Can A Foreigner Buy A Car With Financing?

[mdotinc]

Hi!

I am currently living and working in phuket with my girlfriend(she is from Issan). Can I buy a car on financing from a used dealer? Do dealerships/banks offer financing to foreigners?

Also; if not, could my girlfriend get financing in provinces other than her hometown?

Thanks

[ThaiPauly]

I think you can if you have a W/P and a credible bank account where you can show them statements going back quite a while.

However, I am not an expert in this matter, maybe someone else who has had experience with this will pop in later and clarify

[fredob43]

If your G/F get's the finance the car will have to be in her name. Little tiff no G/F no car. Good game A. Shoudn't be a problem getting finance but they will ask for a bigger down payment because your a Farang. Sometime's 50%

Edited April 20, 2011 by fredob43

[katabeachbum]

I think you can if you have a W/P and a credible bank account where you can show them statements going back quite a while.

However, I am not an expert in this matter, maybe someone else who has had experience with this will pop in later and clarify

yes foreigners can Finance car and have Thai creditcard.

Display your cash flow through Thai bankaccounts to Finance company, and they will tell you how much down is needed. Expect a Thai guarantor to be required for your first car and also later cars if they are 4x4 pickups.

Most easy finance in Phuket is Tanachart bank, and they run a clean business

WP and/or married to a Thai makes Financing more easy to obtain. I am neither, but still have my third car financed in my name

Often down and monthly payments are lower on a brand new car, due to lower interest and not much difference in price, so suggest having a look at new cars as well. Nissan March from 400k and Toyota Vios from 550k baht in the lower end of new cars market

[mdotinc]

thanks...im really looking to spend as little as possible! Im going to have a baby in 5 months and I need safe transportation...and im on a major budget!

What type of down payment will I be looking at?

Is it possible to get a car with 30 to 60,000 down?

[katabeachbum]

thanks...im really looking to spend as little as possible! Im going to have a baby in 5 months and I need safe transportation...and im on a major budget!

What type of down payment will I be looking at?

Is it possible to get a car with 30 to 60,000 down?

totally depends on your credit rating, if you have never had any credit previously in Thailand you do not have a credit rating/history, so cashflow through Thai bank and WP/Income/taxes payed is all they have to base their credit desicion on.

In 2006 we needed a third car for schoolruns, and I bought a new Yaris with approx 90k down and 12k /month x 48 months

Plenty of car dealers offering 29.900 down, but in reality very few Thais and no foreigners qualify for it

another option here in Phuket is to get a 10-15 year old Hyundai at 30-50k baht

[Pinot]

I don't think there is a problem with a Thai cosigner with good credit.

I didn't want one so I bought a few weeks ago with 50% down and showed a bank statement with 200k in savings. They may be reluctant to do it but they'll do it. They made me draw a map to my house?

Edited May 1, 2011 by Pinot

[WarpSpeed]

thanks...im really looking to spend as little as possible! Im going to have a baby in 5 months and I need safe transportation...and im on a major budget!

What type of down payment will I be looking at?

Is it possible to get a car with 30 to 60,000 down?

totally depends on your credit rating, if you have never had any credit previously in Thailand you do not have a credit rating/history, so cashflow through Thai bank and WP/Income/taxes payed is all they have to base their credit desicion on.

Hmmmmm, I was told in another thread there was no credit rating process here? I agree there is and have been helping my wife build her's ever since and she is doing quite well now..

[theoldgit]

Hmmmmm, I was told in another thread there was no credit rating process here? I agree there is and have been helping my wife build her's ever since and she is doing quite well now..

There is a credit rating system, well certainly I get a yearly printout from the car finance bank and credit card company showing the reports they made regarding my account.

I am retired and my only income is my pension, so no work permit, and I financed my car without problem and without a Thai co-signing.

As a matter of interest I also applied for and got a Thai Credit Card.

[katabeachbum]

Hmmmmm, I was told in another thread there was no credit rating process here? I agree there is and have been helping my wife build her's ever since and she is doing quite well now..

There is a credit rating system, well certainly I get a yearly printout from the car finance bank and credit card company showing the reports they made regarding my account.

I am retired and my only income is my pension, so no work permit, and I financed my car without problem and without a Thai co-signing.

As a matter of interest I also applied for and got a Thai Credit Card.

There is a credit rating here, containing info on your debts and payment history, but no rating like A,AA,AAA or points as in Europe and US, so lender must analyze themselves. Just like I said before

[WarpSpeed]

Hmmmmm, I was told in another thread there was no credit rating process here? I agree there is and have been helping my wife build her's ever since and she is doing quite well now..

There is a credit rating system, well certainly I get a yearly printout from the car finance bank and credit card company showing the reports they made regarding my account.

I am retired and my only income is my pension, so no work permit, and I financed my car without problem and without a Thai co-signing.

As a matter of interest I also applied for and got a Thai Credit Card.

There is a credit rating here, containing info on your debts and payment history, but no rating like A,AA,AAA or points as in Europe and US, so lender must analyze themselves. Just like I said before

Actually hadn't realized it was you that posted that before, but of course no A, AA or AAA system that all comes down to the individual creditor anyways, they can look at the history and decide for themselves as they also do back home regardless of what your "rating" is..

[MoonRiverOasis]

There is a credit rating here, containing info on your debts and payment history, but no rating like A,AA,AAA or points as in Europe and US, so lender must analyze themselves. Just like I said before

The rating system here is based on a score, so easy to analyze. Every repayment you make (or miss) gets scored between 0 and 10, and the average of all these scores, along oith the total amount of scores (repayments made) makes up your personal rating - e.g. 5 payments late by 2-3 days, but 43 payments made on/before time = 9.9/48.

There are 2 credit reporting agencies, and all scores and history from any finance are available to all lenders e.g. Kasikorn will know if you have a house loan with SCB, and a car loan with Toyota Leasing, and they will have your scores for each loan you've ever had, up to last month.

The Thai system is actually better than most Western systems, as it clearly indicates the kind of repayments people might struggle with - e.g. if someone has a 9+ score on paying back an 8,000 Baht/mth car loan, but a 4/10 score on repaying a house loan @ 20K Baht/mth, they will probably still get low-value finance, but not higher value.

[katabeachbum]

There is a credit rating here, containing info on your debts and payment history, but no rating like A,AA,AAA or points as in Europe and US, so lender must analyze themselves. Just like I said before

The rating system here is based on a score, so easy to analyze. Every repayment you make (or miss) gets scored between 0 and 10, and the average of all these scores, along oith the total amount of scores (repayments made) makes up your personal rating - e.g. 5 payments late by 2-3 days, but 43 payments made on/before time = 9.9/48.

There are 2 credit reporting agencies, and all scores and history from any finance are available to all lenders e.g. Kasikorn will know if you have a house loan with SCB, and a car loan with Toyota Leasing, and they will have your scores for each loan you've ever had, up to last month.

The Thai system is actually better than most Western systems, as it clearly indicates the kind of repayments people might struggle with - e.g. if someone has a 9+ score on paying back an 8,000 Baht/mth car loan, but a 4/10 score on repaying a house loan @ 20K Baht/mth, they will probably still get low-value finance, but not higher value.

It is indeed better than most western systems, as it actually contains information . a fellow countryman living here for 7-8 years, without any income has better creditrating in our home country than another friend making 5 million baht a year back home before taxes.

[otherstuff1957]

I bought a fairly cheap car a couple of years ago. It cost 135,000 baht & I put about 50 or 60K down and financed the rest. I had to show my work permit and I also had to get a Thai co-signer (my wife's brother-in-law).

[jlelouer]

got my vios 3 years ago through financing. Just my gf name as a guarantee, but only my WP, bank statement and salary slips actually mattered. Deposit was 15 or 20% as i recall.

[WarpSpeed]

I bought a fairly cheap car a couple of years ago. It cost 135,000 baht & I put about 50 or 60K down and financed the rest. I had to show my work permit and I also had to get a Thai co-signer (my wife's brother-in-law).

Depending on the cars age and model if you had all these documents and a substantial down payment as mentioned you should not have had to have a Thai guarantor, you got worked. They will always prefer to have a Thai guarantor but it's up to you to know better and insist so or as I would do find another car, with another dealer, or finance company, this comes from someone who has now bought 2 older cars with financing and never had a Thai guarantor..

Edited May 12, 2011 by WarpSpeed

[otherstuff1957]

^ you are correct, I normally would not need a Thai co-signer when purchasing a used car. The reason that I did need one in this instance is that the car was a 1993 model. If I had been buying a car that was less then 10 years old, I wouldn't have needed a co-signer.

[JeffreyMcCollum]

thanks...im really looking to spend as little as possible! Im going to have a baby in 5 months and I need safe transportation...and im on a major budget!

What type of down payment will I be looking at?

Is it possible to get a car with 30 to 60,000 down?

Yes. I have a work permit, and proper Thailand Visa (Non I got a new Nissan March for 375,000 Bt. 36,000 down My payments could have been as low as 5000 Bt a month but I only wanted 2 years, I did not neet a Thai Co signer and I am not married, yet . . .

Love the March BTW Take it Chiang Mai BKK or Pattaya weekly and get 19.2 km/l with the A/C running and big fat tires on it

[filguy]

Yes you can buy with financing. As with my new car, no need thai guarantor, pay 30% down, 4 yrs to pay, make sure you have high salary and good credit.

[JohanBKK]

In Hua Hin they offered me finance without any problem or paper asked. I paid cash but you can get finance, it depends on the dealer and your charism to make him believe that you will pay every month.

They told me they prefer foreigners because they are never late with payments, thai people always pay late.

[Wavefloater]

From what I've heard, it's very difficult for a foreigner to get financing for used car without a strong Thai co-signer -- much more likely to get financing for a new one if you have at least 25% of the price for a down payment.

[JeffreyMcCollum]

Non B visa, W/P I got financing for 3 years with 100,000 down and no Thai signer

All in my name SCB

[NALAK]

i was always told by banks if a work permit can get credit and credit card, last car was in wifes name, paid fianance of now in my name. doubt they have credit scoring here.

[ArtfulD]

I was intent on buying a new camry, 1 million down, thai guarantor required, show my bank statements 200+ a month going in, wait 4 days....sorry we wont give finance because your in a wheelchair, thats literally what they said.....worst part is a feel pretty helpless as unlike in civilized countrys I doubt theres much I can do to complain. :angry:

[katabeachbum]

i was always told by banks if a work permit can get credit and credit card, last car was in wifes name, paid fianance of now in my name. doubt they have credit scoring here.

ther are two credit rating companies in Thailand, and a well developed system for financecompanies to consider you

with a WP, BOT allows banks to lend to you (like CC) without security

[katabeachbum]

I was intent on buying a new camry, 1 million down, thai guarantor required, show my bank statements 200+ a month going in, wait 4 days....sorry we wont give finance because your in a wheelchair, thats literally what they said.....worst part is a feel pretty helpless as unlike in civilized countrys I doubt theres much I can do to complain. :angry:

if you v had +200k for more than 6 months to Thai bank account, send me a PM and I can hook you up with Toyota Phuket/Tanachart Bank. 50% down

or get a Thai credit card, charge card at least 50k a month, pay full balance very month for 6 months, and car approval becomes easy

[filguy]

im waiting for my 2nd car..no thai guarantor..40% down..3 yrs to pay. this time, its eco car.

[ttechguy]

if you have wp with good bank statements you can get loan (have to pay minimum 25%).

Just 2 cents suggestion - if you buy new car you get interest rate of 2.5 to 3.5%, if you buy second hand car the interest rate will be above 6% and second hand cars are ridiculously expensive in Thailand

[showtime22]

Any one know if you can finance with a student visa. I recently got out of the US Army and get paid a nice disability pension every month.