Buying A Second Hand Car In Ubon

[westbounder]

Hi,

Is it possible to buy a reliable second hand four door Toyota or Nissan with automatic transmission in Ubon for around 100,000 baht? If it does not have LPG, I think it can be installed for about 15,000 baht (Is this correct)?

My job in America was to buy used cars for more than 35 years, so I know what I need to look for. I just wanted to know if they are available for this amount of money.

A car will be be secondary transportation for us and used for emergencies and during rainy season only. Probably driving about 5,000 kilometers per year. Our motorbike will be our primary transportation.

Barring any major problems, on the average, how much can I expect to pay a year for tires, brakes, oil, inspection, licensing, and maintenance etc...?

Thank you

Joe

[ubonrthai]

I'm sure you can find something somewhere but don't expect much for that price. Not sure how familiar you are with Thailand used car market but prices are significantly higher than the West. You can start by looking at all the dealers on the ring road near Big C. There's a bunch as you head east from the Amnat Charoen intersection (by Big C where Hwy 231 & 212 meet). Also quite a few as you head North through that intersection towards Amnat Charoen.

Check talodrod.com to get an idea of going prices for private sale. Used car dealers are nearly always higher than that website by at least 30k+

Labor is dirt cheap for car repairs and service. Parts are comparative in price to the West.

One last note, dealers constantly told us that "People around here don't like automatic." I can only compare Ubon to Chiang Mai and there are definitely fewer automatics to choose from in Ubon.

Edited May 13, 2012 by ubonrthai

[phibunmike]

Ubonrthai is right, there are loads of dealers on the ring road just east of BigC. What you will find, though, is that used cars are expensive - they really hold their price. A 3 year old car will be almost the same price as a new one.

Cheers,

Mike

[MeMock]

Reliable and 100,000 does not go together when talking about 4 door cars in Thailand. Of course there are always bargains is you look hard enough but I would recommend you would need to Triple your budget at the very minimum.

[ubonrthai]

Sorry I typed the link wrong. Check here for car prices.

[downtown]

where can i get a corvette zo6?

[MeMock]

I have three in my garage and you can borrow one if you like.

[jamescollister]

OP realise you are from the states, but diesel is king here, can't convert to LPG. !00,000 you would be lucky to get an old pick up truck in bad shape. Jim

[Riverman]

Try one2car dot com. It's a thai website . Lots of cars - all makes and models from different second hand car dealers.

There are scroll down boxes where you enter the type of car : pickup or sedan etc , then the make , model , year etc.

It will give you a fair idea of prices.

[babyvirgil]

I am in Ubon & selling a second hand car very cheap. would be suitable for someone who knows about cars.

its a 1978 Mitsubishi Lancer & the price is 35,000 bht

it is an old car which needs maintenance but i have driven it for the past year & approx 8,000 km without any breakdown (touch wood).

if anyone is ineterested I can send pictures or firther details, my phone number is 0874 608805

thanjks

dominic

[bobo42]

Prepare to be disappointed. The market for used vehicles here is ridiculous - especially if your accustomed to the US market. In the US, 100k THB can buy you a decent, reasonably reliable car - that is definately NOT the case here. You're going to be paying A LOT more here for the same car. Thai owners and buyers have very little concept of depreciation, cars unfathomably hold their value for no rational reason.

For an example, the first car I ever bought back in the states was a 1990 Nissan, I can buy the exact same 1990 Nissan today in Thailand for almost as much as I originally paid in the US. After 20 years of depreciation, it's only lost about 1k USD in this market.

My simple formula is to estimate the price of a vehicle as if it were in the US market, then multiply by 3, and the Thai price will probably be a bit more than that.

(Relative) Bargains can be had, but they are few and far between. Your best bet seems to be finding a foreigner selling privately. Though I've been searching for something reasonable for over a year now, and haven't found anything I'm willing to part with money for yet. Meanwhile, I'm saving up my pennies to just buy new, unless I can find something of a better value, I'll probably end up going that route.

[sirchai]

Many used cars had serious accidents before. The redo cars even if the chassis and frame was completely destroyed. 300, 000 km on the clock will be changed into 120,000 most of the time.

Once you've bought one and need it serviced, I'd recommend to go to a for example Mitsubishi garage to get it fixed, whatever model it is. They do much better work than small and mostly shitty places and don't charge more money for it.

And they give you a guarantee for it. Good luck-

Edited August 31, 2012 by sirchai