Buying A Used Car In The Philippines

[HikiSpray]

Hello, we are planning to come to the Philippines this coming christmas and I am wondering if anybody here can recommend what kind of used car to get? Because of how the Euro have dropped towards the Peso our budget have become limited, I know it´s a tall order but cant really afford a car more than about 150k peso. maybe a little wiggle room but  not much.

 

Anybody have any ideas? Best would be if the car was available in Manila area. Planning to drive it from Manila to the province.

[Thomas]

Hello, we are planning to come to the Philippines this coming christmas and I am wondering if anybody here can recommend what kind of used car to get? Because of how the Euro have dropped towards the Peso our budget have become limited, I know it´s a tall order but cant really afford a car more than about 150k peso. maybe a little wiggle room but  not much.

 

Anybody have any ideas? Best would be if the car was available in Manila area. Planning to drive it from Manila to the province.

There are "new" cars available for 150 - 200k  

(=New bodies with OLD engine and mechanical parts.)

The VERY COMMON ones are:

/"Toyota MT".  They LOOK as a jeep, but mostly NOT 4 WD.   It's common the body is STAINLESS or partly Stainless.

/"Suzuki MT" is ONE of many names at basicly SAME car with different tops. (There are e g Pickup and Miniwan tops and are often called only that, because they are so common.)  LOOK UP!  Most of theese have only 6xx cc engine, so they can have problem to get up the mountain if having some foreign sized people in it    :mocking:    But SOME of them made recently have 1000 cc engines.

 

(I think of "Toyota MT" or "Minivan" 1000 cc myself, but that's if I will not need to drive many miles.)

[Dave Hounddriver]

cant really afford a car more than about 150k peso.

 

Good cars in that price range are hard to find but Thomas has mentioned a few ideas.  Often called 'surplus vehicles' the better ones sell in the 200K range but its possible to compromise and get one at 150K.  Not sure about Manila as there are areas where these vehicles are not allowed to be registered.  Some people I know in Dumaguete have their vehicles registered in Mindanao where the restrictions are more lax.

 

Here's a link to a site you could start looking on

http://www.olx.ph/index.php/classifieds+directory/q/multicab

[deevey]

Have a look for Mid-Late 90's Suzuki Vitara's and Daihatsu Feroza's if you need something that can take a beating on the roads cheaply, both are available for aorund 150k. 

[Thomas]

 

cant really afford a car more than about 150k peso.

 

Good cars in that price range are hard to find but Thomas has mentioned a few ideas.  Often called 'surplus vehicles' the better ones sell in the 200K range but its possible to compromise and get one at 150K.  Not sure about Manila as there are areas where these vehicles are not allowed to be registered.  Some people I know in Dumaguete have their vehicles registered in Mindanao where the restrictions are more lax.

 

Here's a link to a site you could start looking on

http://www.olx.ph/index.php/classifieds+directory/q/multicab

There are/have been recently at least one mounting company in Davao and more than one in Metro Cebu.

 

If buying from the mounting company it's possible to chose simple things as color, but also things as automatic gear box, 4 WD, high/normal free height over ground...    I suppouse they want some more pay for the extras. 

The Toyota ones can be got with longer bodies.  

I believe it can be worth to buy an OLD CHEAP Toyota MT because of the stainless body, and replace engine and such if necesary. Some such can be found with hard tops, which I prefer

[HikiSpray]

Thank you for your replies, I'm getting a few ideas of what to get.
I have a feeling that first of all, my budget needs to be a little bigger and second, see what the wife say.
She is the boss, you know. :)

Is the toyota Surf a reliable car? I'm looking at those also, diesel engine and Toyota. should be hard to kill that car.

[Dave Hounddriver]

toyota Surf

 

For Southeast Asia the Hilux Surf was replaced in 2005 by the similar Fortuner, which is based on the Hilux platform.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_4Runner

 

Which means any Toyota Surf you buy will be an older vehicle.  Everyone I know with a Toyota up to 10 years old just loves them.  The ones who have them and they are 10 to 20 years old often complain of problems.  I would not own one that is 10 to 20 years old to go on a road trip as you describe in the opening post.

[HikiSpray]

 

toyota Surf

 

For Southeast Asia the Hilux Surf was replaced in 2005 by the similar Fortuner, which is based on the Hilux platform.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_4Runner

 

Which means any Toyota Surf you buy will be an older vehicle.  Everyone I know with a Toyota up to 10 years old just loves them.  The ones who have them and they are 10 to 20 years old often complain of problems.  I would not own one that is 10 to 20 years old to go on a road trip as you describe in the opening post.

 

Hmm, ok. I guess will have too keep looking. How about Ford Lynx? Since the roads where we are going to are in pretty good condition, we could be getting a sedan. But now it looks like a "multicab", small van, is the way to go.

I myself don't mind a older car, just as long it has a aircon. :)

Edited March 3, 2015 by HikiSpray

[Dave Hounddriver]

I myself don't mind a older car, just as long it has a aircon.

 

I agree, until I am broke down in the hills of Leyte and the night is falling. . . .  There is no AAA here.

[HikiSpray]

I myself don't mind a older car, just as long it has a aircon.

I agree, until I am broke down in the hills of Leyte and the night is falling. . . . There is no AAA here.

You have a point, however, older cars are usually easier to fix. (For my first ten years of driving I had most tools needed for fixing my car if it would break down, in the trunk. :) So I got alot of experience fixing my first cars.) Oh well, it's still time until December, who knows, maybe I'm lucky and win a lottery or something. :)