Auto Financing

[dthomasss]

I am going to buy a new car in the next few months. Have been living and working here for the same company for five years. Will I be able to get financing through a dealer? I want to buy it in my name and don't want to pay cash as it would mean transferring some funds from the USA which I would rather not do right now.

I have heard mixed reports. The last I heard was that a foreigner has to put 50% down to get financing. I hope that is not the case.

[ralfbkk]

I am going to buy a new car in the next few months. Have been living and working here for the same company for five years. Will I be able to get financing through a dealer? I want to buy it in my name and don't want to pay cash as it would mean transferring some funds from the USA which I would rather not do right now.

I have heard mixed reports. The last I heard was that a foreigner has to put 50% down to get financing. I hope that is not the case.

As far as I know Ford Thailand currently has a promotion offering expats a finance package. There is a show room at Suk Soi 62, with a couple of good guys. Check it out.

[dthomasss]

I am going to buy a new car in the next few months. Have been living and working here for the same company for five years. Will I be able to get financing through a dealer? I want to buy it in my name and don't want to pay cash as it would mean transferring some funds from the USA which I would rather not do right now.

I have heard mixed reports. The last I heard was that a foreigner has to put 50% down to get financing. I hope that is not the case.

As far as I know Ford Thailand currently has a promotion offering expats a finance package. There is a show room at Suk Soi 62, with a couple of good guys. Check it out.

They want 50% down and it is irrelevant because I want a Honda Jazz

[bKkRk]

I've been to a few BMW dealers lately and have been told I only need the WP, some bank statements, passport, and 25-30% down. The dealer I'm probably going to do the deal with told my wife and I that with 25% down they need her as a gaurantor but with 30% down that's not even required. In any case, I've been told it's no problem getting financing up to 70-75% with the car in my name. My employer has a big name in Thailand and I don't know if that has anything to do with the willingness to help but probably not as we've been given words of encouragement before they new my job details. I'm working on doing the deal this week so I'll report back here if something unexpected happens. Otherwise, assume it can be done like this, at least at BMW dealers.

//kr

[Chaimai]

I I want to buy it in my name and don't want to pay cash as it would mean transferring some funds from the USA which I would rather not do right now.

You think the Dollar is going to strengthen

[dthomasss]

You think the Dollar is going to strengthen

I do not want this to turn into a debate about the dollar. I am simply trying to find out if any westerners with long-term jobs here have been able to get financing through a Honda or Toyota dealership.

Thank you for sharing. Have a nice day

[Chaimai]

I do not want this to turn into a debate about the dollar. I am simply trying to find out if any westerners with long-term jobs here have been able to get financing through a Honda or Toyota dealership.

Thank you for sharing. Have a nice day

Fair point, you too have a nice day

[ralfbkk]

I do not want this to turn into a debate about the dollar. I am simply trying to find out if any westerners with long-term jobs here have been able to get financing through a Honda or Toyota dealership.

Yes, it is possible! I just picked up a brand new Honda Accord 2.4EL Navi. We had 25% down and pay 49.XXX THB for the next 24 months. The car is in my name and my wife is the guarantor. Her friends brother is the owner of Honda Sukhumvit. Everything is possible here if you have the right connections / relations.

Back to the comment on Ford I made earlier and to a reply on this, NO they do not require 50%.

[mortenaa]

I got honda finance, but 40% upfront. Then again, I just had worked for about 3 months. But just get a Thai person as a guarantee, and i think 20% or even 10 % would be possible.

[stingray]

Why everything so complicate. Buy cash! If i'm a foreigner in USA i don't think i can manage a car on payment. When i was in USA i even had a hard time to ged a dam insurance in my name (Swiss Citizen). So i gave up and used my freinds name (US citizen).

[dthomasss]

Why everything so complicate. Buy cash! If i'm a foreigner in USA i don't think i can manage a car on payment. When i was in USA i even had a hard time to ged a dam insurance in my name (Swiss Citizen). So i gave up and used my freinds name (US citizen).

I am constantly amazed by the number of people who feel a need to take a contrary position when someone asks a fairly simple question. Why are you bringing up the paying cash vs installment discussion? It has nothing to do with my original question..but seeing as you need to probe, some people have their money invested in time deposits or simply don't want to be moving their money around. The current interest here on an auto loan is 2.5%.. Over the life of a three year-loan it works out to about 5.2%

I am earning approximately 6% on my money (even in the horrible market situation) so I would actually lose money by paying cash. Did that answer your question or is ther anything else you would like to know....

[stingray]

Why everything so complicate. Buy cash! If i'm a foreigner in USA i don't think i can manage a car on payment. When i was in USA i even had a hard time to ged a dam insurance in my name (Swiss Citizen). So i gave up and used my freinds name (US citizen).

I am constantly amazed by the number of people who feel a need to take a contrary position when someone asks a fairly simple question. Why are you bringing up the paying cash vs installment discussion? It has nothing to do with my original question..but seeing as you need to probe, some people have their money invested in time deposits or simply don't want to be moving their money around. The current interest here on an auto loan is 2.5%.. Over the life of a three year-loan it works out to about 5.2%

I am earning approximately 6% on my money (even in the horrible market situation) so I would actually lose money by paying cash. Did that answer your question or is ther anything else you would like to know....

I don't want to probe anything. We talking here about penauts. I tought it's about 4% per year, but i'm not up dated about this, but Toyota charged 4% on the begin of this year. The procentage depend what brand you buy and what kind of payment plan they offer you. Some not so atractive carmanufacterer offer you even 0% for a one year payments. But usually they charge every year the procentage of the whole amount (they don't discount in the second or thirth year the amount you already payd), different like in Europe. So even if it's 2.5% per year, youll end up to pay 7.5%, not 5.2% and i think if it's a Toyota you pay 4%, that's mean 12% in three year. For example: In the second year Europe they wold take the 4% only of the restamount which you still have to pay, but in Thailand they take 4% on the whole amount, regardless what you already payd. So if you use the car for personal purposes, i would recomment to pay cash. If you payd cash, blue book is in your name you can allways sell it any time you want, immidently. If the book is in a finance the procedure gonna be very complicate if you like to sell your car. Would you buy a car without blue book? Different thing is if you can't afford pay cash, than you have no options exept buying in a down payment. But in this case i would consider to buy a used car. It's not hard to make a down payment. But it's hard to keep the payments for the next tree years every month. You never know what happen, you can get in troubles one day, lose your job or something. I wouldn't go for this headache. It's just what i recommend, not what i probe.

[Chaimai]

Why everything so complicate. Buy cash! wouldn't go for this headache. It's just what i recommend, not what i probe.

It's a Western thing.

We like debt. Then a finance company (who gave the loans to people who couldn't afford them) can sell their loan portfolio to some greedy bastard bank who thinks they can get a higher return. Then when we default on the repayments and the greedy bank can't be arsed to find the asset they have bought they write off the loan book. Then every other greedy bastard bank (or institution) who did the same thing starts to write off their bad debts. Then the sphincters of the pimps and whores in the stock markets starts to twitch, as do the foreign exhange markets. Sometimes this can be compounded by greedy Arabs controlling the supply of oil (to help the pimps and whores speculate on the future price of same commodity). This leads to price increases across the board on non-discretionary expenditure such as food, fuel plus cleverly inserted stealth taxes. This results in rising inflation which leads to increases in interest rates. Couple this with a knee-jerk reaction of those greedy bastard banks restricting the supply of credit which also exacerbates the negative market opinion of them which sees a substantial mark down of share prices and property values. Then the world goes to rat shit for a while.

Simple economics !

Which goes to prove that you are better off borrowing the maximum amount money you can because:-

(a) if you default they are less likely to default if you change the licence plates/engine number and export to a third world/developing country, and

( the cash you will not have spent will earn you a trillion percent annual interest because rates have been hiked

(don't forget to max up all your credit cards at the same time, just to increase your reserves)

[ignis]

If your a Teacher all most all Companies do special deals, like 0% down... or 0% interest... + over 72 months etc..

If your not a Teacher then there are many more deals than the ones printed on paper at the showroom, but you have to ask.

[dthomasss]

If your a Teacher all most all Companies do special deals, like 0% down... or 0% interest... + over 72 months etc..

If your not a Teacher then there are many more deals than the ones printed on paper at the showroom, but you have to ask.

These "deals" are not really available to "foreigners." All I am looking to do is buy a Honda Jazz for 670,000 with 128,000 down (Honda financing plan) and 36-month payments to avoid moving more money from the USA. I went to two Honda dealers. One said I had to pay cash. The other said I could do 335,000 down (50%) and one year payments.

[stingray]

If your a Teacher all most all Companies do special deals, like 0% down... or 0% interest... + over 72 months etc..

Sorry, i never saw Honda or Toyota with a 0% down payment and 0% interest. Let me know where i can get tose deals. As i mention before, only some not so attractive carmanufacterers (don't want say any names) do this to keep or steep in the market. But sure not Toyota and not Honda.

[groovyc]

I hate to sound presumptuous or go off the topic, but I strongly suggest you do the math with the monthly instalments they quote and figure the interest rate for yourself. If you base your decision to go for financing based on what you have quoted, you may find out (only too late) that you may have been upto 300% better off using your $ from the FD.

But usually they charge every year the procentage of the whole amount (they don't discount in the second or thirth year the amount you already payd), different like in Europe. So even if it's 2.5% per year, youll end up to pay 7.5%, not 5.2% and i think if it's a Toyota you pay 4%, that's mean 12% in three year. For example: In the second year Europe they wold take the 4% only of the restamount which you still have to pay, but in Thailand they take 4% on the whole amount, regardless what you already payd.

The above post pretty much somes up the point, just that it's even a little bit worse than that if you use the compound interest formulae. plus (at least some) finance companies charge you VAT on your loan! This is what I realized what my wife has been paying after I did the calculations for myself once I got to know of these "Thai practices" from a similar Thaivisa thread:

She borrowed 300k to repay in 48 months and was told the interest was 4.5% while actually she was paying altogether 12% (AER) if you include the 7% VAT and interest for the full capital for 4 yrs in the equation. I never did a loan anywahere else in the world, so I'm not sure if the VAT "practice" is normal (comments welcome), but my ultimate comparison criterea is the same as yours: against the interest I get off the money in tha bank (which I am sure doesn't pay you VAT anywhere in the world). Unless you're investing in hedge funds, you're probably better off using your cash...

[groovyc]

forgot something: once you sign the deal off you're in for good. coz they wouldn't let you even pay off the loan with just the cash you actually own (under normal financial equations). they apparently ask for interest for the full capital for half the remaining time of the loan. The interesting thing is, that's still more than what you would pay if you borrowed the money (ie. continued on the instalment plan) in a decent system! Yet, ironically it makes sense as without this provision the system wouldn't hold. For example, you could re-assess your loan every year to bring down the "total" and thus reduce your interest.

Sorry if I don't make sense. It's just that I am a mathematician and often see through schemes set up to fool unsuspecting innocent people with numbers, but frankly this really tops them all. It's (apparently) a legitimate system approved by the financial laws of a country....welcome to Thailand.

[haroldc]

I just bought a Toyota Vios for 30% down with finance through TISCO at 2.75%. They wanted passport, WP, and 6 months of payslips. No guarantor needed, but at the last minute they asked my Thai wife (who doesn't work) to co-sign the loan.

It's a bit like a person with a tourist visa trying to open a bank account - if one Honda dealer won't give you reasonable financing, just try another.

[dthomasss]

I just bought a Toyota Vios for 30% down with finance through TISCO at 2.75%. They wanted passport, WP, and 6 months of payslips. No guarantor needed, but at the last minute they asked my Thai wife (who doesn't work) to co-sign the loan.

It's a bit like a person with a tourist visa trying to open a bank account - if one Honda dealer won't give you reasonable financing, just try another.

Thanks.. It was nice to finally get an answer to my question rather than a debate of the merits. I guess some people just need to offer an opinion even when it is not requested...

[bendix]

Try Kasikorn Finance too. I got four years finance for my Camry 2.4v. No need for guarantees.

Admittedly, I put 50% down but that was voluntary; they never specified a minimum downpayment.

[gregb]

The short answer is that yes, you can do it without a Thai guarantor. However, there will be no end of problems. Tisco will do it for you, but only if you buy their loan insurance. They don't have to do this, but unless you know someone inside the organization, they will tell you it is mandatory.

A very high down payment may be able to get around this requirement, but again, it will be a struggle. And of course, you may wind up paying over 4% for the loan, when the Thai next to you can get the same deal at 2.9%.

It is just so much easier with a Thai guarantor. If you really can't find anyone, then go ahead and do it anyway. With perseverance and a willingness to accept a bad deal, it can be done.

Good luck.

[ongcuunon]

Good to see you're finally getting some helpful advice and information instead of the chiding that's all to common.

Honda's finance company is clearly not your only choice. Some dealers will steer customers to whichever bank or finance company is offering THE DEALER the best deal, not to the bank or finance company which is offering its customers the best deal.

I'd always take a look at the offering of the manufacturer's finance company, since they are often under the greatest pressure to help sell the manufacturer's products. To the finance companies mentioned by previous posters, I'd add the company from which I obtained financing, GE Capital. Shop around for the best rates and terms.

The process is almost certainly going to be a big pain-in-the-ass, but I can appreciate your desire to put your cash to better use.

Good luck.

[dthomasss]

Good to see you're finally getting some helpful advice and information instead of the chiding that's all to common.

Honda's finance company is clearly not your only choice. Some dealers will steer customers to whichever bank or finance company is offering THE DEALER the best deal, not to the bank or finance company which is offering its customers the best deal.

I'd always take a look at the offering of the manufacturer's finance company, since they are often under the greatest pressure to help sell the manufacturer's products. To the finance companies mentioned by previous posters, I'd add the company from which I obtained financing, GE Capital. Shop around for the best rates and terms.

The process is almost certainly going to be a big pain-in-the-ass, but I can appreciate your desire to put your cash to better use.

Good luck.

Thanks. It is nice to finally get some decent advice. Even though I will be moving out of Bangkok in a few months I think I am going to buy here because at some dealers I am discovering there is a two-month waiting period to get a white Jazz. Hard to believe how difficult it is to buy a car here...

[Bennyl]

I just bought a Toyota Vios for 30% down with finance through TISCO at 2.75%. They wanted passport, WP, and 6 months of payslips. No guarantor needed, but at the last minute they asked my Thai wife (who doesn't work) to co-sign the loan.

It's a bit like a person with a tourist visa trying to open a bank account - if one Honda dealer won't give you reasonable financing, just try another.

Thank you for your professional feedback, which is very useful for myself.

I highly appreciate people like you, who really focus on the question asked, as I am not interested in exchange rates of the US dollar, etc.

Thanks again

Benny