you did the wise thing to buy new. My Thai wife and I bought an Audi A4 that was 3 years old and we had it checked out by the Audi dealer before paying for it. It turned out to be the biggest load of cr_p you could have ever bought. We replaced virtually everything except the engine and gearbox. Everytime we went out we planned to drive via the dealer in case it broke down again. After 8 months of driving hel_l we sold back to the original secondhand dealer , so pleased to be rid of it.

The problem was that whoever had owned it before obhviously could not afford to pay the service charges so p[ossibly a ":back street buddy" did the work for him...!!!! well sort of. So unless you are very well up on cars as far as knowing what to look for "DONT BUY A SECONDHAND CAR IN THAILAND". I also believe that Thai's sell cars when they become a liability so if they dont want it why would you ?

What kind of Audi dealer checked it out? Sounds like he was asleep at the wheel...

[Thaiboxer]

Evaluating a used vehicle can be extremely difficult (I know from experience) but if you locate a good one, it may be better than a new one in the long run. Labor is cheap here along with parts. Nowadays, they even have "certified used cars", but I'd still get a good mechanic to put the thing up on a lift and check it out. With pickups, you have to be REALLY careful as the two door ones are usually beat to pieces from hauling around heavy stuff. Look for telltale scratches, dents and rust around the bed and behind the cab at the rear window.

[LivinLOS]

No you are missing nothing misterman, you did the wise thing to buy new. My Thai wife and I bought an Audi A4 that was 3 years old and we had it checked out by the Audi dealer before paying for it. It turned out to be the biggest load of cr_p you could have ever bought. We replaced virtually everything except the engine and gearbox. Everytime we went out we planned to drive via the dealer in case it broke down again. After 8 months of driving hel_l we sold back to the original secondhand dealer , so pleased to be rid of it.

The problem was that whoever had owned it before obhviously could not afford to pay the service charges so p[ossibly a ":back street buddy" did the work for him...!!!! well sort of. So unless you are very well up on cars as far as knowing what to look for "DONT BUY A SECONDHAND CAR IN THAILAND". I also believe that Thai's sell cars when they become a liability so if they dont want it why would you ?

What kind of Audi dealer checked it out? Sounds like he was asleep at the wheel...

Also odd as Audi Thailand doesnt have a main dealer network ??

I had to use yarowat for my VW until I found a VW specialist privately.