Should I buy a car?

I live in Penang most of the time and agree it's a small area and easy to get around using public transport and Uber and Grab.

The only time you may want to think about having a car is if wanted to explore Thailand. Then owning a car makes it easier to take it over the border. But with the twice per calendar year restriction now in place and the hassle of driving and crossing the border/immigration, then perhaps its  best to explore using flights and local transport.

One major thing I noticed about owning a car is that its very necessary to use it almost every day, because the battery really does need some action or it goes dead very quickly. The hassle of parking makes owning a car another question mark. Plus the crazy motorbikes - which are quite scary sometimes. Unfortunately there are a number of scams ongoing, aimed at non-locals, where say a driver will accuse you of damaging their car or breaking their wing mirror,  when nothing has happened at all. Insurance plus road tax would cost about RM2k per year - that's a lot of taxis.

I have lived for 3 out of 7 years without a car in both KL and Penang and I really dont see the need to have one. So much so, that I recently let my UK driving licence expire - so my driving days are categorically over...

Hi mate,

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Regards,
Ram.

For me, a car here is a love-hate thing. You need it, its useful, its handy, its necessary but on the other hand, an expensive hassle.

I stayed in KL for years and owned a car, then got rid of it to save costs and bought a bike. Then in mainland Penang, there are almost no taxis and no public transportation and no way to carry boxes on the bike, so it was back to a car again. Roadtax and insurance are about RM400 per year, maintenance RM100 per month, petrol RM100 per month. I cant see being without the car.

People are different and varying needs. I dont want to be prisoner to a bus or train to go to KL or Thailand or Singapore; I want instant transport when its raining or when I have an urge to go out for a bite to eat at 2am, or when I have a big load to the post office or when I have a whim to go sit under a waterfall in some jungle somewhere that is unlikely to be served by Uber or other. I think it was cruel and rude on my part to ask neighbors for rides all the time. A car ends that.

That said, I say buy a car but not just any car. Save your MM2H for some special occasion and instead buy an older Proton Wira or similar for cheap and on your own. A car is freedom. But given the tax structure of the country, beat them to the punch by not arrogantly insisting on buying a Toyota or continental car or even a new car. An old Proton is cheap to take care of and does the job.

Happy motoring!

Agree with cvco, I have an Australian ex-colleague who bought a Perodua Myvi from a Facebook page called MyCarsearch for his daily usage. He told me that's the car that has the performance and worth the money spent, low monthly instalment and the service fee is not that expensive too. But it is still depends on how often you need to use a car