Why Are Second Hand Cars So Expensive?

[thenervoussurgeon]

yes i know its about cars but i think it should be here in general as its not just cars but go to a second hand shop and its the same the goods there are almost as expensive as new.,any ideas?

Edited August 27, 2012 by thenervoussurgeon

[arthurwait]

I believe it's because they are so well looked after, serviced and driven. No expense is spared in maintenance. It all adds up.

Or that the tax is high, import tax higher, the Asean import thing has not that long been in existence which bought new prices down, less throw away society, HP payments have to be funded which most are bought on.

[kartman]

Buying secondhand? obviously you cant find a 'new' source therefore what i have is worth nearly if not more than the item you cant find.

[robblok]

Thais just don't want to sell their cars cheap and hate loosing money on it.So the offer stays high and obviously people still buy it else the prices would have come down. I find the prices crazy but they are what they are here.

I have bought a new car twice here, i don't know enough about cars to buy second hand. Just worried i got one with flood damage or other damages and then your in trouble. Also there is not much difference between new and second hand, so better to buy new.

[thenervoussurgeon]

Thais just don't want to sell their cars cheap and hate loosing money on it.So the offer stays high and obviously people still buy it else the prices would have come down. I find the prices crazy but they are what they are here.

I have bought a new car twice here, i don't know enough about cars to buy second hand. Just worried i got one with flood damage or other damages and then your in trouble. Also there is not much difference between new and second hand, so better to buy new.

Yes your dead right,i baught new ,but was looking to change so had a gander at 1/2 year old cars ,might as well buy a new one for all that they had come down

[Forkinhades]

well if you buy new, at least you know you wont lose much in the shortterm, whereas in the UK, you lose about 15% as soon as you drive it out of the forecourt.

[Shot]

yes

[Semper]

I like short term/short time.

[apetley]

Thai up the road from us was trying to sell his old Soluna years ago for 180,000 bht. Four years later it was still for sale but at 220,000 bht. Quick simply nuts.

[Gweiloman]

Buying new, you would have to finance it via the normal banks, which I assume a lot of Thais would not qualify.

Buying secondhand, the car dealer can usually arrange finance much easier.

[Forkinhades]

Buying new, you would have to finance it via the normal banks, which I assume a lot of Thais would not qualify.

Buying secondhand, the car dealer can usually arrange finance much easier.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect App

Who is taking about finance?

[naboo]

Never seen this topic before.

Old cars hold their value for one reason. they are cheap to repair. In the UK, prices on old cars are low because nobody wants to be paying £1000 a year repairs to keep some junk on the road, so newer cars depreciate at approximately £1000 a year (average). Here, it costs £100 to keep junk on the road, so new cars depreciate very slowly.

[Khun Jean]

I recently bought a new 'second hand'.

I paid 350.000 for a 9 year old nissan exciter. Good value for that price.

It seats 7 and when i looked to buy something new with that kind of room i needed to spend about a million.

I can keep about 700.000 baht on my account and still have the car i need.

After two,three years i would probably get 250.000 for it if it is still in good condition.

Not bad having a car for about 50.000 a year.

[GentlemanJim]

I bought a second hand Fortuna 4 years ago for 950K (it was 6 months old and pristine), last month I took it to the local sales place to see what the guy would give me for it and he offered me 900K cash there and then !!! I was astonished. It turns out that if you go to the Toyota garage in town to buy a new one there is a 1 year waiting period to get your new car, people dont want to wait so will pay top money to get a good quality second hand vehicle straight away.

[vtjforyou]

Do you know if Benz and BMW depreciate as slowly ?

So they are worth buying expensive ?

[MrZM]

If you ate looking for a car use this website.

Taladrod.com

It's the Thai autotrader, old and new cars, you can also pick up cars already on finance that have waiting lists from the dealers.

[bonobo]

I think one reason is that it can take months to get a new car. I have friends who "bought" Toyotas, and in one case, a Honda, before last year's floods who are still waiting for delivery. One tried to cancel her order about a month ago, and they told her she would lose her deposit.

Earlier this year, before the big car show, I went around looking at used cars. Many places would only let you drive a car in the parking lot. Most seemed to think that if the car had a bad transmission, for example, it was not important for me to know as if I found it out after I bought the car, I could bring it back for repairs. When I went to the Toyota used car chain, I found three-year-old cars which cost more than when they were new.

I decided to get a Mazda at the show instead. Immediate delivery, a guarantee, less expensive, and a better car, in my opinion. I actually liked the Ford more, but the Mazda came in at over 100,000 baht less, and that was almost 150,000 baht less that a similar three-year-old used Toyota.

[arthurwait]

Is the OP asking if why they have always been expensive or why are they more expensive than expensive since the supply of new cars slowed ?

[samran]

Shouldn't this thread be re-titled "Why my car's resale value is so high in Thailand'?

Glass half full and all that.....

[pistachios]

In a normal economy, one would think that the excise tax rebate plan would make the price of 2nd hand cars mechanically drop.

Actually, because the plan is so sucessfull, waiting lists for car have reached months or even a year, so the price of 2nd hand cars may have even increased because of it! Insane.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Never seen this topic before.

Old cars hold their value for one reason. they are cheap to repair. In the UK, prices on old cars are low because nobody wants to be paying £1000 a year repairs to keep some junk on the road, so newer cars depreciate at approximately £1000 a year (average). Here, it costs £100 to keep junk on the road, so new cars depreciate very slowly.

And that, is the only correct answer.

Next.

[AyG]

Isn't it more a matter of Thai psychology, rather than logic?

It's the same with houses. Thai sellers will seldom accept an offer to buy their house for less than the original purchase price (if not more), whatever state the house is in.

[bobo42]

I think for 2 major reasons. Others have said these, but I think its both.

For one, financing. Financing a new car is difficult for a lot of Thais. Its more difficult to qualify for a new car loan here than in many western countries where auto-financing is usually free-flowing. This leads those buyers to the second-hand market where they are able to get financing through a second-hand dealer. These dealers can charge premium prices for both the car and the finance because they know there is little alternative for those buyers.

And two, its just the established market norm here. Owners are happy to hang onto a car for years rather than sell at a discount. Sellers, whether private or dealers, are generally not desperate to unload a vehicle. They just aren't motivated sellers, nothing you can do about that. Dealers generally do not move a lot of cars, and they don't seem hungry to do so. It becomes a self-feeding cycle, so prices stay high.

In short, its just a sellers market. Unless the market here somehow gets flooded with easy new-car financing and cheap new vehicles, its not likely to change.

[soundman]

Isn't it more a matter of Thai psychology, rather than logic?

It's the same with houses. Thai sellers will seldom accept an offer to buy their house for less than the original purchase price (if not more), whatever state the house is in.

Comparing property (which generally appreciates in value over time), and second-hand consumer goods (which generally depreciate in value through use, and over time), is like comparing apples and oranges.

[samran]

Isn't it more a matter of Thai psychology, rather than logic?

It's the same with houses. Thai sellers will seldom accept an offer to buy their house for less than the original purchase price (if not more), whatever state the house is in.

No, it is a matter of economics in this case.

Cheap servicing allows the cars to maintain value longer.

Edited August 28, 2012 by samran

[JanKlaasen]

Never seen this topic before.

Old cars hold their value for one reason. they are cheap to repair. In the UK, prices on old cars are low because nobody wants to be paying £1000 a year repairs to keep some junk on the road, so newer cars depreciate at approximately £1000 a year (average). Here, it costs £100 to keep junk on the road, so new cars depreciate very slowly.

And that, is the only correct answer.

Next.

So in fact they seem even to rise in value here.

almost 4 years ago I bought a second hand Chevy colorado from private.They were buying a new car,so they would have known how much they got from the dealer.

I drove it exactly 12 months, added another 30K km to the clock,had some minor damage and brought it to a second hand dealer for 15.000 Baht more than I had paid 1 year earlier.And I had choice of dealers who were interested.

[arthurwait]

Shouldn't this thread be re-titled "Why my car's resale value is so high in Thailand'?

Glass half full and all that.....

Are you new here ?

[JohanBKK]

It's expensive because people don't want to sell their cars for "cheap" as they pay them by credit and that add an extra cost.

One guy tried to sell me his 5yrs old jazz almost at the same price as the new one. Everything in interests

I also paid a lot for my Accord but 2 yrs after i still can sell it almost at the same price i paid for.

It's a pain in the ass when you are the buyer but then at the resale value it's ok. Also keep in mind that insurances and reparations cost nearly nothing in Thailand compared to an European country. To maintein a car in good shape is very cheap, that's why people don't care to keep their vehicules and sale at high prices.

The only cheap cars you will find are those from people in urgent need of money (debts, departing, etc). They normally sell their car at the tents because they can get money in just a few minutes and don't want to lose time with buyers. Those seller sell their cars for 60-70% of their actual value. The tent bought my Accord at 500 000 baht and i paid 660 000 for it, at first she wanted 690 000 hoping for a 190 000 plus value on it.

For Yaris and Jazz she makes arround 50-60K each in benefits.

[samran]

Shouldn't this thread be re-titled "Why my car's resale value is so high in Thailand'?

Glass half full and all that.....

Are you new here ?

555555

Funny.

Just not a whinger.

[LennyW]

It is very easy for a Thai to borrow some of the money needed from a friend, buy a used car/truck/motorbike, go straight to one of the hundreds of "car loan" companies and borrow a lot of money against the car/truck/motorbike at 1.25% interest per month, pay back their friend, and have a vehicle on "finance" where they could not normally qualify for finance through a dealer.

These "car loan" companies do not worry about your income etc. the loans are purely secured against the vehicle.

And that is one of the primary reasons for second hand motors being so high, i know this because one of these companies rent's one of my shops!