I'll be arriving Duma in Sept. and want to buy a Honda XR150. Should I buy in Manila, Cebu or Duma? Thanks - MJ
Best left for when you get here my friend. Riding from Manila on a 150 will be a Major task ( and a Little Dangerous) Cebu is not that far away and you will to my Mind, get a Similar/Better Deal in Dumaguete with No Traveling but our M/C Enthusiasts will no doubt chip in here. Always remembering that there will be some additional costs to re register from Another island but again some will tell you more. JP
Best to buy locally. I had a vehicle bought in Cebu (a dump truck). For some reason the LTO here decided the OR needed to be done in Cebu. The LTO had been doing the OR here in Dumaguete for 5 years and one day they woke up on the wrong side of the bed. From what I've seen bike prices change very little from one dealer to the next.
If you plan on living in Dumaguete it is just easier to buy locally. As Show Pony mentioned, if you buy it in Cebu you will need to do the paperwork in the Cebu LTO and then transfer it to Dumaguete LTO (it is a hassle and will cost you money and lots of time). For whatever reason the LTOs are not interconnected and they have no communication with each other so emails/faxes/phone calls will not be made between the LTO offices to get what you need done.....and they will forget to tell you something that you need and then you will need to make the trip a second or third time. If you do buy locally you need to make sure that the vehicle's OR/CR were originally made in Dumaguete and not Cebu, I made this mistake once 5 years ago and still haven't gotten the registration in my name (I can renew it under the old owner's name but I cannot put it under my name until I go to some po-dunk town north of Cebu).
Best prices for new bikes, not sure if they still do Honda though, is GUD in Cervantes Street, Dumaguete, about 200 metres South from the Police Station, and on the same side. Manager there was a lady named - Gerebeth, she did good deals. Not sure if she is still there?
Is the "buy locally" the same general advice you would give for buying a new Motor Car. I have been advised (from Filopinos in Manila who don't own cars) that it much cheaper in Manila - Is that an urban myth?
There are more used car dealerships in Manila, chances are you could find something cheaper there. But then you are going to have to pay get it to Dumaguete. If you save 10k pesos on the car you will spend that (plus some) getting it down to Dumaguete. If you get a lemon and it breaks down on the way to Dumaguete you can forget about using the lemon law in place in the Philippines (they do have one and I have successfully used it). You can probably still make a claim using the law but you will be out of pocket getting it fixed and back to the dealership. And remember that Filipinos living in Manila have a bit of a "complex" when it comes to thinking everything in Manila is better. From a Filipinos perspective I can understand it (more jobs, higher wages), but from an expat's perspective of looking to live in the Philippines I can find nothing good to say about Manila.
