Typical Cost Of Ownership

[corkman]

Hi All,

I am totally ignorant to the in's and out's of car ownership in Thailand. Assuming one was to purchase a brand new vehicle, what else needs to be factored in ..... typically? i.e. road tax, insurance, etc.

Lets say if I were to go out and a buy a New Toyota Yaris (a standard middle of range, automatic) - notwithstanding any "extras" I negotiate with the purchase, what would one be talking about, tpyically, on an annual basis or running costs (in and around bangkok, so low mileage etc.) including the equivalent of fully comp. insurance, not including fuel.

Many thanks for any input!

[katabeachbum]

free service 3years/60k km, except oil and parts. thats 1000 baht every 10k km and 3-4000 baht at 40k km.

Insurance 20k baht/year

tax like 800 baht/year

thats it

[changnaam]

What about registration fee?

After having a very smooth ride with the dealership I am about to pick up the new motor this afternoon. They have hit me with a 9,500 bill for registration which is rather dubious to say the least.

Anyone heard of this?

[katabeachbum]

What about registration fee?

After having a very smooth ride with the dealership I am about to pick up the new motor this afternoon. They have hit me with a 9,500 bill for registration which is rather dubious to say the least.

Anyone heard of this?

b-sh-t.

have a look at your quote/agreement. for a yaris 1800-3k baht would be normal. if its not included in agreement, I guess you have to pay. if it is included and they still want 9500 baht, walk out

you can also do registration yourself. tax like 800 baht, plates like 300, 2 hours to process at Land Transport Department

[soundman]

What about registration fee?

After having a very smooth ride with the dealership I am about to pick up the new motor this afternoon. They have hit me with a 9,500 bill for registration which is rather dubious to say the least.

Anyone heard of this?

b-sh-t.

have a look at your quote/agreement. for a yaris 1800-3k baht would be normal. if its not included in agreement, I guess you have to pay. if it is included and they still want 9500 baht, walk out

you can also do registration yourself. tax like 800 baht, plates like 300, 2 hours to process at Land Transport Department

Maybe he bought a Fortuner, not a Yaris.

[JUDAS]

The annual road tax on my Vigo is around 7k Baht though I know 2 door trucks are much cheaper.

[changnaam]

The annual road tax on my Vigo is around 7k Baht though I know 2 door trucks are much cheaper.

Thanks, maybe that is what it is. I am buying a 4 door pick up.

They have specified registration fee so will be a fun discussion this afternoon. Especially when they have done a fair bit of work on it they will be well diasppointed if it all goes tits up.

Thanks again to Kata for the input.

[changnaam]

What about registration fee?

After having a very smooth ride with the dealership I am about to pick up the new motor this afternoon. They have hit me with a 9,500 bill for registration which is rather dubious to say the least.

Anyone heard of this?

You sure it's not including a refundable deposit for the red plates. l am sure l paid a deposit which was refunded when l got the white plates.

No that is separate. I was aware about that, just no mention of any other costs all the way through the process and it definitely says "registration fee THB9,500".

Anyway should find out soon.

Cheers

[katabeachbum]

What about registration fee?

After having a very smooth ride with the dealership I am about to pick up the new motor this afternoon. They have hit me with a 9,500 bill for registration which is rather dubious to say the least.

Anyone heard of this?

You sure it's not including a refundable deposit for the red plates. l am sure l paid a deposit which was refunded when l got the white plates.

No that is separate. I was aware about that, just no mention of any other costs all the way through the process and it definitely says "registration fee THB9,500".

Anyway should find out soon.

Cheers

4 door pickup is tax 6.800, 300 for plates, so most dealers charge 7.500-8.500. 9.500 is steep.

but if its already (free?) in your agreement, there is no need to pay it again.

the first car I ordered here was a Toyota Tiger in 2003. Reg was included in agreement. When I went to pay/take delivery salesman wanted 8k reg fee. I walked out with my deposit refunded. It wasnt the money, it was lack of trust. Went to Honda showroom, got a CRV (at 450k more )

Have purchased several Toyotas from same dealer later, and this salesman is still there. Needless to say I dont deal with him, think of the commisions he could have had on my purchses if he hadnt b-sh-t me first time

and think of the money I would have saved if I hadnt been stubborn about the 8k reg fee

[stingray]

What about registration fee?

After having a very smooth ride with the dealership I am about to pick up the new motor this afternoon. They have hit me with a 9,500 bill for registration which is rather dubious to say the least.

Anyone heard of this?

b-sh-t.

have a look at your quote/agreement. for a yaris 1800-3k baht would be normal. if its not included in agreement, I guess you have to pay. if it is included and they still want 9500 baht, walk out

you can also do registration yourself. tax like 800 baht, plates like 300, 2 hours to process at Land Transport Department

Tax for 800 Baht? A 15 year old Suzuki Caribean maybe. New cars cost more than 800 Baht, specially if it's a 4 door Pick Up Truck. Depend on engine size and price of a car. A 3 liter Camry for example cost much more. A 2 liter car maybe 1800 Baht per year

[katabeachbum]

What about registration fee?

After having a very smooth ride with the dealership I am about to pick up the new motor this afternoon. They have hit me with a 9,500 bill for registration which is rather dubious to say the least.

Anyone heard of this?

b-sh-t.

have a look at your quote/agreement. for a yaris 1800-3k baht would be normal. if its not included in agreement, I guess you have to pay. if it is included and they still want 9500 baht, walk out

you can also do registration yourself. tax like 800 baht, plates like 300, 2 hours to process at Land Transport Department

Tax for 800 Baht? A 15 year old Suzuki Caribean maybe. New cars cost more than 800 Baht, specially if it's a 4 door Pick Up Truck. Depend on engine size and price of a car. A 3 liter Camry for example cost much more. A 2 liter car maybe 1800 Baht per year

yaris is 1498cc, and I payed tax less than 800 baht

3 litre camrys have not been sold in LOS

[changnaam]

What about registration fee?

After having a very smooth ride with the dealership I am about to pick up the new motor this afternoon. They have hit me with a 9,500 bill for registration which is rather dubious to say the least.

Anyone heard of this?

You sure it's not including a refundable deposit for the red plates. l am sure l paid a deposit which was refunded when l got the white plates.

No that is separate. I was aware about that, just no mention of any other costs all the way through the process and it definitely says "registration fee THB9,500".

Anyway should find out soon.

Cheers

4 door pickup is tax 6.800, 300 for plates, so most dealers charge 7.500-8.500. 9.500 is steep.

but if its already (free?) in your agreement, there is no need to pay it again.

the first car I ordered here was a Toyota Tiger in 2003. Reg was included in agreement. When I went to pay/take delivery salesman wanted 8k reg fee. I walked out with my deposit refunded. It wasnt the money, it was lack of trust. Went to Honda showroom, got a CRV (at 450k more )

Have purchased several Toyotas from same dealer later, and this salesman is still there. Needless to say I dont deal with him, think of the commisions he could have had on my purchses if he hadnt b-sh-t me first time

and think of the money I would have saved if I hadnt been stubborn about the 8k reg fee

My mistake,

It had been in the contract but I was too busy in the office the day the sales manager came to see me and I skipped straight over it.

Maybe 9,500 is pretty steep but it is a 3.2l 4 door, I cannot find anything on the Thai transport dept website without a log in.

Sales staff have been great throughout and got me 10k discount on some new wheels (20k cheaper than all the other suppliers I visited on my own in BKK) and I am delighted with the car so overall I cannot complain.

Aside from my mistake the service has been fantastic. The car was a couple of days late and they drove me around (BKK>Chonburi>Rayong>BKK) in a new Lancer EX (which was a beautiful car and nearly changed my mind), paid for fuel, paid for lunch etc etc so the overall service from Mitsubishi has been top notch.

Should have gone over the contract so lesson learnt but all in all not an expensive one.

[torrenova]

Quite simple really. Assuming purchase price of Bt800,000

Fuel - 15,000km at 15km/L = 1000 litres of fuel at Bt30 = Bt30,000

Servicing - 2 per year at about Bt1000 = Bt2000

Insurance - main dealer 1st class - Bt25,000

Maintenance - accrue Bt10,000

Depreciation - 10% per annum if you keep it 5+ years, 15% per annum if you keep it 3 years. At 10% - Bt80,000

Price rises - accrue 5% per annum to replace - Bt40,000

So the annual cost of running your vehicle is Bt187,000. That is a cautious estimate to replace your car with the equivalent model at the then new price in 5 years. If you are financing the current model, then add your financing costs. I think I budgeted around Bt200,000 a year for the truck. Pretty similar for most mid range price cars, more for more expensive of course.

[corkman]

Quite simple really. Assuming purchase price of Bt800,000

Fuel - 15,000km at 15km/L = 1000 litres of fuel at Bt30 = Bt30,000

Servicing - 2 per year at about Bt1000 = Bt2000

Insurance - main dealer 1st class - Bt25,000

Maintenance - accrue Bt10,000

Depreciation - 10% per annum if you keep it 5+ years, 15% per annum if you keep it 3 years. At 10% - Bt80,000

Price rises - accrue 5% per annum to replace - Bt40,000

So the annual cost of running your vehicle is Bt187,000. That is a cautious estimate to replace your car with the equivalent model at the then new price in 5 years. If you are financing the current model, then add your financing costs. I think I budgeted around Bt200,000 a year for the truck. Pretty similar for most mid range price cars, more for more expensive of course.

Thank you kindly for everyones input - especially torrenova for the above quoted reply which is excellent information. Thanks for the effort.

[Forethat]

b-sh-t.

have a look at your quote/agreement. for a yaris 1800-3k baht would be normal. if its not included in agreement, I guess you have to pay. if it is included and they still want 9500 baht, walk out

you can also do registration yourself. tax like 800 baht, plates like 300, 2 hours to process at Land Transport Department

Huh!?

I was quoted 10.000B in registration fee for a used 2009 Fortuner the other day. Is the fee based on the size?

If the your information above is correct I presume the owner of the car tent is expecting this to be "gin nim nim", ey?

[katabeachbum]

b-sh-t.

have a look at your quote/agreement. for a yaris 1800-3k baht would be normal. if its not included in agreement, I guess you have to pay. if it is included and they still want 9500 baht, walk out

you can also do registration yourself. tax like 800 baht, plates like 300, 2 hours to process at Land Transport Department

Huh!?

I was quoted 10.000B in registration fee for a used 2009 Fortuner the other day. Is the fee based on the size?

If the your information above is correct I presume the owner of the car tent is expecting this to be "gin nim nim", ey?

Fortuner tax is like 6.800 baht

[mdechgan]

Quite simple really. Assuming purchase price of Bt800,000

Fuel - 15,000km at 15km/L = 1000 litres of fuel at Bt30 = Bt30,000

Servicing - 2 per year at about Bt1000 = Bt2000

Insurance - main dealer 1st class - Bt25,000

Maintenance - accrue Bt10,000

Depreciation - 10% per annum if you keep it 5+ years, 15% per annum if you keep it 3 years. At 10% - Bt80,000

Price rises - accrue 5% per annum to replace - Bt40,000

So the annual cost of running your vehicle is Bt187,000. That is a cautious estimate to replace your car with the equivalent model at the then new price in 5 years. If you are financing the current model, then add your financing costs. I think I budgeted around Bt200,000 a year for the truck. Pretty similar for most mid range price cars, more for more expensive of course.

The costs are in the ballpark. I would add more for servicing and maintenance though, and there is always unexpected maintenance. An oil change with good quality semi synthetic oil is atleast 1,500 baht including filter which should be done atleast 3 times per year. Batteries and tires are already 10k which will need to be replaced after the 2nd or 3rd year. If the car is kept for two years not much maintenance is needed, but after the 3rd year watch out. Brakes, air filters, plugs, etc. Don't forget interest on cost of capital, car washes, parking fees and the crap one buys for the car like air freshners, etc.

I did a calculation once. If one lives in Bkk and doesn't go upcountry much it is much more cost effective to just use taxis. If ownership is about 200-250k per year does one really use that much for taxi fare in a year? Even after five years one has an asset available to sell. But the value of the asset doesn't offset the cost of capital lost over the past 5 years.

[coolhandjoe]

man of principles in theses climes is commended.

[torrenova]

The costs are in the ballpark. I would add more for servicing and maintenance though, and there is always unexpected maintenance. An oil change with good quality semi synthetic oil is atleast 1,500 baht including filter which should be done atleast 3 times per year. Batteries and tires are already 10k which will need to be replaced after the 2nd or 3rd year. If the car is kept for two years not much maintenance is needed, but after the 3rd year watch out. Brakes, air filters, plugs, etc. Don't forget interest on cost of capital, car washes, parking fees and the crap one buys for the car like air freshners, etc.

I did a calculation once. If one lives in Bkk and doesn't go upcountry much it is much more cost effective to just use taxis. If ownership is about 200-250k per year does one really use that much for taxi fare in a year? Even after five years one has an asset available to sell. But the value of the asset doesn't offset the cost of capital lost over the past 5 years.

Well, the model brings a replacement every 5 years and is working on 15k per annum or 75k over the 5 years. I changed the whole front and rear brakes on my 2007 D-Max and it was perhaps 4k, I hardly remember. Servicing every 5k including filter is around Bt1000.

50k maintenance over 5 years is more than enough. I take cleaning though but that could be Bt50 or Bt500 a pop, up to you ! Tires around 4k a pop and you'll need 3 probably so 12k. (no point putting a new on the spare).

Cost of capital ? depends upon whether you finance it or you are looking at the 0.1% bank interest on 800k.

You cannot compare having a motor to taxis. Motors give you so much more flexibility that they actually start to cut costs in other areas of your life. I might even go so far as to say that when I made my first purchase, the net cost was near zero in year 1 as it completely changed my life, allowing me to live somewhere much better but much cheaper, freed from the constraints of public transport.

[katabeachbum]

The costs are in the ballpark. I would add more for servicing and maintenance though, and there is always unexpected maintenance. An oil change with good quality semi synthetic oil is atleast 1,500 baht including filter which should be done atleast 3 times per year. Batteries and tires are already 10k which will need to be replaced after the 2nd or 3rd year. If the car is kept for two years not much maintenance is needed, but after the 3rd year watch out. Brakes, air filters, plugs, etc. Don't forget interest on cost of capital, car washes, parking fees and the crap one buys for the car like air freshners, etc.

I did a calculation once. If one lives in Bkk and doesn't go upcountry much it is much more cost effective to just use taxis. If ownership is about 200-250k per year does one really use that much for taxi fare in a year? Even after five years one has an asset available to sell. But the value of the asset doesn't offset the cost of capital lost over the past 5 years.

Well, the model brings a replacement every 5 years and is working on 15k per annum or 75k over the 5 years. I changed the whole front and rear brakes on my 2007 D-Max and it was perhaps 4k, I hardly remember. Servicing every 5k including filter is around Bt1000.

50k maintenance over 5 years is more than enough. I take cleaning though but that could be Bt50 or Bt500 a pop, up to you ! Tires around 4k a pop and you'll need 3 probably so 12k. (no point putting a new on the spare).

Cost of capital ? depends upon whether you finance it or you are looking at the 0.1% bank interest on 800k.

You cannot compare having a motor to taxis. Motors give you so much more flexibility that they actually start to cut costs in other areas of your life. I might even go so far as to say that when I made my first purchase, the net cost was near zero in year 1 as it completely changed my life, allowing me to live somewhere much better but much cheaper, freed from the constraints of public transport.

hmm, interest in Krungsri Ayudhua is 1,65% for me (farang witholdingtax) and approx 2,6% for my thai GF.

Yaris maintance for 5 years/100k km is far from 50k baht. every 10k km its 1000 baht every 40k km (sparkplugs, airfilter all fluids) its 4000 baht. 2 batteries at 3k, 4 tyres at 12k, brakepads once. 20k baht. sold my yaris last year

[ignis]

Tires around 4k

Expensive ?

just bought 4 new tires for my D-Max last week, 12,200 fitted for the set + they gave me 2,000 back for the old set as there was still a lot a tread on them so paid 10,200 baht.........

I changed because these have lasted a lot longer than the last 2 new D-Max tires.. Normal I change them between 70 - 75,000km.... This D-Max 'Gold Series' bought New mid 2008 has 98,000 km on them... The spare is still unused, as were the 2 D-Max pickups before this one when I exchanged them.

[ignis]

2 batteries at 3k

Better to buy a better battery when the one supplied is dead..

Eg: When I had the Jazz always bought a new battery from Honda, just under 1,000 baht fitted + lasted max 14 months.... On my Audi changed the battery 4 weeks ago today, it has lasted 5year 3 months... OK the new one cost 2,900, the independent Battery Suppler man came to my house and changed, took the old battery then asked for 2,600 baht.... So an old battery is worth 300 baht..

A battery for an Audi is different as it is not as high as the norm, as it is under the back seat.

[katabeachbum]

2 batteries at 3k

Better to buy a better battery when the one supplied is dead..

Eg: When I had the Jazz always bought a new battery from Honda, just under 1,000 baht fitted + lasted max 14 months.... On my Audi changed the battery 4 weeks ago today, it has lasted 5year 3 months... OK the new one cost 2,900, the independent Battery Suppler man came to my house and changed, took the old battery then asked for 2,600 baht.... So an old battery is worth 300 baht..

A battery for an Audi is different as it is not as high as the norm, as it is under the back seat.

agree

Boliden for Yaris is 2.000 baht and double lifetime of the cheap ones. actually less expensive than 2 cheap batteries during 5 years

Many complain about battery lifetime in LOS, temperature etc, but I belive the main reason is crap quality and charging less than 14,4 volt.

Your Audi probably came with a German battery, 3-5 years is the norm.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Excellent information, especially the cost of ownership. Thanks very much Torrenova and Mdechgan.

One should not go cheap on tires or battery.

Good tires, oriented toward long life rather than stick, should go 60K to 75K. The stickier tires, i.e., with more grip (they're therefore a softer compound) will only last about 25K. They are better in the rain, too. Tire life also depends on the roughness of the asphalt surface, driving style (fast in the corners, hard braking, constant curves and corners, etc.), cargo/passenger loads, and whether you maintain proper pressures (very important).

A battery should last close to five years, as long as you're mixing long and short trips. But constant short trips cut battery life.

[katabeachbum]

Excellent information, especially the cost of ownership. Thanks very much Torrenova and Mdechgan.

One should not go cheap on tires or battery.

Good tires, oriented toward long life rather than stick, should go 60K to 75K. The stickier tires, i.e., with more grip (they're therefore a softer compound) will only last about 25K. They are better in the rain, too. Tire life also depends on the roughness of the asphalt surface, driving style (fast in the corners, hard braking, constant curves and corners, etc.), cargo/passenger loads, and whether you maintain proper pressures (very important).

A battery should last close to five years, as long as you're mixing long and short trips. But constant short trips cut battery life.

thai made acid/lead batteries in thai made cars do usually not last more than 2 years, never more than 3 years. even highway driving only.