pagallim Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 A couple of months ago, I happened to be in Central Festival, which was holding a small car exhibition on the ground floor. They happened to have a Mini Cooper 'S' there, and when I asked the price, was told 3.2 million baht!!! I knew that imports are expensive, however this was more than my Toyota Fortuner and Honda Accord (bought new 2 years and 1 year ago respectively) cost together!!! The 'on the road' price in the UK equates to circa 830,000 baht, so where does the other 2+ million come from??? See link below: http://www.mini.co.uk/html/model_range/min...per_s/home.html The thought of spending what is the equivalent of +60,000 pounds for a mini just defies belief! Where is the tax hike in this? I can understand 100% import duty, but that doesn't come close to the actual retail price here. There are other examples that I've researched, but nothing comes close to this one in actual percentage hike over the actual value of the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaiwanderer Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 iirc without the high import tax on such vehicles (and associated tax write offs where car parts produced and or assembled in Thailand) there would be nothing like the auto industry there is in thailand (or at least was until very recently ) also (on a bad note) the propensity of pick up trucks arose from their tax designation as agricultural vehicles the tax stretches brand snobbery to make it even more ridiculous - is a mini that much better than say a jazz? essentially its a purchase purely to say 'i paid the tax' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ignis Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 Even a everyday car like Toyota prices are crazy... The Toyota Yaris starts at under 600k the smaller more basic IQ starts at 1.45 million. within Asian Countries the import is 5% or so one is led to believe ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jungian Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I was going to send my BMW 745IL via ship from Philadelphia to Bangkok the cost was about $6,000 US at the time including the insurance however the import tax was almost 3,000,000฿ almost what I paid for the car! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennkate Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Second Hand Values in Thailand CRAZY I can't speek for Other Countrys but certainly in the UK 2 years Old will knock 50% off of the New Price. To buy at 50% of New price here it would be more like 10 years Old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HDRIDER Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 (edited) Hi You can get cheaper 2nd hand car if you go for the top models, like Mercer, BMW, Lexus, etc i have seen a 4mill B car for sale at around 2mill after 3 years Edited May 13, 2009 by HDRIDER Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katabeachbum Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Second Hand Values in Thailand CRAZY I can't speek for Other Countrys but certainly in the UK 2 years Old will knock 50% off of the New Price. To buy at 50% of New price here it would be more like 10 years Old. I was recently at a second hand/repos car auction by Tanachart bank. 3 year old where like 55%. 160 vehicles where sold in 3 hours. Many tent dealers buying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imaneggspurt Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Check the lifestyle of any government employee in thailand,you will see where the "taxes " go,..i remember meeting a cop in pissonarock ( pronounciation,not spelling ) ! , that was driving a new range rover,.even a chief constable in the uk cant afford one, go fugure,...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imaneggspurt Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 A couple of months ago, I happened to be in Central Festival, which was holding a small car exhibition on the ground floor. They happened to have a Mini Cooper 'S' there, and when I asked the price, was told 3.2 million baht!!! I knew that imports are expensive, however this was more than my Toyota Fortuner and Honda Accord (bought new 2 years and 1 year ago respectively) cost together!!! The 'on the road' price in the UK equates to circa 830,000 baht, so where does the other 2+ million come from??? See link below:http://www.mini.co.uk/html/model_range/min...per_s/home.html The thought of spending what is the equivalent of +60,000 pounds for a mini just defies belief! Where is the tax hike in this? I can understand 100% import duty, but that doesn't come close to the actual retail price here. There are other examples that I've researched, but nothing comes close to this one in actual percentage hike over the actual value of the car. what about a 10 year old mitsubishi colt that is 400 pounds in the uk and 180000 baht here ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katabeachbum Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Check the lifestyle of any government employee in thailand,you will see where the "taxes " go,..i remember meeting a cop in pissonarock ( pronounciation,not spelling ) ! , that was driving a new range rover,.even a chief constable in the uk cant afford one, go fugure,...... i know several cops driving accord/camry/fortuner at 30k/ month, with salaries 25k/ month. I dont think they spend tax-money A new RR is 8 mill here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivinginKata Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 A new RR is 8 mill here What a bargain, are you sure only 8 mill, I would have thought much more.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ignis Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 A new RR is 8 mill here What a bargain, are you sure only 8 mill, I would have thought much more.... 2009 Land Rover Range Rover Wagon 4dr TDV6 Auto 6sp 4WD 2.7D is 7,490,000.....List Price in Thailand.... a 2008 are for sale for around 4 million..... LOST almost 50% in a year!!......... a 2006 cost new 6.3 million and now there for sale around 2.8 - 3.2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katabeachbum Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 A new RR is 8 mill here What a bargain, are you sure only 8 mill, I would have thought much more.... No, could be more now with the Jag V8. 8 mill was 4 years ago, but I got a Fortuner at 1,25 Insane difference in taxes. Fortuner/peoplecarrier designed to LOS taxes build on frame in LOS, tax is 200k. Vigo/ pickup top of the line is 27k. RRmore than 5 mill We should be happy someone pays tax. And for the Mini, I would get 4 Yaris/Jazz top spec. Made in LOS, little tax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivinginKata Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 A new RR is 8 mill here What a bargain, are you sure only 8 mill, I would have thought much more.... Ooohh ..... I thought RR = Rolls Royce ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katabeachbum Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 A new RR is 8 mill here What a bargain, are you sure only 8 mill, I would have thought much more.... 2009 Land Rover Range Rover Wagon 4dr TDV6 Auto 6sp 4WD 2.7D is 7,490,000.....List Price in Thailand.... a 2008 are for sale for around 4 million..... LOST almost 50% in a year!!......... a 2006 cost new 6.3 million and now there for sale around 2.8 - 3.2 This is the tax-beating max 3000cc/ 220hp. Then the V8 supercherged 550 hp Jag engine equipped must be more than 10mill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ignis Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 A new RR is 8 mill here What a bargain, are you sure only 8 mill, I would have thought much more.... Ooohh ..... I thought RR = Rolls Royce ... Rolls Royce is no longer imported into Thailand, nearest you can get is the 2009 Bentley Arnage @ 32.5 million or the 2009 Bentley Continental starting @ 22 million to Coupe 2dr @ 22.5million to the 4x4 GT @ 25.5 million Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivinginKata Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Rolls Royce is no longer imported into Thailand, nearest you can get is the 2009 Bentley Arnage @ 32.5 million or the 2009 Bentley Continental starting @ 22 million to Coupe 2dr @ 22.5million to the 4x4 GT @ 25.5 million Ouch ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenwood01 Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 (edited) just goto any country. Buy yourself a storage and get yourself an imported skyline for cheap. Go to said country every 6months and drive 24/7 for 3 days. then come back to your life, that way you won't want to attempt suicide after driving lawn mowers everyday My point of view on cars in thailand: If they lowered the import tax to make foreign cars affordable, they would reduce traffic by at least 25% since the biggest reason that there is traffic in thailand(apart from the stupid lights that only do one side at time) is that most cars can't get to 40km/h in less than 15secs so all the cars get stuck waiting for the slow acceleration and they dont have time to clear intersections. Edited May 13, 2009 by greenwood01 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivinLOS Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Second Hand Values in Thailand CRAZY I can't speek for Other Countrys but certainly in the UK 2 years Old will knock 50% off of the New Price. To buy at 50% of New price here it would be more like 10 years Old. That used to be the case.. Lots of cheap(er) cars being pushed onto the market thanks to the credit boom and over borrowing.. Saw a 02 DMax for 250 asking.. Buddy lost about 30% on a pickup over 18 months.. Etc etc.. Theres a compression effect of so many people buying cars putting them onto the second hand market.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boater Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Rolls Royce is no longer imported into Thailand, nearest you can get is the 2009 Bentley Arnage @ 32.5 million or the 2009 Bentley Continental starting @ 22 million to Coupe 2dr @ 22.5million to the 4x4 GT @ 25.5 million and people are serious to pay these prices ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BakMah Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 (edited) I have hopes that after the ASEAN summit in Phuket next month(edit: October!) they will agree on the AFTA and implement overall import tariff reductions on imported cars in 2010. I would trade in my Fortuner (which is still a great car) and get something more... "individual" that does not cost me an arm and a leg. Not that there is too much of a selection from Asian manufacturers. Mini, Mercedes and BMW will certainly remain ridiculously overprized. Quote from mima.gov.my analysis by Nazery Khalid: AFTA was initiated by ASEAN leaders at the Fourth ASEAN Summit in Singapore in January 1992 with the main objective of increasing the region's manufacturing competitiveness by attracting more FDI and thereby expanding their production base geared for the world market. The Framework Agreement on Enhancing ASEAN Economic Cooperation was conceived with the realization that in an increasingly competitive world, the ASEAN region needs to lower the cost of conducting business in the region to stay competitive against rising economic powers such as China and India" Edited May 13, 2009 by BakMah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagallim Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 I have hopes that after the ASEAN summit in Phuket next month(edit: October!) they will agree on the AFTA and implement overall import tariff reductions on imported cars in 2010. I would trade in my Fortuner (which is still a great car) and get something more... "individual" that does not cost me an arm and a leg. Not that there is too much of a selection from Asian manufacturers. Mini, Mercedes and BMW will certainly remain ridiculously overprized.Quote from mima.gov.my analysis by Nazery Khalid: AFTA was initiated by ASEAN leaders at the Fourth ASEAN Summit in Singapore in January 1992 with the main objective of increasing the region's manufacturing competitiveness by attracting more FDI and thereby expanding their production base geared for the world market. The Framework Agreement on Enhancing ASEAN Economic Cooperation was conceived with the realization that in an increasingly competitive world, the ASEAN region needs to lower the cost of conducting business in the region to stay competitive against rising economic powers such as China and India" I don't believe that it's ever going to happen. Various quotes about the upper market products such as BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus etc. Certainly Mercedes (and I believe BMW) have a manufacturing capacity here in Thailand, but still the 'locally' assembled products bear no relation to the global price structure. Witness this, my Honda Accord 2.4 retails in most countries for a similar price to say a BMW 318 or Merc C200 (give or take a couple of thousand Euros/Dollars). I paid 1.6 million one year ago for my Honda, and a new (locally assembled) Merc C200 costs 2.8 million baht. Where is the justification in that? Unfortunately, these companies price even the locally produced models at a level to maintain some form of marketing standard with the imported ones. That's why you see no end of Mercedes E200 models, that would retail in US/UK for less than 50,000 dollars/30,000 pounds, being retailed here for the equivalent of $100,000 or more!!! And they are locally assembled! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katabeachbum Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 I agree. Its not a tax question. Actually the LOS made Accord 2400cc has 35% excice tax, while the LOS made Benz 200/1800cc has 30% excice tax. Its a market where a few people are willing to pay extreme prices for some products. BMW, Benz, Land Rover and Lexus have succeded. Volvo deliverd 191 units last year Back to OPs Mini Cooper S. Based on OPs UK price of 830.000 baht, I just calculated the price here to be 2.382.000 baht including all thai taxes. The rest goes to the importer and dealer. And this was based on UK on the road price....................... So lets only buy the LOS made tax adapted low profit cars, and let the stinking rich people buy the above. Or we pick them up second hand 2year/50%. By the way, BMW, Benz, Volvo all make cars in LOS to avoid import duties on their products. And they use the tax reduction to increase profit. Clever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterocket Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 So which are the cheapest/best value cars available to buy new which are manufactured in Thailand with the lowest tax? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katabeachbum Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 So which are the cheapest/best value cars available to buy new which are manufactured in Thailand with the lowest tax? Any 2 door/2500cc pickup is 0% tax Any 4 door/3000 cc pickup is 3% tax Any car less than 2000cc made in LOS like Toyota, Honda(these 2 have 90% of the market!) Chevy, Mazda, Mizu, Ford Asean build cars 5% import duty(Malaysia, Indonesia and 7 more countries in Asia) like Proton, Toyota Wish People carriers build on frame like Fortuner, Isuzu MU7, Mizu Pajero Sport all designed to avoid car tax. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivinLOS Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 So which are the cheapest/best value cars available to buy new which are manufactured in Thailand with the lowest tax? IMO the best 'value' is second hand high spec Euro cars except BMW and Merc.. You get a lot for your money in an audi here.. Thais just dont like them but great, comfy, well equipped cars.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peterocket Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 So which are the cheapest/best value cars available to buy new which are manufactured in Thailand with the lowest tax? IMO the best 'value' is second hand high spec Euro cars except BMW and Merc.. You get a lot for your money in an audi here.. Thais just dont like them but great, comfy, well equipped cars.. Hmmm thats interesting. Im gonna need 2 cars when i arrive so was thinking of getting a new Toyota Hilux Double cab and a new Honda City Ill have a look at some Audi's though as I wasnt aware that bargains might be available. In my opinion though i dont think that european cars can handle the heat as well as Japanese/Thai vehicles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pagallim Posted May 14, 2009 Author Share Posted May 14, 2009 So which are the cheapest/best value cars available to buy new which are manufactured in Thailand with the lowest tax? IMO the best 'value' is second hand high spec Euro cars except BMW and Merc.. You get a lot for your money in an audi here.. Thais just dont like them but great, comfy, well equipped cars.. Hmmm thats interesting. Im gonna need 2 cars when i arrive so was thinking of getting a new Toyota Hilux Double cab and a new Honda City Ill have a look at some Audi's though as I wasnt aware that bargains might be available. In my opinion though i dont think that european cars can handle the heat as well as Japanese/Thai vehicles. Disagree with the 'best value' scenario. Yes, after 2/3/4 years, there's sometimes a substantial drop in value/second hand price, but that only puts them on par with locally produced, same segment new models. This, for imports, is coupled with higher maintenance costs, lack of in-country dealers, etc. I remember reading a few months ago about a guy who was debating buying a 4 year old Volvo C90, or a new Toyota Fortuner. For me, that was a no brainer. Here you should go for the make/model which is easiest to maintain, and has a proven track record of reliability, and the benefit of a good warranty. The Toyota Fortuner that I have (bought new some 20 months ago), is comfortable, goes anywhere, and never for a second have I felt unsure about it's reliability (including a round trip from Phuket to Chiang Mai last New Year, with 3 dogs onboard). When I bought a second car just under a year ago, I was looking for a small(ish) car to complement the Fortuner. I agree with a previous post, Toyota and Honda are the way to go, and looked at the Jazz/Yaris, Civic/Altis, but settled on deciding between the Accord and Camry (I know, they are not small). I went for the Accord because of a slightly higher power output than the Camry (2.4 litre models, almost identical spec), and also that the Accord was a new model rather than the 2 year old (now 3) Camry (Japanese change their models every 4 years, so the Camry is due to be changed next year with the resultant drop in value of current models). I agree with the comments about Audi, excellent cars with design flair equal if not superior to Mercedes and BMW. They have always suffered from their being mainly front wheel drive, and the prejudice against it at the upper market level. Prior to coming to Thailand, I mainly had Mercedes, always new, having drifted towards MB after some quality problems with BMW's that I had. To be frank, the fit and finish on my current Accord is on a par with my last Merc, a CLK500, which cost me (in Spain) 75,000 Euros. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katabeachbum Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 So which are the cheapest/best value cars available to buy new which are manufactured in Thailand with the lowest tax? IMO the best 'value' is second hand high spec Euro cars except BMW and Merc.. You get a lot for your money in an audi here.. Thais just dont like them but great, comfy, well equipped cars.. Yes, but no spareparts and not one servicecomputer south of Bkk. Thats a lot of flatbed-use. 3 year old Audi A4/A6 and new Accord with similar spec I know where my money goes. I used to have Audi, Benz and US trucks in Europe, and I never had a japanese car before I came here....... Now its all japanese made in LOS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivinLOS Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Yes, but no spareparts and not one servicecomputer south of Bkk. Thats a lot of flatbed-use. 3 year old Audi A4/A6 and new Accord with similar spec I know where my money goes. I used to have Audi, Benz and US trucks in Europe, and I never had a japanese car before I came here....... Now its all japanese made in LOS As I have a VW / Audi experienced mechanic who I know, who also can source any part new or second hand then that fear is gone.. Agree about the front wheel drive issue.. But looking at the late 100's and A6's you get an lot of car for the money, in Thai terms.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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