Car Budget In Thailand

[Firefan]

In case I stay longer term here I would like the luxury (and headaches?) of a car.

Browsing www.expatmotors.co.th it looks like something in the 400k Baht level (Soluna/City or maybe a Hyundai) max 5 year old Japanese or Korean.

From the homepage the tax+compulsory insurance will be around 3k and the comprehensive will be about 20k. Totalling about 23k/year in fixed costs.

While anything can happen, can anybody give me some good estimates/rules of thumb as to how much I should expect in service/repair costs?

And how much does a liter of gasoline go for these days?

Thaks before hand. Cheers!

[terdsak_12]

400K will get you a decent used Japanese car, and 23K a year will keep you insured and taxed etc. Servicing is cheap, couple of grand, and gas is around 25 Baht a litre these days.

[paulfr]

Long term costs are mostly determined by resale values which are very high as cars last a long long time here. So on a 400KTHB car it might be worth 300KTHB 3 years from now. Not bad.

But the other side is that it can be hard to find a buyer if you have to leave quickly ..... most Thais will be looking for a steal and farangs with money who want a car are not easy to find. A little like owning a home in the West in that regard. Dont get caught needing to sell fast.

[Firefan]

Thanks terdsak and paul!

Now I will work the nos and realize that maybe those taxis and subway/skytrains are still worth the hassle!

Cheers!

[paulfr]

Firefan

Actually I highly recommend getting a car; a good option is renting. A monthly rate as low as 16000B/mo is possible at Petchiburi Rental near Ekamai.

http://www.thairentacar.com/index1.php

This includes insurance and all fees. And it saves you that 100-200B/day in taxi and BTS bills ... so it is effectively 10-13,000B/mo.

The best part other than the feeling of independence you get driving in your own personal space is that the hot/humid perspiration is no longer an agrivation as you are in an AC'd space all the time.

Downside is the traffic and knowing how to avoid the bad jamups.

Good luck.

[Firefan]

When I last lived in BKK in some years back I loved having a car - on top of your points it also makes trips out of the city so much easier to do. Cheers!

[terdsak_12]

I agree with PaulFr, have a motor imporives your quality of life 10 fold in Bangkok, no more having to deal with taxi driver's, up and down stair on the skytrain etc, your own air-con bubble with tint windows, and your own music without having to deal with people. Yes you sit in traffic, but I don't commute so can pick my travel times carefully.

[edh]

I think Expatmotors are a bit expensive. There are a lot of other dealers to browse in Thailand where you can get fair deals with.

[The_Other_Mac]

Yes you sit in traffic, but I don't commute so can pick my travel times carefully.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes, but you can't buy fuel at those times.

The most physically demanding journeys I've made in Bangkok involve jogging up and down multistorey car-parks with a bleeper, trying to find where my gf parked...

[edd]

If you want a site for car sales have a look at this

http://www.one2car.com/

edd