Advice buying truck in philippines

[hilyfe 1,254]

Hi guys

My vaction  to philippines is coming up again

And i plan on getting my self a 2018 toyota hilux conquest 4x2 at

Im plannijg to cash it in for a peace of mind

But the problem im having is that

Itll cost about 27k us dollars for a brand new one

Or lets just say 30k us dollars

Now i can only bring home 10k us dollars

Anything higher than that you have to declared it

What ever that meant declared if you have morethan 10k

 

Can someone give me an advice on how to go about buying this truck

 

Thanx

[Daddy 754]

You could set it up with your bank in US to wire the money to the dealership after you make the deal or you might be able to put it on a credit card, which they would probably charge 3 or 4% for taking, if they accept it at all. We have a checking acct at PS bank and simply write a check to our account in RP from out US acct. It takes more than 30 days for it to clear and converted into pesos. Obviously that is probably a no starter because you will want the truck right away but an option. 

 

[Woolf 7,316]

@hilyfe

 

How long do you plan to stay in PH

You can use your foreign license for 3 months, after that you need to have a Philippine license to drive legal in PH

[smokey 20,966]

Wire.   Open a (example) union bank dollar acct in philippines.   Open (example)acct in usa at wells fargo. Tell wells you want to open repetive wire between two banks they will give you a password rest can be done on line 

[Woolf 7,316]

15 minutes ago, smokey said:

Wire.   Open a (example) union bank dollar acct in philippines.   Open (example)acct in usa at wells fargo. Tell wells you want to open repetive wire between two banks they will give you a password rest can be done on line 

I think there is one problem here 

I am pretty sure that you can NOT open an account in any Philippine bank, without having a ACR-I card

you can not  get ther ACR-I card until after you been in PH for 59 days and it takes about a month before you can pickup  the card at BI

that is about 3 months  you are allowed to drive on your foreign license for 3 months only

[+Dafey 9,245]

I have a Schwab 1 checking account. Their debit card refunds all international transaction fees at the end of the month and their rate is pretty close to the going rate. When we bought our house I asked to have my daily limit upped and they took me to 100,000 pesos a day. If you bring 10K with you it should take 10 days to get the rest.

or...you could just Xoom me the money and I'll have your truck broken in for you by the time you get here! 

[Goetz1965 680]

Open an account with Skrill.com - and get the verifications done so that 30K is no problem !

From skrill you can transfer money to philippine banks without problems - I did that for BPI, PNB and Metrobank - transfer was done within 24h.

That way you can ask the dealer for the bankaccount and then transfer from skrill.

Or bring cheques with you - they are regular method of payment here.

Also you CAN bring 30K cash with you - you just need to declare that amount at customs in US and here in phils.
Just tell them "to buy a car" and no one will ask, but maybe you also need to bring a bodyguard

Edited August 3 by Goetz1965

[Woolf 7,316]

37 minutes ago, Goetz1965 said:

Or bring cheques with you - they are regular method of payment here.

Also you CAN bring 30K cash with you

there is no difference if you bring checks or cash   if more than 10.000  usd value it has to be declared

[Headshot 24,276]

Why bother with all of that? Most new car dealerships in the Philippines are set up to take credit cards. I used my AMEX card to buy my vehicle. Just make sure your credit card company knows in advance  that you will be making a large purchase, so they don't block the transaction. No Philippine accounts are necessary. The other advantage is that you can also earn points (good for mileage?) by using your card.

[Cgu 273]

31 minutes ago, Headshot said:

Why bother with all of that? Most new car dealerships in the Philippines are set up to take credit cards. I used my AMEX card to buy my vehicle. Just make sure your credit card company knows in advance  that you will be making a large purchase, so they don't block the transaction. No Philippine accounts are necessary. The other advantage is that you can also earn points (good for mileage?) by using your card.

Additionally if you are able to pay in dollars you might not get charged VAT. 

The other week I had a transaction and they offered me to pay with my foreign credit card, so no VAT, but 4% card charges. I accepted the offer which saved me 8% on the whole transaction.

[GBT62 417]

1 hour ago, Headshot said:

Why bother with all of that? Most new car dealerships in the Philippines are set up to take credit cards. I used my AMEX card to buy my vehicle. Just make sure your credit card company knows in advance  that you will be making a large purchase, so they don't block the transaction. No Philippine accounts are necessary. The other advantage is that you can also earn points (good for mileage?) by using your card.

Hmmmm I should have thought of that and Amex'ed my car in January - I didn't think they'd accept it here. They were pushing for a loan of course, when I used cash. Mind you I'd expect the usual Amex ~3% surcharge - and they weren't really very flexible pricewise.

The points come in handy - I transferred mine to an online travel company and just paid for all my internal AU flights and half my accommodation there on my last trip 

[GBT62 417]

2 hours ago, Woolf said:

there is no difference if you bring checks or cash   if more than 10.000  usd value it has to be declared

What's the downside if you declare anyway ?  A tax ? Or you just need to explain where the funds come from and why you are going to do with them ?

Heck, I had Unionbank call me a few weeks ago to know the source of my funds back in December (a small transfer from my Citibank PH account) - yet they already asked me at the time. They are getting pretty nosy lately.

[SkyMan 17,113]

When I was shopping for my truck I found that Cebu dealers added on p40K or more delivery charge so I bought it from a Manila dealership and drove it down.  The wife and I made a vacation of it but didn't spend over p15K for the trip including the flights to Manila and got to see some sights along the way.  Also, if you're interested in a spray in bed liner you can get that done at Line-X in the Manila area.

Edited August 3 by SkyMan

[Davaoeno 34,446]

22 minutes ago, SkyMan said:

so I bought it from a Manila dealership and drove it down. 

I bought 2 cars in Manila and drove them both to Davao using western RORO  [ 5 ferries].  You can also ship them . I believe Solid Shipping Lines offers the best deal . 

I bought 4 cars in  Iloilo and  Cebu and drove them to Davao [ sometimes using the  overnight ferry from Cebu to CDO with Transasia.]

[cookie47 372]

What's the downside if you declare anyway ?  A tax ? Or you just need to explain where the funds come from and why you are going to do with them ?
Heck, I had Unionbank call me a few weeks ago to know the source of my funds back in December (a small transfer from my Citibank PH account) - yet they already asked me at the time. They are getting pretty nosy lately.

yet they already asked me at the time. They are getting pretty nosy lately.

True, although not car related we!!! (my wife) has bought a new house in Consolacion.
The questions from both Australia and Metrobank were very intrusive.I had to write a letter to both banks and (my wife) take a phone call from Manila explaining how we obtained the funds (which peeeed me right off) no end.
So just saying..... the landscape may have changed. All the other members have given you many years of experience and excellent info but I'm just giving you a "heads up" what has happened recently.

All money's were legit and took 5 "extra days" for Metrobank to release money..


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