Buying A New Car...

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william_c
Posted
Posted

Good day all,

 

Well, we are here after years of planning and shipping stuff...whew!

 

In Butuan City, for now, where we purchased a home many years ago. However, asawa is from Cebu

and that is where we are headed.

 

We need a car. Been talking to new car dealers and BDO. Not sure I trust any of them at this

time. However, Mitsibushi dealer is offering a 7 percent rate on a new car. Sounds good.

However, no price discounting and any "discount" applies to the down payment. HU?

 

Its obvious I need to talk to BDO bankers and not the sales rep. Rep appears to be Mr. Happy

who opens car doors and smiles alot. Sound familiar? I hope BDO can do better.

 

BPI and a few other banks have called as well. Guess the best rate and terms wins.

 

Any other suggestions about car buying, insurance, financing some of the principal?

What to expect on the scheduled maintenance? Caveats?

Also, what to do when an accident occurs? Asawa will do all the driving.

 

Any opinions appreciated.

Thanks,

William

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deevey
Posted
Posted (edited)

Good day all,

 

Well, we are here after years of planning and shipping stuff...whew!

 

In Butuan City, for now, where we purchased a home many years ago. However, asawa is from Cebu

and that is where we are headed.

 

We need a car. Been talking to new car dealers and BDO. Not sure I trust any of them at this

time. However, Mitsibushi dealer is offering a 7 percent rate on a new car. Sounds good.

However, no price discounting and any "discount" applies to the down payment. HU?

 

Its obvious I need to talk to BDO bankers and not the sales rep. Rep appears to be Mr. Happy

who opens car doors and smiles alot. Sound familiar? I hope BDO can do better.

 

BPI and a few other banks have called as well. Guess the best rate and terms wins.

 

Any other suggestions about car buying, insurance, financing some of the principal?

What to expect on the scheduled maintenance? Caveats?

Also, what to do when an accident occurs? Asawa will do all the driving.

 

Any opinions appreciated.

Thanks,

William

7% sounds really REALLY low.

 

Firstly I'd get them to re-caculate do a difference check on the total cost of the car vs total cost you will eventually pay, I'm guessing its 7% per year on the total which would be more like 35% over 5 years. 

 

A friend of mine was recently quoted something similar (9%) which factoring in down payments equated to almost 1.5m on a 1m car over 5 years. 

 

Accident Stuff

 

  • GET A DASHCAMERA - it WILL save grief with corrupt traffic enforcers and in case of an accident can be used to prove liability. 
  • Call the Police / Enforcer / Car Park attendants on duty - you will not get ANY insurance claim sorted unless there is a complete official report and that you have copies of everything in triplicate. 
  • Contact your insurance company as soon as an accident happens. They will send an accessor to inspect the damage to both vehicles, bear in mind that 99.9% of vehicles that cause accidents (trikes / jeeps / motorcycles / junkers) do not have insurance of any value (30-40k max), so trying to claim anything from them will be almost impossible so ensure your insurance covers repair to all damage to your car and / or replacement value ! 
  • If there is any argument over Liablity (on public roads), you will need to go to the police station where an initial "ruling" will be made by the head officer in charge. Be pleasant, and write your statement in as much detail as you can remember with diagrams - if you have other evidence (e.g. video) , be prepared to make a copy as a backup - you can do this on most cell phones (important!)  
  • Ensure you have enough liability coverage on the insurance policy - 200 - 250k per person for personal injury seems about the norm here, if you are at fault though and an accident totals more than that, the other party can personally sue you for the remainder. Also the amount allowed for injuries is minimal at best and would not cover the likes of multiple broken bones, CT scans, long term hospitalization, drugs etc.. so also bear in mind if its a serious crash you will be paying bills out of your own pocket (additional health insurance is recommended).

Maintainance

 

  • Ensure you ONLY get servicing done by certified dealers.  
  • Do not make ANY aftermarket modifications to the car (this includes wheels or tyre changes in many cases) while inside the warranty period unless explicitly outlined that it is allowed in the written contract by the dealer. 
  • Follow the maintenance schedule to the day or you will potentially void the warranty

I'm sure a few peeps will chime in with more advice. 

Edited by deevey
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mogo51
Posted
Posted

this is a good post with sound advice for you, please take note.

So as far as the salesman goes, that is what he is paid to do, sell the car not make think he is a saint from

heaven.

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Dave Hounddriver
Posted
Posted
7% sounds really REALLY low.

 

It sounds like that to me too.  There seems to be no regulation to force business here to publish the true rate of interest.  Fortunately there are online amortization calculators that will give you the correct numbers.  One such site is here: http://bretwhissel.net/cgi-bin/amortize

 

I went to the Mitsubishi Philippines site and used the BPI online loan calculator to get my figures.  An 895,000 peso L200 with 20% down would have payments of 25,418 per month for 36 months.  The online amortization calculation tells me this is an interest rate of 16.7% which is actually very decent for this country, but it ain't no 7%

 

Are you sure they did not say 17% but said it quick?

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Gator
Posted
Posted
Any other suggestions about car buying, insurance, financing some of the principal?

 

The banks here are subject to a "Truth in Lending" law which is very similar to the same law in the USA. The full terms, interest rate and repayment amount should be clearly spelled out on your finance contract with the respective bank. Obviously you need to carefully read it before signing.

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Thomas
Posted
Posted
percent
You better check what percent it REALY is. It's very hard to find Filipinos, who can count percent at all  :)

Specialy check if they count interest at the WHOLE sum the WHOLE period, which is COMMON. That roughly DOUBLE the REAL interest  :bash:

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