New or 2nd hand

[stevewool]

Buying a new car in any country must be nice as i have never done that i dont know the feeling, but i have read that as soon as you drive of the forecourt you have lost so much money from buying new.

So living in the Philippines do you still buy new or 2nd hand, if you re looking for a model and would like a 2nd hand nearly new one but guaranteed can you buy these from a good garage or would you stay clear from these cars, also buying new from a dealer what do you get , the same as buying here in England?????.

Remember i have never brought a new car yet here or over there, any advice would be welcome.

[Kuya John]

Well Steve, forum members living in Philippines might well have their own reasons for purchasing new or second hand.

But from what I have learnt, buying a car in Philippines, especially second hand is more tricky than in the UK.

The safety factors for second hand imports are not as strict as in UK.

I'm sure you will find some good answers from the members though. cheers JB

Edited July 22, 2017 by Kuya John

[scott h]

5 minutes ago, Kuya John said:

But from what I have learnt

Now Steve, this is just ME and my OPINION. Unlike back home where it is exactly the opposite, I would not buy a used car here in the Philippines unless it was from a relative or very, very close family friend. About the only way to insure that the title is clear, that it hasn't been involved in a flood or something of that nature with out doing a lot of foot work. Will you get the best deal? Probably not, but how much is piece of mind worth?

[AlwaysRt]

I am staying away from cars as I feel like I would be a bigger target and driving a bigger 'hammer'. Not so much an issue in the west where traffic rules are generally followed, unlike here where drivers are constantly coming from every direction in every lane, often including the sidewalk.

Vehicle purchasing I have prefered buying new. I know the title is clean, I know how it has been driven, I know the paperwork for registration is getting done, I get one year free labor for scheduled maintenance.

[Dave Hounddriver]

If you buy a new car here you get (I think all the time but not sure) 3 years worth of registration and insurance in the deal so no need to make the annual trip to smoke test, insurance and LTO for the first 3 years.  That's worth 20K pesos or more in headaches saved.  Add that to the reliability of a new car and the lower depreciation and if I could afford new its what I would get.

[OnMyWay]

50 minutes ago, scott h said:

Now Steve, this is just ME and my OPINION. Unlike back home where it is exactly the opposite, I would not buy a used car here in the Philippines unless it was from a relative or very, very close family friend. About the only way to insure that the title is clear, that it hasn't been involved in a flood or something of that nature with out doing a lot of foot work. Will you get the best deal? Probably not, but how much is piece of mind worth?

I tend to agree.  For a 100% free worry free transaction, buy new.  However.....

If you have patience, and some luck, you can find some good deals on slightly used, legitimate, vehicles.  I bought my third used vehicle today.  I just happened across it while browsing OLX Zambales area, not looking for a car.  We had been talking about getting a small car and I noticed this local ad for a 2016 Honda Brio.  ~6000 km, purchased last December.  I know exactly what he paid for it (he has all the paperwork) and it turns out that I paid him 75% of that.  Even though he was a very legit guy I did a good inspection, looking for any signs of flooding, damage, etc.  There is a ding from a shopping cart that he will have fixed.  The car runs great; quiet and smooth.  His mother was driving it but she moved back to Finland, where he has lived as well.  He is an engineer at PTT.

With my Trailblazer, 2 years ago I found a similar deal.  A foreigner (Brit) in Makati selling it with only ~5000 km on it.  Similar savings on it.

So, the deals can be found if you have patience.

[Dave Hounddriver]

4 minutes ago, OnMyWay said:

So, the deals can be found if you have patience.

Totally agree.  But in addition you need to get around a bit so you are in the "right place at the right time" when deals like that come up and you have to know your prices and have instant cash as deals like that get swooped up very quickly by the curbside dealers.

[DavidK]

With new you get the obvious peace of mind benefits and if you can afford it easily then why wouldn't you? However I decided given the traffic conditions and the likelyhood of bangs and scratches I would hate to do that with a new car (plus the wife had a new one) so I looked for a used one. Found a six-year old Mitsubishi Lancer with 28,000 km on the clock advertised by a local second-hand dealer and got it for a very reasonable price. Touch wood have had very few problems with it (except batteries don't last more than a few years here) and yes it's received a number of dings from the careless and motorbikes. You pays your money and takes your chance..........

[AlwaysRt]

20 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Totally agree.  But in addition you need to get around a bit so you are in the "right place at the right time" when deals like that come up and you have to know your prices and have instant cash as deals like that get swooped up very quickly by the curbside dealers.

Much harder to accomplish as a new arrival in need of transportation. Many things become easier and cheaper once you have been here a while, not in a hurry to purchase, willing to look around, and ready to buy when the opportunity appears.

[OnMyWay]

10 minutes ago, AlwaysRt said:

Much harder to accomplish as a new arrival in need of transportation. Many things become easier and cheaper once you have been here a while, not in a hurry to purchase, willing to look around, and ready to buy when the opportunity appears.

Yes, true.  When I bought our first car I had about a week to find something.  That is where luck came into play and I found something local quickly.