why are second hand cars so expensive in thailand compared to the UK. can anyone explain it

I definately agree and lament the fact cars arent more reasonably priced because prior to Thailand id never of considered buy new when i can buy someones car 6 months or 1 yr later who realises they need only one car or cant meet the payments. Buying new at 0% over 4+ years can make a lot more sense because residuals are decent. These deals are rare though and some people will opt to put little down and incur high interest over long payment periods, its a face thing because it makes no sense to leverage to heavilly on an asset which will depreciate (albeit less than in other markets) at the expense of say a downpayment on a larger home or home in better location. Yet ive seen cars nicer than mine parked in derelict homes because cars are public houses private. So the steep financing means the cars end up costing the seller a lot more than the manufacturer sale price...perpetual system of loan sharks and willing consumers who leverage highly for status..

In general:

1) imports there are heavy duties levied on imported cars and they tend to pass some of this on to the next owner.

2) coupes be it the suvs like the rav4, vitara, pajero, or sedans like the 1996-2000 honda civic coupe hold their value more than their 4dr counterparts because they are sporty

3) sport cars never seem to depreciate, just look at how much 90s supras nissan z's, mitsu gtos sell for still. Exotics are crazy saw a second hand SLR selling for 65mil!

4) Domestic assembeled cars Toyota and Honda tend to hold their value better than the others because Thais regard them highly, look at how many corrolla cabs there are.

5) Korean cars dont hold their value well neither do older imports which have little dealer support like jags, audis, vw.

6) Dealers less flexible than private sellers especially private sellers who need to move, need cash, want to raise cash for a new car.

I definately agree and lament the fact cars arent more reasonably priced because prior to Thailand id never of considered buy new when i can buy someones car 6 months or 1 yr later who realises they need only one car or cant meet the payments. Buying new at 0% over 4+ years can make a lot more sense because residuals are decent. These deals are rare though and some people will opt to put little down and incur high interest over long payment periods, its a face thing because it makes no sense to leverage to heavilly on an asset which will depreciate (albeit less than in other markets) at the expense of say a downpayment on a larger home or home in better location. Yet ive seen cars nicer than mine parked in derelict homes because cars are public houses private. So the steep financing means the cars end up costing the seller a lot more than the manufacturer sale price...perpetual system of loan sharks and willing consumers who leverage highly for status..

In general:

1) imports there are heavy duties levied on imported cars and they tend to pass some of this on to the next owner.

2) coupes be it the suvs like the rav4, vitara, pajero, or sedans like the 1996-2000 honda civic coupe hold their value more than their 4dr counterparts because they are sporty

3) sport cars never seem to depreciate, just look at how much 90s supras nissan z's, mitsu gtos sell for still. Exotics are crazy saw a second hand SLR selling for 65mil!

4) Domestic assembeled cars Toyota and Honda tend to hold their value better than the others because Thais regard them highly, look at how many corrolla cabs there are.

5) Korean cars dont hold their value well neither do older imports which have little dealer support like jags, audis, vw.

6) Dealers less flexible than private sellers especially private sellers who need to move, need cash, want to raise cash for a new car.

Hi all.

The dealers in thailand are so bad, Yesterday I went to Nissan dealer in Khonkaen to enquire about a New Teana

the manager took my 10 month old Fiesta for a drive and commented on his return" looks and drives like a new car" The Teana was about 1,608,000 baht, he made me an offer of 500,000 bt I questioned him about some Discount on the Teana,

His reply was that he would up the price on my Fiesta to 520,000 leaving me to pay 1,139,000 baht to buy the Teana, Thanks but no thanks and i walked out, dont forget it was a 2011 car and it is nearly 2012 and still he would not move on the price. I am now waiting to hear back from Ford about a part ex against the Diesel Focus, if the offer is no better I will keep my Fiesta as it is really a good car and only 6000 k . will hear today.

phupaman.

Not just second hand cars mate, everything second hand sells in Thailand is expensive !! If you get chance to check second hands IT stuffs on website, price of a 18mths old tablet is almost a brand new one !!! However don't let this get you down, think it the way around, when you sell your second hand stuffs, you will get a good price for it , isn't it?

In many "developing" countries second hand cars are dear.

This is partly due to the potential return one can get on the money spent e.g. quite old cars have a rental value and a work value....... this is coupled with very low depreciation - so money is not thrown away as fast a a new car in Europe.

labor costs are incredibly low, so fixing a car becomes a practical solution - rather than insurance write-offs you get in Europe.

The climate means there is little or no corrosion - this country doesn't need to put salt on the roads!

The regulations regarding road-worthiness and running old are are virtually unenforced so anything that starts is a viable proposition.

Road tax gets less as vehicles get older

Import duties protect the Thai market from a lot of outside competition - (and a huge range of vehicles!!!) - but homemade new vehicles are about the same as anywhere - so secondhand is the rate of depreciation.

It's not just Thailand - Even if you look at secondhand prices in Australia, you'll see they are pretty high there too.

In fact until the late 80s early 90s second hand cars in UK were pretty dear too......I used to bring back left -hookers from NL and Belgium to sell in UK - they were so cheap comparatively, people would put up with a steering wheel on the other side.

Derogatory comments about dodgy deals based on assumptions about racial behavior are of course baseless. No dealer wants to buy or sell a dodgy car - but if you DO buy a lemon then there is little or no comback - under the law, nothing to do with racist interpretations of behavior.