Buying/leasing A Car

[scottie]

Hi All.

Me again come to pick your brains

Now I was told it's possible to lease a car, do any of you locals do that?

Or have you bought yours?

I am starting a business at the moment in CM, & will move out later in the year.

So must be a tax efficient way of doing it.

I was thinking of something like a Honda CRV or similar. There was one inside, Airport plaza....next to Black Canyon when we were there in Jan, 2nd hand seem to remember about £12,000 (memory does fail me though!)

Any advice or figures etc. greatly welcomed

Thanks in advance

Scottie

[lopburi3]

Believe the lemon Honda CRV that the Bangkok lady publicly took a sludge hammer to last week sold for about 1,300,000.00 baht.

Edited February 3, 2005 by lopburi3

[chanchao]

Toyota purchased it to put on a bill-board somewhere? :-)

I recently drove a CRV from Khon Kaen to Chiang Mai. God they suck.

They're fine for the missus to dricve the kids to school in town of course, but then, what's the point; get a Civic or Jazz in that case.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[chanchao]

Anyway, seriously: I don't think leasing is very popular (or particlary affordable or even available) in Thailand.

Just buy one, new or second hand.

[scottie]

Hmmmm you think that CRV is more of a toy? Not really up to the rigours of bumpy roads? I'll take that on board. Obviously I'll drive a few different makes/ models before committing.

We did rent a Mitsubishi Strada from North Wheels when we were in CM. Not keen.

Uncomfortable seats ( particularly in the back), hard suspension & generally too cumbersome. Like a tank!!

Leasing getting popular in UK, as new car every 2 or 3 years. Free servicing etc.

monthly payments quiteaffordable so long as you don't do a BIG mileage.

I know limited range of models in Thailand, so hopefully won't be a headache choosing something.

Thanks for advice.

Anyone else have any tips?

Scottie

[chanchao]

Try Toyota's new offering, the Fortuner. A lot more car for the same money compared to a CRV...

[scottie]

Thanks for that Chanchao, I'll enquire about the Fortuner.

Reading your reply to someone asking about 2nd hand pick ups, where would I be able to get one of these magazines?

How are things in Thailand regarding buying new? I've never bought new in UK, as soon as you drive out of the garage forecourt, the value ofyour car drops about 20%....no kidding! Consequently good to buy something say 6 mths old.

Can you get nearly new bargains like that over there?

regards

Scottie

[SBACM]

Try Toyota's new offering, the Fortuner.  A lot more car for the same money compared to a CRV...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Just got my new Fortuner couldnt be Happier the best car out there right now nothing else comes close to the engine power. Ive tried em all. I paid cash but they told us if you have work permit you could Finance at 2.9%

[chanchao]

Magazine are at most newsstands. They're in Thai but that shouldn't be a problem. Typically they feature page after page of small thumbnail pictures of cars, the year and the asking price. Titles are mostly 'car-something' (in Thai) as you'd expect.

Just flip through a couple of car magazines and you'll find the ones I'm talking about; they're pretty much thumbnail pics front to back, with some hot ladies in front of hot cars thrown in the middle for good measure.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[scottie]

Thanks for taking the time.

I'll look into things over the coming weeks....& if need help, will get back to you.

By the way,is the Fortuner a 4wd CRV style thing, or more of a pick up style??

Scottie

[chanchao]

> By the way,is the Fortuner a 4wd CRV style thing,

> or more of a pick up style??

Well: Pick-up style, but different from pick-up based SUVs from before.

Before the government changed the rules on pick-up based SUVs last year (to be able to qualify for a lower tax so lower selling price), rules had it that they HAD to have a wheel-base be x meters long (pretty much as long as a pickup) AND that leaf-springs had to be used for the rear suspension.

This changed this year. Toyota apparently was super-quick to adapt: They released the very good looking Fortuner that's a bit more compact than its predecessor, AND, it features new coil-spring suspension of the rear axel.

That should be an incredible improvement in handling, though I don't know this first hand.

It's also available with a gas (petrol) engine if you want that, though really for Thailand the diesel makes a lot more sense in every way. (Cheaper fuel, beter fuel economy, more power, longer lifetime, easier maintenance, higher resale value)

Isuzu on the other hand completely missed the boat on this one, releasing their new 'Mu' SUV that's pretty much the long clunker with leaf springs it's always been. They finally managed redesigned rear lights, but from the front it looks 100% like the Isuzu DMax pickup. It's amazing how Isuzu gets this one wrong every single time.. Remember the Vega that had the exact same rear lights as the ancient 80s pick-up and Cameo? And how it was priced so much higher than anything else because they failed to meet the regulations for lower tax..

For the Fortuner on the other hand, if nobody told you it was based on a pick-up it's not so certain you'd notice. (Well the dash and interior are similar to the higher-end versions of the Vigo pickup)

Fortuner also features a third row of seats, though space is more limited than in the outgoing model, which I think would still be an excellent buy second hand, especially the later models with D4D engine.

Cheers,

Chanchao

Edited February 8, 2005 by chanchao

[scottie]

Well, I've just done a search for the Fortuner, & really like the look of it.

You see I only mentioned the CRV because it's available & known in the UK.

Fortuner not available here, but I've just read very favourable reviews...& it's nice on the eye...... Oh & the wallet

Will look into this further.

Many thanks

Scottie

[PeaceBlondie]

Beg to differ with you about deisel versus gasoline engines: all other things being equal, such as displacement and lack of turbo, I doubt that the deisel will have 70% of the gas engine's horsepower. Not sure about torque, but the naturally aspirated deisel cars and little trucks in the USA couldn't get out of their own way. Once you get a turbo, you're not comparing apples to apples anymore, and you'll lose a lot of gas mileage, I'll bet. Of course, don't compare a 2.8 deisel to a 1.8 gasoline engine...

[sabaijai]

An Ariel Atom Honda might be just the ticket ...

ariel

[BlissfullyIgnorant]

Just got my new Fortuner couldnt be Happier the best car out there right now nothing else comes close to the engine power. Ive tried em all. I paid cash but they told us if you have work permit you could Finance at 2.9%

I have to agree the Fortuner is a lot of car for your money. I guess you must have been the first pre-order on the books to have it already.. the current wait list is 2-3 months!

On the subject of finance, you don't need a work permit.. Any number of finance agents can organise your finance, 2.95% for 15% down, or 2.90% for 20%+ down. Mind you, if you use a finance agent you won't be buying from any of the Niyom Panich Toyota dealers in CM - they won't play ball if they're not making the finance commission.

No real bother though, it just means your Toyota will have Lampang, Chiang Rai, or Prae plates, and you'll be taking a 1-2 hour drive to pick it up. On top of that, you'll get a much better deal using an agent - Niyom offered me nothing but free insurance for the first year only, the deal I ended up getting via my agent included free insurance, free road tax, free PRB, and just over 26,000 baht worth of free accessories.

On final point of note is the way interest is calculated here - it's, well, different

Where I'm from interest is calculated on the monthly balance owing, so as you pay off more capital, you're subsequently paying less interest component each month. This is not the case with Thai motor vehicle finance. In LOS your interest bill is pre-calculated on the entire borrowed amount, then divided into monthly payments. What this means is that 2.90% is more like 3.5-5% depending on the amount borrowed and the term.

Also note that paying more than the specified monthly payment won't save you a single satang of interest. The only way to save interest is when paying of the entire balance owing, in which case they will discount your remaining interest by 50%.

[chanchao]

> I doubt that the deisel will have 70% of the gas engine's horsepower.

> Not sure about torque, but the naturally aspirated deisel cars and little

> trucks in the USA couldn't get out of their own way. Once you get a

> turbo, you're not comparing apples to apples anymore, and you'll lose a lot

> of gas mileage,

No - no - no on all accounts. First of all, all Fortuner diesel engines have a turbo, and they're the most modern and fuel efficient enginges on the market today. Check the comparison specs; there's a PDF file somewhere at www.totyota.co.th. Turbos for diesels are not the same as turbos for gas engines; the penalty in terms of fuel efficiency is just not the same.

Yes the diesel engine will have a bigger displacement compared to the petrol engine but that's just the way it is: You cannot buy a 3 liter petrol engine to 'fairly' compare with a 3 liter turbodiesel: Toyota doesn't sell petrol engines that big, and even if they did the Thai tax would be horrendous and so would fuel efficiency be. Trust me on this. Then after checking the techie specs, go drive by any gas station to see what diesel costs versus petrol.

Then Blissfully wrote:

> Mind you, if you use a finance agent you won't be buying from

> any of the Niyom Panich Toyota dealers in CM - they won't play

> ball if they're not making the finance commission.

> No real bother though, it just means your Toyota will have Lampang,

> Chiang Rai, or Prae plates

I agreee wholeheartedly about Niyom <curses> Panich. But it's not the case that you will end up with Lampang or Phrae plates; perhaps only on the initial red plates, but for your actual plates you will of course do it in Chiang Mai as usual. Ask the dealer about the details; it's not hard.

Cheers

Chanchao

[dvk1951]

Hey Scottie,

You might want to take a gander at

http://www.expatmotors.co.th/

An informative retail site that seems to have the expat in mind (thus the url). No first hand dealings with them but all email questions to them have been quick and informative.

I have also had the fortune to have found a local Thai who leased their car to me but I have to say that this is not the norm.

On the road again

Disclaimer

the author of this post does not meet late at night with the above mentioned company to accept gratuities, as always Caveat emptor

[scottie]

You guys have been terrific.......thanks for taking the time.

Printed your advice out.

That expatmotors link has also been great.

Everythings alot clearer now.

So much to do proir to moving out.

Still you all know that!!!

Scottie