Buying a car

[robert k]

1 hour ago, Reedster said:

Anyone have a handle on how expensive auto insurance is?

The minimum to get registration is cheap on a used car. Or did you mean insurance worth the paper it's written on?

[Gary D]

2 hours ago, robert k said:

The minimum to get registration is cheap on a used car. Or did you mean insurance worth the paper it's written on?

By Philippines standards proper insurance is expensive, probably western prices. Two pitfalls, you will likely pay up front for any claim then wait to be reimbursed, also there will be a good chance the agent has run off with your premium and your not covered.

[Reedster]

5 hours ago, robert k said:

The minimum to get registration is cheap on a used car. Or did you mean insurance worth the paper it's written on?

That got me laughing.  I meant insurance similar to what I might have in the US.  But your response got me thinking I probably need to understand what goes on there instead of trying just to compare it with something I have here.  Any insights you have would be appreciated, Robert.

[Reedster]

2 hours ago, Gary D said:

By Philippines standards proper insurance is expensive, probably western prices. Two pitfalls, you will likely pay up front for any claim then wait to be reimbursed, also there will be a good chance the agent has run off with your premium and your not covered.

Thanks Gary

[mogo51]

On 2/26/2017 at 8:37 AM, robert k said:

Agree with the above.

I gave my jeep to someone without transferring title but with special limited power of attorney to dispose (sell) the vehicle, drawn up at a lawyers office for 500 pesos. They sold the jeep and the owner got good title. If someone is really using an agent and it is not fraud, the agent needs something similar. If it's a forced sale for money for an emergency, they would take the car to a car lot rather than wait for a random person online to inquire. Be careful.

Sound analysis here!  Please take heed.

[robert k]

10 hours ago, Reedster said:

That got me laughing.  I meant insurance similar to what I might have in the US.  But your response got me thinking I probably need to understand what goes on there instead of trying just to compare it with something I have here.  Any insights you have would be appreciated, Robert.

There are not a great many high speed roads in the the Philippines and while minor accidents appear to be common, the major accidents appear to involve buses and commercial trucks or someone driving off a mountain. I intend to get the cheap insurance that is just enough to get registration when I buy a vehicle, and yield to larger vehicles at all time. Might makes right on the road in the Philippines. Body work for a car is relatively cheap in the Philippines if you shop around.

If you survive a bad accident, good health insurance will probably be more important than good car insurance, in my opinion. If you are involved in an accident and you are, or may be at fault, settle it on the spot if the other person is amenable. If they are NOT amenable, call the police and give them your insurance information and bless them and wish them luck dealing with the insurance company. An SUV with a ladder type frame, basically any design that started out as a light truck, is a difficult vehicle to get killed in at 60 KPH. An Asia standard car you could easily be killed at those speeds due to thinness or lack of steel. I'm going to buy a new van when I come back but my mind would be more at ease in a toyota surf/fortuner or nissan terrano. I will just let a few dings and scratches accumulate and put the van in the shop when they get to be too much.

It's not all bad to have a vehicle that has what I call Road Cred, a dent or ding or two that shows you will not do absolutely anything to protect your paint. My Toyota Tamaraw FX newly painted seemed to be a magnet for being hit, my M-35 Willys Jeep was never hit because nobody wanted to take the chance of hitting it. I was driving my friends nice looking car for a few days and got rear ended by a trike and a kid on a motorcycle. The trike probably had no brakes and that was his normal way of stopping. The kid was just young and stupid and the road wet. Neither accident did any damage to the car but the kids front wheel really needed to be straightened and the spokes re-laced. This is what it looked like to me from driving quite a bit over a year.

I'm willing to take a bit of a calculated risk in buying a van instead of an SUV but it isn't a cabover design and there are the wheels and significant structure in front before passengers would be effected. Those multicab cab-over designs are awesome in their turning radius but there is only a few inches of sheet metal and plastic in the front, nothing structural, between a person's legs and destruction. Happy motoring!

[expatuk2014]

Our car is insured with Bpi Msi insurance first year was free , second year it was 18,900 pesos

Fully comp

There is a 3500 peso amount you have to pay towards any claim.

 

[Reedster]

3 hours ago, robert k said:

There are not a great many high speed roads in the the Philippines and while minor accidents appear to be common, the major accidents appear to involve buses and commercial trucks or someone driving off a mountain. I intend to get the cheap insurance that is just enough to get registration when I buy a vehicle, and yield to larger vehicles at all time. Might makes right on the road in the Philippines. Body work for a car is relatively cheap in the Philippines if you shop around.

If you survive a bad accident, good health insurance will probably be more important than good car insurance, in my opinion. If you are involved in an accident and you are, or may be at fault, settle it on the spot if the other person is amenable. If they are NOT amenable, call the police and give them your insurance information and bless them and wish them luck dealing with the insurance company. An SUV with a ladder type frame, basically any design that started out as a light truck, is a difficult vehicle to get killed in at 60 KPH. An Asia standard car you could easily be killed at those speeds due to thinness or lack of steel. I'm going to buy a new van when I come back but my mind would be more at ease in a toyota surf/fortuner or nissan terrano. I will just let a few dings and scratches accumulate and put the van in the shop when they get to be too much.

It's not all bad to have a vehicle that has what I call Road Cred, a dent or ding or two that shows you will not do absolutely anything to protect your paint. My Toyota Tamaraw FX newly painted seemed to be a magnet for being hit, my M-35 Willys Jeep was never hit because nobody wanted to take the chance of hitting it. I was driving my friends nice looking car for a few days and got rear ended by a trike and a kid on a motorcycle. The trike probably had no brakes and that was his normal way of stopping. The kid was just young and stupid and the road wet. Neither accident did any damage to the car but the kids front wheel really needed to be straightened and the spokes re-laced. This is what it looked like to me from driving quite a bit over a year.

I'm willing to take a bit of a calculated risk in buying a van instead of an SUV but it isn't a cabover design and there are the wheels and significant structure in front before passengers would be effected. Those multicab cab-over designs are awesome in their turning radius but there is only a few inches of sheet metal and plastic in the front, nothing structural, between a person's legs and destruction. Happy motoring!

Thanks Robert, appreciate your thoughtful response

[barryneves]

DELETED.  Use English please

Edited June 25, 2017 by Dave Hounddriver

[Gary D]

One concern is hospital bills for the other party, a foreigner is always expected to be in the wrong and expected to pick up the tab. The MO for coach drivers is to always run over someone twice because a funeral is cheaper than a hospital.