When I move to Thailand from the U.S., I'm sure whether it will be better to buy a vehicle here, and ship it over; or buy a vehicle in Thailand.

What are your thoughts, guys?

Buy in Thailand... save yourself the hassle

totster

Buy in Thailand... save yourself the hassle

totster 

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I second that, and it applies IMHO to anything you can't carry in, mail it: stands a good chance of not arriving + duty uncertainty, fedex it etc in and it may not get lost but you have no control and no recourse over any duty levied Fedex etc just pay what is demanded and give you the bill.

To say nothing about the which side the steering wheel is on. Though you sometimes see left hand cars here, it must be difficult to drive around in one.

TH

Just what we need in the narrow Soi's of BKK. A Septic with a 30' gas guzzling monster with the steering wheel on the wrong side, a recipe for disaster

Seriously mate, save yourself the hassle of importing (it is NOT easy and the duty to pay is HUGE).

Cars here are more expensive BUT hold their value well.

DC

To say nothing about the which side the steering wheel is on.  Though you sometimes see left hand cars here, it must be difficult to drive around in one. 

TH

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Good point..

totster

To say nothing about the which side the steering wheel is on.  Though you sometimes see left hand cars here, it must be difficult to drive around in one. 

TH

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Good point..

totster

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Not really. What you lose in rural right lane passing you more than make up for in city left shoulder traffic jam avoidance.

Basically if you want to buy here, buy new. They hold their value so well here that in some cases a second hand model can cost more than the latest model. This has happened on a couple of new model cars and also on bikes.Last year a new Honda wave bike cost less than a second hand model from the year before. Same with the Toyota Tiger pick-up. They have replaced it with the Vigo, which costs less than a second hand Tiger from two years ago.

Thanks to all of you. The consensus is clear, and I will take your advice to buy when I move.

I'm sure that most of you are married to a Thai woman. You are, I assume, painfully familiar with their, shall we say, somewhat stubborn nature when they get an opinion in their minds. My wife is convinced that it would be better to buy here. I disagreed. At least I now have some ammunition to continue the "discussion"! :-)