Good Day - new to the forum.- My wife and I recently got our Thai driver's license and now I'm ready to buy a car. Honda Civic or Mazda 3 both run around 830K Bt. I was wondering

what cost I should expect if I pay cash. My wife has dual citizenship - would it be better to put in her name.

I reckon for cash you will be paying around Bt.830,000.

They don't really like to discount a great deal but will usually throw in a few extra's for free.

As for the name thing, personally I like to have everything I own in my name that way if the relationship ever turns pear shaped the vehicle will still belong to you rather becoming a donation to your partner.

Welcome to ThaiVisa PaYaiLen

Mazda 3, depending on if it is old model just discontinued, or new model just dipslyed but not sure TH manufactoring has started

Civic, long ques (September/October?) so expect low discount and usually not as cash

If you split up, the one who is registered owner keeps car until all settled, 3 days or 7 years

Thanks- Not worried about splitting up - married almost 40 years and just finished building our nice Thai-American house.

Suspect you are right about waiting period - went to the Mazda dealer Sunday - mostly closed except for 1 girl but they

only had 3 car there and 1 was just for test drives. But have to start somewhere.

I paid cash for a new car recently. Got a few extras thrown in but didn't get the impression paying cash gave me any special negotiating power, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if they preferred you financed the purchase through the dealer so they could get their cut.

It may have changed but in the past few months most Japanese makes have been in short supply with long waiting lists so it's not the best time to be expecting big discounts. I couldn't find a local dealer with a Civic, City or Vios available for a test drive and there was no price negotiation on the City when asked, only "order this week if you want delivery in under two months". I ended up with a Ford Fiesta, not a bad car for the price and available now. The Ford Focus would be in your price range. Honda are better finished but my wife who has always driven Honda is happy with the way the Fiesta drives.

The Thai new car market must be booming going by all the red plates you see, and it took 3!!! months to get our white plates, and that's from a dealer who in every other way was very helpful.

I paid cash for a new car recently. Got a few extras thrown in but didn't get the impression paying cash gave me any special negotiating power, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if they preferred you financed the purchase through the dealer so they could get their cut.

This is very true...in USA too. Unlike most things where one can expect a discount for cash, with cars (and other high-priced usually financed items) dealers often quote MORE for a cash purchase than one with financing.

The car dealer doesn't care much about cash purchase, and would actually prefer to sell a finance package because they actually make more money by "selling the paper" to the underwriter.

Thanks- Not worried about splitting up - married almost 40 years and just finished building our nice Thai-American house.

Suspect you are right about waiting period - went to the Mazda dealer Sunday - mostly closed except for 1 girl but they

only had 3 car there and 1 was just for test drives. But have to start somewhere.

Suggest having a look at Ford Focus. at 849k baht you get 2,0, leather, free Insurance and they have like 4% to play with, possibly more, making price lower and spec higher than the 2 japs you mentioned

The "trick" in the USA when buying a car is to tell the dealership you are going to finance. You can recieve a much better deal. A dealership can and does

make more on the finance then the car in most cases.

So, tell them you are going to finance, get the best price then say, you know maybe I will pay cash.

The "trick" in the USA when buying a car is to tell the dealership you are going to finance. You can recieve a much better deal. A dealership can and does

make more on the finance then the car in most cases.

So, tell them you are going to finance, get the best price then say, you know maybe I will pay cash.

Thanks everyone - and you were right . Sales girl didn't care if I paid cash - told my wife we should check the Mazda dealer and

I got the impression that she would gladly hold the door open for us. Wife really prefered the Honda Civic so we went with that. I

know Ford has made improvements but I owned 2 in the states that always gave me problems. Now the 2 month wait.