Buying A Used Car...

[william_c]

Been here a short time with long term intentions. Old Honda we had and we were depending on jumped a few teeth on the timing belt and so far, and many "mechanics" later it sits unrepaired and abandoned. So much for finding a mechanic with the knowledge, desire and tools to change a damn timing belt. 

 

So, off to find another used van type vehicle. Here in Butuan City about all you can find used is multicabs and worn out junk. If you dare finance a new vehicle all I can say is bendover. The local Kia manager wanted 32% APR for a 3 year loan he would arrange. Too bad I can calculate backwards from his skimpy numbers to get a good estimate of the chattel nonsense and true APR. We now realize we must make arrangements with BDO in advance to secure any financing we may need.

 

I do see a newer multicab design with a bigger engine, ac and automatic drive. Don't know if they too are Japan surplus imports built in PI or are they from Korea or some other place? We are headed to CDO this weekend to look around with aspirations of a purchase. I really want to buy used BUT no carfaxes here and other than rubbing my hand under the dash for mud stains and salty tasting whatever, guess a flood vehicle is a real possibility. So, used?

 

Point of this diatribe is to see what others are experiencing, and avoiding, and may suggest regarding the purchase of low mileage used cars as well as new cars. Any thoughts appreciated.

William

 

 

[Dave Hounddriver]

I have been looking for the same.  The old cars are junk and hard to finance.  The new cars can be hard to finance but if you manage it then you pay about 24% per annum by my calculations.   Rusco multicabs are easy to finance but they gouge you.  At least they fix their junk when it breaks but they charge you for that too.  There are shyster lenders out there who charge 3% per month for vehicle financing.

 

The only good solution is to wait and save until you can pay cash, unless JGF wants to start an expat auto financing business  :rolleyes:

 

Here is something that made me laugh.  Search OLX for "assume balance" on cars and you will see that is becoming popular in Manila area but the rest of the country are not doing it.  So I found an add for a guy selling a 2 year old Toyota.  He wanted someone to give him his down payment back plus all the payments he had made so far plus take over the balance of payments.  In exchange he was going to give a 20% discount on the cash you had to pay out.  Would cost you 300,000 down and payments for the next 3.5 years. Of course I contacted him right away for such a deal  :728:

[Thomas]

I do see a newer multicab design with a bigger engine, ac and automatic drive. Don't know if they too are Japan surplus imports built in PI or are they from Korea or some other place? We are headed to CDO this weekend to look around with aspirations of a purchase. I really want to buy used BUT no carfaxes here and other than rubbing my hand under the dash for mud stains and salty tasting whatever, guess a flood vehicle is a real possibility. So, used?

Do you mean Suzuki MT multicab?

I don't know if they do such in CDO, but they do in Davao and Cebu.

They started with the some less weak engines (=1000 instead of 6xx) rather recently and many are still made with the weaker engines, so it's much harder to find an used with the stronger engine, but if you order a new one, you can chose yourself. The cheapest new I have seen was around 145000, but I believe that was the weaker engine and they demanded pay in advance.

[frosty (chris)]

I was talking with an American guy here one night and he was telling me that BPI bank has repo's on there books that they try to sell off, I don't know if it's true but maybe next time you go to the bank ask to see the manager and ask him.

 

I have found a good mechanic here after lot's of trial and error, knows what he is doing, is punctual and cheap, so they are around problem is finding one.

Edited June 15, 2015 by frosty (chris)

[Thomas]

I was talking with an American guy here one night and he was telling me that BPI bank has repo's on there books that they try to sell off,

I don't remember if it's BPI but it's a depo with repossesed cars in Cebu. I suppouse on some other island too. But many of them are junk, earlier users skiped the caretaking before the lender took the vehicle from them... But worth checking. There can be bargains. In Phils the repossesing law don't bother about the old owner, some lenders don't bother to get more than their money back even if the item is worth more.

[frosty (chris)]

 

I was talking with an American guy here one night and he was telling me that BPI bank has repo's on there books that they try to sell off,

I don't remember if it's BPI but it's a depo with repossesed cars in Cebu. I suppouse on some other island too. But many of them are junk, earlier users skiped the caretaking before the lender took the vehicle from them... But worth checking. There can be bargains. In Phils the repossesing law don't bother about the old owner, some lenders don't bother to get more than their money back even if the item is worth more.

 

Yeah Thomas I can't remember if it was BPI or BDO, the guy did say that the bank was trying to re-finance them so they can make more money :hystery: . He did say that the ones he was quoted on were later models as he was looking for the same, he ended up buying a new KIA on finance.

[Dave Hounddriver]

Let me tell ya a story about repos.  I went to the bank to ask about them and they told me that all are posted on their web site.  When I looked I found the prices higher than on the open market because the bank loaned too much and wanted to get their money back.

 

But I found a SWEET Honda motorcycle at the dealership that was only 6 months old and they had discounted it 20% off new.  That is a good deal here.  SOLD I said, lets do the paperwork.  Sure, but there is only one problem.  It is still registered in the name of the original purchaser, not the dealership, and its up to me to transfer the ownership, the dealership will only give me a receipt for the money paid to them.

 

Uh Uh.  The only way to do that would be to move it to another town and keep registering it in the name of the registered owner.  That is done all the time and there is nothing the previous owner can do about it so long as I have the receipt showing I paid for it, but imagine the hassle of trying to register that in my own name.

 

EDIT PS I did not buy the bike after all.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Dave Hounddriver

[Thomas]

Sure, but there is only one problem. It is still registered in the name of the original purchaser, not the dealership, and its up to me to transfer the ownership, the dealership will only give me a receipt for the money paid to them.

There are odd things concerning Repossesed Real Estates too. E g often are documents not clear, and within a year AFTER you have bought it, old owner have right to buy it back for a STATIC price UNDEPENDING of what you have paid for it and undepending of if you have improved it.

[Dave Hounddriver]

The local Kia manager wanted 32% APR for a 3 year loan he would arrange

 

Keep us posted if you find any potential financing.  That rate is not unusual for this country.  I was paying 3.5% every month on a Philippine credit card that I gave back.  (Just too expensive as there were annual fees and transaction fees in addition to this rate)

 

I just got back from a chat with RadioWealth Financing.  Not good news there either.  30% down on a used car and 55% APR on the balance with another 24,000 pesos cash to be paid for the cost of their 'requirements'.  Oh yeah, in addition to that I need a Philippine citizen with a good job to be a co-signer and put it in his name, they recommended using a relative of the wife, and a letter from the Pope to guarantee I am Catholic.

 

Just kidding about the Pope part  :cheersty:  but the rest is ALL true.