I wanted to avoid commenting as the answers would be in such variables, I for one on a half million peso, 2nd hand bank repo vehicle, pay 8000 peso in registration yearly along with 550 peso air care (emission test) than 1,100 peso in insurance. So my yearly Bull Crap fees are 9,650P. As for allowing a Family to use your vehicle, I do not have the years it would take to explain "why not to"
I'll have to look into that. Is it comfortable to make long distance trips to other islands? Are they available with automatic transmissions? It seems like straightdrives (manuals) are way more prevalent in the Philippines.
Only 1,100 php ($22 USD) for insurance on a 1.5M php car?? I pay over 1,100 USD for a similar value car in the US. What is included in the 1,100 php? Around sharing, I don't expect to be there full time, which means the vehicle would be sitting for months at a time. Is getting a rental car for a month or two easy to do?
Family and cars: it's not only a filipino thing. In my late 20's I left Vancouver, B.C. with a lady to travel and live abroad for a year or so. I left my old VW bus with a common friend for her to use as her regular ride. On my return, it was stored safely with reverse gear not working, easy to get repaired. The lady left her beautiful slant/6 with a younger brother in his garage, with his promise to start it up once a month. On return, the engine was frozen solid with rust, impossible to free the crank shaft, just a pile of junk.
Rentals can be had but are no bargan here. My vehicle is a half mil not 1.5. As for what you get for 1,100 is 1st party liability of 200,000p in my individual package. As for your car if you did get one...."yes" there are automatics here as mine is automatic. If I went away I would keep it in a garage and it would just stay there. After many months I would rather come back to find a dead battery over the extra miles and serious chance of abuse to it from loaning it out to whom does not own it. To loan a vehicle to the Family when away also means the vehicle will be taken back when you return. That can go wrong in so many ways.
Comprehensive car insurance, this you can get in PH, most Banks offer this service, we bought our car just over 3yrs ago it was a repo from the BPI Bank in Cebu, we paid P600K for a low mileage 18month old car in very good nick, the Bank offered us Insurance, a fully comp all inclusive insurance that covered natural disasters, like flooding or even a coconut falling down on it, this cost us P20K, another policy was offered to us at P15K, but this did not cover any natural disasters, each year the price has dropped by around P1000 as the car gets older. The Suzuki Multicabs are great little workhorses but sh*t to drive for any long distance, you can get them with AC and an Auto box, but they are terrible and about as unrefined as you can get in a car, they only have a 660CC engine. Tricycles are also sh*t and unsafe at any speed, you are fighting that third wheel at all times, especially when travelling on hills, when travelling down hill can you imagine what would happen if you jammed on the brakes, that side car would slew you around and you would then tumble down the hill just like Jack and Jill. Knowing your particular circumstances, you intend to renovate the house you own in PH, with that in mind are you going to have much leisure time on your visits to PH? to drive a car 100mls on negros island will take around 4hrs and it is unlikely to be a relaxing drive, I for one hate driving there. you can never rely on your Phil Family to look after your vehicle, but there is one cheaper option for you and ideal for shorter journeys around DGTE and the surrounding district. A Bajad Trike, these are nice balanced stable little units which I think will be braked on all three wheels, ideal for driver and 2 passengers, cost new will be around P180K, you may pick up a second hand one for 120K, on your return home to US perhaps you can leave this with a trusted Foreigner to use and look after while you are away?
Agreed with Dave, a Bajaj RE trike would do nicely for rides around town. Comfort wouldn't be very good though, so not suited for longer drives. New price has gone up a bit to 190k, and you probably need a motorbike drivers license to drive one. View attachment upload_2022-8-20_18-22-51.png
Interesting perspectives. Thanks. I was googling repossessed cars in the Philippines and that's what got this idea going. The vehicle that caught my attention was a Ford 4x4 Raptor 4 seater. It also had a diesel. I've never owned a truck, just cars and SUVs, so it kind of appeals to me, but not sure how practical that is. I'd appreciate your thoughts on the practicality of this vehicle. It's probably overkill, but you only live once. I would only do something like this if I was there full time, so the family piece is out of the picture. It doesn't have a to be a Ford, it's more the style that got my attention. Are there other brands of the same style that would be a better choice?
Reading this very interesting thread, it occurred to me than in an ideal World we could form sharing groups (as in time share properties) and work out a system of agreed dates we would come here to use these shared items. I see no reason for it to be limited to vehicles, but to include housing and contents - then my mind thought about adding in the wife! That was the point at which I took serious notice of 'wear and tear' and realised that whilst one man may be gentle on the accelerator, another will push hard, with pistons going at full speed - thus the wear on the cylinders (and some other important parts) could be non-proportional and unfair to certain sharers. Who wants to find during his share-unit that everything is worn out and sluggish due to over-exuberant use by the previous sharer! Next time I'll write about the issues concerned with sharing vehicles and property.
