Used car prices.........amazing really.

[Spitfire]

This week, just wanted to mention that a mate of mine sold a second hand Triton, 4 door, mid-range factory option (GLX I think), 2006 modal, 100250 km, very good condition of exterior and interior etc and original everything to the Mitsubishi garage in exchange for a new one.

They gave him 390,000 baht for it in part exchange. Pretty good IMO, in 2006 they cost about 610,000 cash and about 700,000 on credit. So, they gave him 8000 pounds for a 4 and a half year pickup that had done over 100,000 km/60,000 miles.

Good prices here, got to say. Still boggles the mind with this market really. but

What are the general thoughts?

[JimmyGreaves]

Big bucks still with the xrate, would like to trade my 3 year old in for a new one but the repayments cost too much. But yes the trade in value is very good.

[Takiap]

Yes it's amazing, but then again, I've been offered 100,000 baht for a Suzuki jeep that is 21 years old. Let's just say, if I was looking for a secondhand Triton, I would have no chance of finding one at the price you got, so of course the dealership is cashing in, but that's life.

[Randy Cornhole]

I don't think i'd trust a second hand car/truck from a thai source, New is more expensive but not that much (depends on how rich you are i suppose) but definately the best option given what wierd parts could be in the engine once it leaves the village.

I knew a truck once that ran on buffalo piss and had the bones of dead relatives as suspention struts...

[buksida]

It is shocking how expensive used wagons are here, I often watch 'Fifth Gear' on UBC in envy at the cost of second hand motors in the UK. 200k will get you a nice set of wheels - here all you can expect is a ten year old Toyota or a crusty old pickup!

[JimmyGreaves]

It is shocking how expensive used wagons are here, I often watch 'Fifth Gear' on UBC in envy at the cost of second hand motors in the UK. 200k will get you a nice set of wheels - here all you can expect is a ten year old Toyota or a crusty old pickup!

Hi Buksi

The only trouble is when you put it in for service or if something goes wrong it will cost you the same 200K again

[STEVE G]

I don't think i'd trust a second hand car/truck from a thai source, New is more expensive but not that much (depends on how rich you are i suppose) but definately the best option given what wierd parts could be in the engine once it leaves the village

That was my opinion as well. I'd never bought a new vehicle in my life until I came to Thailand but when I found out that you pay 2/3rds the price of a new one to get something that's been thrashed on Thai roads for five years, I decided to find the extra cash.
I think the main problem is that Thai private vehicle ownership has boomed over the last ten years and has outstripped the supply of used vehicles so keeping the price high.

[Vital Spark]

We bought our lovely '92 Nissan Cefiro over six years ago for about 250,000 baht. Heck, it was twelve years old then, and is now the same age as the students we teach, but it's still going strong.

We decided to go to the 'tents' in Bangkok as there was nothing really local in Hua Hin. The car had one previous owner, a full service history (well the book was stamped ) and it didn't have stupid wheels and silly extras. Both Mr.VS and I were in the motor industry in the UK, so knew the tell-tale signs of abuse and other little tricks of the trade.

We've thought about replacing it, but whenever we look around we can't find anything that hits the spot like the Cefiro.

Crazy thing is we'd probably have to pay someone to take it away in the UK, but here it's still worth 150,000 baht plus.

It's OK to buy second-hand here, as long as you're careful. If you have the dosh, then buying new and keeping it for a while is a good option. Replacing engine oil is a must whatever age your car is, as is treating it with respect.

VS

[Morgan33]

I have just started subscribing to Discovery Turbo for 190B a month (plus 3 other programmes) and spend a great deal of time watching Wheeler Dealer and Auto Trader and the like. The bargains that they do up seem so cheap but if the layman was to buy one they would get ripped off by the garage in the UK. The main dealers here seem relatively cheap though.

[tonymaroni]

This week, just wanted to mention that a mate of mine sold a second hand Triton, 4 door, mid-range factory option (GLX I think), 2006 modal, 100250 km, very good condition of exterior and interior etc and original everything to the Mitsubishi garage in exchange for a new one.

They gave him 390,000 baht for it in part exchange. Pretty good IMO, in 2006 they cost about 610,000 cash and about 700,000 on credit. So, they gave him 8000 pounds for a 4 and a half year pickup that had done over 100,000 km/60,000 miles.

Good prices here, got to say. Still boggles the mind with this market really. but

What are the general thoughts?

I think it is a function of supply and demand. And of course the cheap price of labor here.

I have a 21 year old Honda Accord bought for 110,000 Baht.
In the USA it would be worth in its present condition maybe up to $1000. or approx 29000 Baht.


Generally 21 year old cars are sent to the junkyard in the USA. Here it is worth over $3000. Here old cars retain value. Mechanics work for cheap here. At $100 an hour for work on a car in the USA it doesn't make sense to work very long on a car worth $1000 after the first ten hours of work.

Here a mechanic working for 2-300 baht a day for his boss makes him a handsome profit even after 50 hours of work overhauling a dead car and making it run again, or keeping an old clunker on the road for the owner.

Just my idea of why they retain value.

Doc

[Terry]

It could also be that cars just genuinely last longer nowadays
Certainly rust is not the same problem in Thailand as it is in Europe for example.

We bought our Honda Civic brand new 9 1/2 years ago. It's done 180,000km, been regularly serviced at Honda since new and is probably good for another 4 years or so before any real major problems.

Apart from regular service, tyres, batteries & wipers etc - it's only had new shock absorbers all round and wheel bearings - more a function of crap roads rather than any fault with the car.

[PeteC]

I think you're always going to get a better deal trading like for like, meaning same manufacturer. If he had gone to trade a Triton at Toyota I doubt he would have seen 390. I'm thinking a start at 300 and perhaps up to 325. Toyota would just turn around and resell it to a tent at cost or very small profit.

At Mitsu they could inflate the selling price of the new vehicle to give more on the trade for the old vehicle and/or not offer the free accessories or other perks they normally do. Mitsu like Toyota and the others probably resell their own used vehicles in house after a spruce up. Just an IMO. Pete

[Nereus]

Heres`s one that has held it`s value!

James Bond car sold at auction

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/motors ... t-auction/


James Bond's famous Aston Martin car, complete with gadgets including ejector-seat and revolving number plates, sold at auction in London on Wednesday for a lower-than-expected £2.6 million ($4.2 million)

Hopes were high that the 1964 silver Aston Martin DB5 would smash the $US5 million ($5.16 million) barrier but in the end the car driven by Sean Connery when he played the fictional British spy fell short.

Veteran silver screen star Connery got behind the wheel of the car when he played Bond in the films Goldfinger (1964) and Thunderball (1965).

A spokesman for RM Auctions, which had dubbed the vehicle the most famous car in the world, said that the sale price was "still a lot of money" and he did not think anyone was disappointed.

The auctioneers did not release the identity of the buyer.

The Bond movie car is fitted with the full complement of operational "Q-Branch" gadgets.

The car is also equipped with machine guns, bullet-proof shield, tracking device, removable roof panel, oil slick sprayer and smoke screen, all controlled by "toggles and switches hidden in the centre arm-rest".

"The machine guns ... do come out of their intended place. As far as I know, they don't shoot bullets, but then again, I haven't tried," Don Rose, a car specialist for the auctioneers said.

The gear stick top flips up to reveal the red ejector-seat button. It also has a homing radar and a telephone mounted inside the driver's door panel.

The car has been on tour over the past five months, with appearances in Britain, Germany, Monte Carlo, New York and Hong Kong.

Its US owner, Pennsylvania broadcaster Jerry Lee, bought it for $US12,000 in 1969 and hoped the sale would raise money for his charitable foundation.

"He's owned it now for 41 years, and it's spent most of that time in a special room built in his house," Mr Rose said.

"It's been out of the public eye, with one or two exceptions, for over 30 years.

"I'm a DB5 owner myself, so I do know what such a car feels like to drive. However, this one, because of its unique provenance, makes one feel very special.

"On one hand, it was a thrill; on the other, it was always in the back of my mind that I didn't want to be the one to go down in history as the man who crashed the most famous car in the world."

Admission to the sale in Battersea, south London, required the purchase of an official auction catalogue available for £50.

Purchase of the car, lot 197 in the sale, also included a stay at the GoldenEye resort in Jamaica, the original Caribbean estate of Ian Fleming, the British author who created James Bond.

A custom-made suit woven with gold thread made by the tailors who dressed Connery as Bond was also thrown in.

[PeteC]

....Its US owner, Pennsylvania broadcaster Jerry Lee, bought it for $US12,000 in 1969 and hoped the sale would raise money for his charitable foundation.....

What is there in Thailand here that we can buy now and realize such a gain in 40 years? My first thoughts go to vintage aircraft as there are many sitting about, not all restored and in museums. Some classic cars also as we see in the yearly Bangkok > Hua Hin parade. I bet there's some stored in barns as well, forgotten and never touched for years. Buddha amulets seem to be a good investment. I'm always on the look out for interesting Thai antiques, the problem is though I don't have the skill to tell an original from a fake. Pete

EDIT: How about an aircraft carrier, I forgot about that.