Where To Buy A Car

[nellyp]

I am comming to Thailand in September, and plan on buying a 4 seater pickup: and am spending a few days in Bangkok before going to Sisaket. Do you think I would be better off buying a pickup in the city or in the sticks? The motor will be second hand and cheap (max 200,000). Would it be cheaper in the sticks? I would prefer to buy in the city as I can drive it to Sisaket with my gear. Problem being that if I buy in the city from a garage and it goes wrong I will be miles away. Also if I buy in Bangkok are there any problems with taking it to another province?

Cheers

[gotlost]

If your a farang you will need a certificate of residence from immigration 500 baht. to get this you need some kind of prof of where you live, lease contract etc. or you kind go to your embassy and pay about 2000 baht for the letter.. After that the letter, copy of passport and money is all you need. If you buy in Bangkok it will be registered in Bangkok at some point like renewal of road tax, 1 year you will need to transfer it to Sisaket. Personally your better of buying over in Sisaket area if that is where your going to live. That letter of residency can be gotten from your local cop shop out in the sticks. As for cost of truck you can doe just as good out there and some times better than in the big city.

[taninthai]

If your a farang you will need a certificate of residence from immigration 500 baht. to get this you need some kind of prof of where you live, lease contract etc. or you kind go to your embassy and pay about 2000 baht for the letter.. After that the letter, copy of passport and money is all you need. If you buy in Bangkok it will be registered in Bangkok at some point like renewal of road tax, 1 year you will need to transfer it to Sisaket. Personally your better of buying over in Sisaket area if that is where your going to live. That letter of residency can be gotten from your local cop shop out in the sticks. As for cost of truck you can doe just as good out there and some times better than in the big city.

okay once you have all the above all you need is your purchase money and i am almost certain you will not get a 4 door pick up for 200k you might find an old ford ranger for anything from 250,000 and up very old not very nice interior then the next price bracket would be the isuzi can pick up 4 door 4x4 for around 400k not sure what the 2 wd goes for.

the other option is a suzuki caribean start from 100k approx horrible to drive though real bone shaker.

hope this helps.......................

[nellyp]

If your a farang you will need a certificate of residence from immigration 500 baht. to get this you need some kind of prof of where you live, lease contract etc. or you kind go to your embassy and pay about 2000 baht for the letter.. After that the letter, copy of passport and money is all you need. If you buy in Bangkok it will be registered in Bangkok at some point like renewal of road tax, 1 year you will need to transfer it to Sisaket. Personally your better of buying over in Sisaket area if that is where your going to live. That letter of residency can be gotten from your local cop shop out in the sticks. As for cost of truck you can doe just as good out there and some times better than in the big city.

Cheers for the reply, If I got my missus (Thai) to buy the car, would that cause me any headaches? She would not need to get the various bits and pieces to buy the car, but what would happen with insurance etc. Also I am thinking of getting an international drivers permit. Is there any point in this as is it is only valid for a year, and I would take my test in LOS in the future anyway?

Cheers

[gotlost]

If your going to have your better half buy no problem and the same on insurance. As for the international permit if you are driving on a recognized license US/UK/etc your OK but if you want the International permit it won't hurt or help. Best to get a Thai license Its easy enough and it helps to communicate with the locals.

[MoonRiverOasis]

Where To Buy A Car in the city or sticks

In the City where there's more competition and range.

[ScubaBuddha]

Agreed, buying in the city is better. Surf around www.one2car.com and www.cars4thais.com. Pick a few of the biggest tent sellers and go check out their stock. I did this once and it was very easy. For that price it will have to be a Ford Ranger 1999-2003, 2WD is going to be cheaper than the 4WD obviously. I bought a 2001 Mitsubishi Strada 4X4 for 250k a couple years ago this way.

As for driving to the "sticks' with your car, no problem. That is common, and I did it as well. (If you can call Phuket the "sticks") When you go to pay the tax in a year, or whenever it is due, also change the location of the car. IE get the Bangkok plates changed to local ones.

An IDP is pointless and unnecessary in Thailand, but doesn't hurt. As mentioned your license from back home is valid here and usually accepted forever but technically once you can no longer pass yourself off as a tourist and you have established residency, which can be determined many ways, the police can hassle you because technically you need to get a Thai DL. Some have reported issues with insurance when you don't have a Thai DL. . If you bring your home DL in to the LTD (Land Transport Dept) they will likely wave the driving and written test. You just do the reaction, color, and depth perception test and issue you an equivalent class DL here.

As for your missus buying the car...I guess it depends on the missus as to whether it will cause you a headache! :lol:lol Always better to have the car in your name, just in case. May be impossible in your case if you can't prove residency. Ask at the dealer 1st maybe they can arrange it for you.

[nellyp]

Thanks all. I think I'll have a look in Bangkok first and if nothing I like I'll see what happens in Sisaket. I have no problem with a ten year old motor (driving that age now and have had older) i'm pretty good with motors and can do most stuff myself. Also don't mind driving to Issan as i did it last time I was over in a hire car (a brand new Chevrolet...it was rubbish i thought it was resticted; that was till I had one as an insurance replacement in Wales) I have had a look on the sites and seen some possibilities in my range, will need to keep a closer eye as i get nearer to flying.

Cheers

[MoonRiverOasis]

Thanks all. I think I'll have a look in Bangkok first and if nothing I like I'll see what happens in Sisaket.

Just personal opinion, but there's no way I'd buy a used pickup in Srisaket.. Srisaket services a huge farming area - the the North the next dealerships are towards Yasothon, the North East is next serviced by Roi Et, and in the East, Ubon. Until the past 2-3 years most of the main roads in the area were utterly atrocious, and many still are. Trucks in that area have little chance of being dealer serviced due to the distance most owners would need to travel (up to 100KM drive to a dealership), and have almost certainly had a hard, potholed life with wet mud stuck to the drivetrain for months or years on end promoting rust..

Just saying

[gerryBScot]

I would suggest you try Union Auctions; www.union-auction.com; a mate who runs a car hire company here recommended them to me. I got a Triton 2 door basic model here this time last year and never had a problem with it. I got everything with the car.....manuals, radio,remote. They really impressed me with their efficiency. I had a bigger budget but there will be vehicles in your price range but obviously older ones and risk factors increase. my feeling was I got access to a range of vehicles at better prices than I would ever hope to from a private sale or via a dealer. I think you can download the latest list online and there are auctions every Saturday when they knock out 200 -300 cars. If nothing else it is a good day out!

[phutoie2]

Thanks all. I think I'll have a look in Bangkok first and if nothing I like I'll see what happens in Sisaket.

Just personal opinion, but there's no way I'd buy a used pickup in Srisaket.. Srisaket services a huge farming area - the the North the next dealerships are towards Yasothon, the North East is next serviced by Roi Et, and in the East, Ubon. Until the past 2-3 years most of the main roads in the area were utterly atrocious, and many still are. Trucks in that area have little chance of being dealer serviced due to the distance most owners would need to travel (up to 100KM drive to a dealership), and have almost certainly had a hard, potholed life with wet mud stuck to the drivetrain for months or years on end promoting rust..

Just saying

Who gets an old truck dealer serviced??. Certainly not the Thais I know. There's plenty of small garages about capable of carrying out maintenance. The car wash folk in town used to do all the work on our old Frontier.

The OP is looking for a Double Cab pick up for a max of 200k Baht and I personally think he will be lucky to find something under 10 years old at that price.

Probably a Ford Ranger, Mazda 2500, Mitsu Strad, plenty of Nissan Frontiers about, though most I see at the tents are King Cabs.

For a laugh have a look at Baht & Sold to see what 'farangs' are asking for!.

My mate was offered 210k Baht trade in for an immaculate 10 year old Ford Ranger, Double Cab and carryboy by the Isuzu dealer, put it on B & S for 270K and some sap from Pattaya came up and got it.

[ignis]

Where To Buy A Car in the city or sticks

In the City where there's more competition and range.

more competition and range Yes agree, but if it is a local truck the one in the Sticks would have less wear, less likely to have had little accidents... Bangkok is just constant stop start.. There are lots of older 1 owner trucks about, many Thais keep there cars/trucks for 10 to 15 years.

[MoonRiverOasis]

more competition and range Yes agree, but if it is a local truck the one in the Sticks would have less wear, less likely to have had little accidents... Bangkok is just constant stop start.. There are lots of older 1 owner trucks about, many Thais keep there cars/trucks for 10 to 15 years.

I'm guessing you're not familiar with the "roads" (if you could call them that) in Srisaket province?

[Spaniel]

Here is another car sales website you might want to look at:

Edited August 22, 2010 by Rimmer
Link removed

[ScubaBuddha]

Here is another car sales website you might want to look at: www.100homecar.com

Spam and off topic.

That is a private sellers website. There is like 25 cars there, 95% luxury. OP is looking for a sub 200,000 baht truck.

[nellyp]

Wow I thank you all. I will take all the advice look at the sites and also see if I can get to an auction (if one is on when I'm in Bangkok) I don't mind a 10 year old motor (as explained I have one now) or a bit older. If it's OK to start with i can work on it to keep it useable. What kind of motor would be best for spare parts and do such things as breakers yards exsist?

[ScubaBuddha]

Wow I thank you all. I will take all the advice look at the sites and also see if I can get to an auction (if one is on when I'm in Bangkok) I don't mind a 10 year old motor (as explained I have one now) or a bit older. If it's OK to start with i can work on it to keep it useable. What kind of motor would be best for spare parts and do such things as breakers yards exsist?

Toyota's you best bet as far as parts. They have the largest presence in Thailand with Isuzu being second, but they are both more expensive than the others. Ford, Chevy, Mitsu and Nissan also all have new car dealers with service garages and are fairly well established as well.

I'll assume a breakers yard is Brit speak for a junk yard. Not sure on that one but never fear, any decent mechanic shop will be able to source parts, sometimes cheap copies, as long as you stick with one of the main brands.

[tig28]

more competition and range Yes agree, but if it is a local truck the one in the Sticks would have less wear, less likely to have had little accidents... Bangkok is just constant stop start.. There are lots of older 1 owner trucks about, many Thais keep there cars/trucks for 10 to 15 years.

I'm guessing you're not familiar with the "roads" (if you could call them that) in Srisaket province?

Yep!! the roads are absolutely terrible ---- here is a pic taken in 2007 of the highway on the outskirts of Sisaket on the way to Ubon (highway 226) .

Left click to enlarge.

[MoonRiverOasis]

more competition and range Yes agree, but if it is a local truck the one in the Sticks would have less wear, less likely to have had little accidents... Bangkok is just constant stop start.. There are lots of older 1 owner trucks about, many Thais keep there cars/trucks for 10 to 15 years.

I'm guessing you're not familiar with the "roads" (if you could call them that) in Srisaket province?

Yep!! the roads are absolutely terrible ---- here is a pic taken in 2007 of the highway on the outskirts of Sisaket on the way to Ubon (highway 226) .

Left click to enlarge.

You Newbie!

Until the past 2-3 years most of the main roads in the area were utterly atrocious, and many still are.

[tig28]

You Newbie!

Until the past 2-3 years most of the main roads in the area were utterly atrocious, and many still are.

Hi MoonRiverOasis

Ahhhhh !! I'm sorry I didn't realise we were talking pre-war!! The majority of the roads around Sisaket are above average now!! This century We also have electricity now ...

For the OP -- Thai immigration has an office in the main police station --- open each Monday and Friday (only) where you can obtain your cert of residence and do reporting etc. Also there is a surprising number of "pre-loved" car yards now in Sisaket.

[MoonRiverOasis]

You Newbie!

Until the past 2-3 years most of the main roads in the area were utterly atrocious, and many still are.

Hi MoonRiverOasis

Ahhhhh !! I'm sorry I didn't realise we were talking pre-war!! The majority of the roads around Sisaket are above average now!! This century We also have electricity now ...

Well, the road between Srisaket and Ubon is still new and holding up (nice cruise @ 160), and Muang Srisaket is OK too, but the 226 to Surin, the 2086 to Rasi are already starting to pothole up.. Still better than what they were a few years ago though - back then you'd be forgiven for mistaking them for Iraqi roads

As soon as you veer off of the more major throroughfares it all starts looking like the surface of the moon, and feeling more like the good old days in Thailand's poorest province again

In any case, the point I was trying to make is that a 10-15 year old pickup from Srisaket is going to have had a hard, bumpy, muddy life. Something from BKK will have had it much easier..

Edited August 23, 2010 by MoonRiverOasis

[WarpSpeed]

If your going to have your better half buy no problem and the same on insurance. As for the international permit if you are driving on a recognized license US/UK/etc your OK but if you want the International permit it won't hurt or help. Best to get a Thai license Its easy enough and it helps to communicate with the locals.

And you can use it (the license) for discounts at most attractions that have double pricing as you're considered a resident then and not a tourist..