Buying a car in Cambodia

Hi KeenJee,

I have close friends with many car dealerships.
What type of car are you interested in? As you might know cars can be extremely over priced in Cambodia because of the import tax, but with the right connections purchasing and registering can be very simple.

Hello there patricksully,

Kenjee is a member of the Team Expat.com. This topic has been launched to gather a maximum infos so as to guide expats and future expats.

Best of luck,
Bhavna

xxx

When you buy a second hand car, it may be unregistered and without plates. Most of the second hand cars in dealerships will have been purchased in lots overseas and imported. The tax is ferocious, but the dealer will have paid that and the cost of shipping the vehicle. You must get a certificate for the car from the dealer, showing that the tax has been paid, otherwise don't buy.
It is also a good idea to insist on a 3 months guarantee with a second hand car.  The dealer usually has a mechanical workshop associated with their dealership. The cars will have been detailed, the motor washed etc and very temporary 'fixes' done. This time will allow you to assess the car's performance and get all the repairs done fairly at the dealer's expense, while hopefully establishing good relations with a mechanic, who will get to know your car's quirks.

Presumably, you will have a Cambodian driver's licence or a temporary licence certificate by the time you go out to buy a car. You can drive the car to the registery on the outskirts of Phnom Penh without a plate. At the parking area, there are a number of middle aged ladies in traditional conical straw hats, who are the facilitators to help you navigate what you have to do. They will take your papers and submit them for you. You have to wait around for some time on wooden benches in a roofed area open to the weather. The wait can be long, especially if you don't get there early in the morning. Eventually, you get another piece of paper that will allow you to purchase the plates and pay around $150 from memeory, in road tax. You then walk around to the back of the compound to a large warehouse style building with a small, usually very crowded room, where you can accept a random plate and wait again for a couple of hours till you get it or pay more for numbers you can pick or even more for the most prized numbers. The numbers are written out in a few bundles of paper/exercise books and you block out the number you have chosen with a felt pen provided. It's competitive to get to see the numbers and you may have to use your elbows. If you purchase one of the better class of numbers, you get your plates more or less immediately. The categories of plate vary from  $20 - $100. Someone there will screw the plates to your car. You then return to the original waiting area and sign some final papers with the duplicates given to you and your car is registered. As my Khmer is minimal, I found it useful to take a young Canbodian friend with me to translate and move the car around if need be. In hindsight, I should have taken something to eat and drink and maybe a book to read.  I am not sure if this can all be done on your behalf by someone else.

If you buy a new car there is a import duty to be paid. If you buy a second hand car/used car there is no import duty. Many of the cars are insurance right offs, these are not cars that have been totalled, they are cars that have had some damage but according to the insurance company, they are considered un-repairable due to the costs, however, after repairs are carried out and are tested for their road worthiness etc they are passed.

I have seen many Range Rovers/Land Rovers, when the badge on the outside says "Land Rover" but the interiors are "Range Rover" and vice versa.

If you know your way around cars, check the chassis no and the engine number against the log book, if they correspond, no problem, if they don't then there is a problem.

All cars can be checked with the manufacturer, if the numbers don't match there is a problem.

be careful buying a used car in C.  there's indeed a lot of crab on the market. a cambodian does
"not maintain" a car, and replaces parts with anything that's cheap!

On the topic of used cars, I noticed the large number of Honda CRVs circa 2000 driving around all over Cambodia. I have one myself and love it, but mine certainly isn't as well maintained and presented as the ones I saw earlier this year! Does anyone know why they are so popular over there?

John