Which Car, How To Finance, Etc Etc

[PatLogan]

Hello everybody,

I know it might have been asked before, but here we go.

I am lucky enough to have my company giving me a monthly car allowance. Rather than stupidly wasting it in rental, I think it would make much more sense to use that to pay a loan , say around 20 to 22K THB per month.

From what I gathered, if I was to buy a new car, I need first a 20% down-payment, an then a mortgage. Given I am not so keen on handling more than 200K THB as a down payment, and given I would rather go for a shorter loan (3 to 4 years), that means basically I could target a 1M THB vehicle.

Now the questions, about financing first.

1. It seems it won't be easy for me to get a loan here, since my income is from oversea. My wife is a Thai national, but she is now a full time housewife with 4 kids and has no income. We have a small house here fully paid, with her name on it (I am also registered there as her husband). Is it common practice for a bank here to accept the loan given the assets we have are over the price of the car? If not, can they accept a loan based on my oversea income (I guess i would need a certified income declaration from my Embassy,...)
2. Are the loans usually organized by car dealers here or do you have to get one at he bank yourself. And which one would seem the most interesting?
3. Is is possible to get loans for second hand cars? That might get be a good solution for me to get a bigger car.

About ownership:

1. If the loan is under my wife name, will the car be under her name only. She is not driving yet, but my concern is more about insurance as I want to be properly insured, and it might be easier if the car is under my name.

Now the about choosing the car...

If new, in the 1M THB range, I guess I should go for either a Civic 2.0 or an Altis 2.0. I am not that much concerned about resale value, but I guess these are sensible choices as far as service costs are concerned... Sensible but boring.

I must admit I was tempted to get a pick up truck with double cabin, but in the city, I don't see the point (we live in BKK). A Zafira would have been a good choice, but I think they don't manufacture them in Thailand any more...

If second hand... well that would be a very different matter, as I might then consider a Fortuner or a Toyota Wish, or a Honda CRV. Or then I go for the Alfa 156 is saw on Expat motors

I know I might start a war between members by asking you guys which car to go for, but all advises are welcome!

Thanks!

Edited September 2, 2010 by PatLogan

[MoonRiverOasis]

Firstly, if this you/your wife's first finance in Thailand, you'll need a Thai national to act as a guarantor in order to down just 20% - w/out one you'll more than likely need at least 25%.

1. You'll have a problem with Kasikorn Bank as they require a working Thai national, but Ayudyha (Cash4Car) and Siam Commercial Bank (amongst others) will accept your abroad salary so long as it's accompanied by an official company letter stating your job role, time employed and income - in this case the finance would be in your Thai wife's name, with you as a guarantor (sometimes not officially - i.e. co-signer). Bangkok Bank will also finance under the same arrangement but normally require a much heftier down payment (50% is not uncommon).

2. Dealers usually organize finance for you, but note answer #1 above. There's nothing exlcuding you from sourcing your own finance either directly or through a broker.

3. 2nd hand is harder to get approved / requires more down payment. Plus it just makes little sense given the (small) price difference involved and the warranty status. IMHO.

4. (1) Registered owner does not need a license for any purpose. The driver however needs a license.

Personally I'm not a fan of any of your car choices (bar one, will leave that to the imagination), so I'll butt out of that discussion

Edited September 2, 2010 by MoonRiverOasis

[PatLogan]

Firstly, if this you/your wife's first finance in Thailand, you'll need a Thai national to act as a guarantor in order to down just 20% - w/out one you'll more than likely need at least 25%.

1. You'll have a problem with Kasikorn Bank as they require a working Thai national, but Ayudyha (Cash4Car) and Siam Commercial Bank (amongst others) will accept your abroad salary so long as it's accompanied by an official company letter stating your job role, time employed and income - in this case the finance would be in your Thai wife's name, with you as a guarantor (sometimes not officially - i.e. co-signer). Bangkok Bank will also finance under the same arrangement but normally require a much heftier down payment (50% is not uncommon).

2. Dealers usually organize finance for you, but note answer #1 above. There's nothing exlcuding you from sourcing your own finance either directly or through a broker.

3. 2nd hand is harder to get approved / requires more down payment. Plus it just makes little sense given the (small) price difference involved and the warranty status. IMHO.

4. (1) Registered owner does not need a license for any purpose. The driver however needs a license.

Personally I'm not a fan of any of your car choices (bar one, will leave that to the imagination), so I'll butt out of that discussion

Thanks a lot!

As for the car, well, for 1 MTHB it is difficult to imagine having a nice red car with a logo having a big green snake on it... But if you have ideas of what to get in that price range which is way more fun to drive even if a bit more expensive to won, i am all ears

[MoonRiverOasis]

Thanks a lot!

As for the car, well, for 1 MTHB it is difficult to imagine having a nice red car with a logo having a big green snake on it... But if you have ideas of what to get in that price range which is way more fun to drive even if a bit more expensive to won, i am all ears

Add Thanachart to the list of banks that will also consider your "combined income" (as a married couple) for the finance. Again it'll most probably still be in your wife's name however seeing as it's your first finance. Do finance a few times and build a TH credit rating and you'll be able to do it all in your own name though.

As for recommendations, you're in the "compromise" price bracket so you'll need to tell us all more about what you need your car to do - i.e. what sort of loads might you carry, how many people it needs to sit, will it do big trips or purely around town, what characteristics are most important to you (i.e handling/performace, luxury, versatility, size, fuel economy, social status, resale value, TCO etc).

Edited September 2, 2010 by MoonRiverOasis

[PatLogan]

Add Thanachart to the list of banks that will also consider your "combined income" (as a married couple) for the finance. Again it'll most probably still be in your wife's name however seeing as it's your first finance. Do finance a few times and build a TH credit rating and you'll be able to do it all in your own name though.

As for recommendations, you're in the "compromise" price bracket so you'll need to tell us all more about what you need your car to do - i.e. what sort of loads might you carry, how many people it needs to sit, will it do big trips or purely around town, what characteristics are most important to you (i.e handling/performace, luxury, versatility, size, fuel economy, social status, resale value, TCO etc).

Thanks again!

As for the car, well 4 kids but I will never carry all 4 kids in it, most probably max 4 people (2 adults + 2 5yo) for most common short trips in Bangkok, and 5 people for trips to Jomtien, Hua Hin, etc. not further than 300km from Bangkok.

Resale value is not a big deal. So is social status. I want good handling, and reasonable to high performance (but I am afraid I can't go for manual because of my wife). I am not into big cars or 4WD (but I might need a good trunk size for when I travel with my dive gear).

To give you an idea, if I was in Europe, I would consider a Lancia Delta or a second hand 159 SW. So you might guess style is important for me

[engineer139]

I'm in a similar situation as my wife stays at home and has no income and I work overseas, we have 2 kids and 2 Siberian Huskies that are getting bigger and finally decided that we should get something bigger as the Jazz no longer had enough room. We went into a Toyota showroom in BKK to look at Fortuners and talk about financing and when we told them we were willing to put 50% down they set up an appointment the next day with Ayuthya to see what they could do. The guy came out to our house and we gave him proof of house ownership, my wifes ID, my passport as well as my wifes bank statements showing I deposit approx.40000 baht every month, and also gave them a copy of my bank statement showing my salary deposit every month. They did not ask for a letter from my company and he went away and 2 days later we were approved. We are now waiting for our Fortuner Sportivo to be delivered in October. I was very surprised at how quick it was and that they didn't want to see anything else but maybe it was because I was putting half the money up.