Dear learned friends,

I am considering bring over a small Mercedes E220 from the UK to Thailand (Sakon Nakhon), I understand the import duty/tax I will need to pay (dependant on engine size & age) but, was wondering what experiences/knowledge you have in regard to:

- Maintaining a Mercedes in Thailand

* spare parts price genuine/copy?

* spare parts leadtime genuine/copy?

* skills of Thai mechanics?

- Importing

* cost of shipping?

* registration?

* quarentine?

and anything else that may be useful

240% tax

Dear learned friends,

I am considering bring over a small Mercedes E220 from the UK to Thailand (Sakon Nakhon), I understand the import duty/tax I will need to pay (dependant on engine size & age) but, was wondering what experiences/knowledge you have in regard to:

- Maintaining a Mercedes in Thailand

* spare parts price genuine/copy?

* spare parts leadtime genuine/copy?

* skills of Thai mechanics?

- Importing

* cost of shipping?

* registration?

* quarentine?

and anything else that may be useful

You might try the Thailand Motor Forum, all things petrol and diesel, for more info. There are some import threads there.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Car-Import-U...l&hl=import

Why not just buy one here. I was going to bring my BMW over but the tax cost more than I paid for it so I bought the same year make and model here I have in the USA the only difference being the steering is reversed and I paid 1/2 of what it is worth in the USA. Thais buy new Euro cars for social status but they don't want a used one thus a used BMW or Benz tends to sell for less than a Honda. As far as maintenance goes the parts cost what the parts cost for original replacements but the labor is much cheaper.

Moved to motor forum.

240% tax

Yep & this Thread is done...

240% tax

Let alone the headaches involved.

All Cons and NO pro's Simple as that.

glad I posted, (new to this site and have just found the import a car forum ) and guess what....have decided to buy a car in Thailand, thanks all

not going to ask about marrying a Thai Woman: Pros & Cons, altready committed, so dont tell me!!

All Cons and NO pro's Simple as that.

>> paid 1/2 of what it is worth in the USA

Where do you find these half priced Beemers? I've been looking to buy a 5 or 7 series and things seem to be 2-3 times more expensive here than in the US., especially if you want to buy the latest model where a used 3 year old car costs more  than a new model in the states. 

An E220 is simply a run-of-the-mill vehicle, not say an M63 or Porsche 959, etc, that one might keep for a long time.

The rest ya know now

BR>Jack

>> paid 1/2 of what it is worth in the USA

Where do you find these half priced Beemers? I've been looking to buy a 5 or 7 series and things seem to be 2-3 times more expensive here than in the US., especially if you want to buy the latest model where a used 3 year old car costs more  than a new model in the states. 

You just took the words out of my mouth.Some people seem to be able to buy cars here at a different price then anyone else.

Forget it right now. You will never win with that in Thailand. You can buy older Mercs here for a fairly decent price, but upkeeping them is horror.

>> paid 1/2 of what it is worth in the USA

Where do you find these half priced Beemers? I've been looking to buy a 5 or 7 series and things seem to be 2-3 times more expensive here than in the US., especially if you want to buy the latest model where a used 3 year old car costs more  than a new model in the states. 

You just took the words out of my mouth.Some people seem to be able to buy cars here at a different price then anyone else.

2 or 3 times? Up to 5 times sometimes. Depend on models. If you find those cars for half of the US prices, give me a ring.

There's plenty good Mercedes maintenance shops and parts to completely rebuild them. No sweat there. Vikrom's on soi 15 is top of the bill...