Our extensive inspection and prep process ensures that you get a second hand car in excellent mechanical condition.
Get a written warranty on parts and labor (coverage varies by car sale class)
Our haggle-free pricing includes our fair-price guarantee, multi-point inspection, renewal, and warranty (according to sale class), the ownership transfer paperwork service, transfer fees, current registration, and all sales taxes.
We are here to help you with maintenance and any other automotive needs after the sale.
We all know that the used car business around the world has a less than stellar stereotype attached with it. Some of this comes out of straight-up dishonesty, but some of it also comes out of neglect on the part of the seller to fully check what they are selling. Some of it also just comes about because cars are imperfect machines with thousands of parts and sometimes things just go wrong.
We at Expat Auto feel that the general reputation of the used car business is unfortunate yet mostly avoidable. We’ve created a standard for buying, inspections, renewals, car classifications, and written warranty levels to make the buying process more straightforward.
And if things do go wrong down the road we’re here to make sure you get the service you need whether it's an item covered by a warranty or not; our 1-stop shop for after-sales services has you covered.
Our team is here to make sure you get a quality car that fits your needs and budget, as well as to offer the service you may need during your car ownership journey.
Shop Cars Now or keep reading about our process..
Every car must undergo an inspection to be put in our car classification/grading system, or we won’t sell it. Our professional technicians are great at this and work hard to provide our sales team and customers with full disclosure of their findings.
Vehicles still under manufacturer warranty undergo approximately 110 points as a quality check inspection and are also taken to the dealer for the routine check and servicing if due.
Vehicles no longer under manufacturer warranty are taken through a 230 point Test Drive & Visual Inspection:
* Mileage is verified to the best of our abilities by checking on available records and evaluating the condition of the car. If we find it has been dialled back, we will let you know upfront. If you find new information about the inaccuracy of the mileage after the sale, we will buy the car back!
** We do not sell cars with flood or frame damage.
*** If the car has had any minor scrapes/accidents that were properly repaired, we will point them out to you.
Once a car has been taken through the full inspection, the renewal process (if any) can begin. Anything that doesn't meet our standards for a particular car classification is repaired or replaced by our highly trained technicians. We spend many hours replacing parts, fixing major dents or scratches, and detailing to make your car feel like new. Then we give each car a final quality check.
Shop Cars Now or keep reading about our car classification system.
We have organized our cars into five different car sales classes depending on Age, Mileage, Inspection level, Condition, and Warranty Coverage. Keep in mind that just because a car is in a lower class doesn’t mean it's not a good car. It may be there just the warranty level due to age or mileage.
Important Classification Summary :
1.-2. Platinum Certified & Gold class - cars have had all repairs done, but differ on warranty level and length because of age or mileage.
3. Silver Class - cars are here primarily because of age or mileage. At a minimum, all repairs related to the engine and drive-train have been repaired. It may or may not have any additional recommended items for repair. Contact us for an estimate on any items that have not been repaired (if any).
4. Bronze Class - is essentially the as-is section in terms of warranty either because of the age/mileage, accident history, or because it may have some recommended repairs. Many of the cars in this section have already had many repairs done and have very few recommended items. Contact us for an estimate on any items that have not been repaired (if any).
*For all four classes of cars above, all have undergone our thorough inspection and for the Silver and Bronze if there are any remaining items that have not been repaired we will provide you with a list of remaining items so you at least have a starting point on the condition. For cars that are 10 years or newer if you would like to have a longer or more extensive warranty, we do have a third party warranty available for purchase - basically car mechanical insurance. More details.
5. Budget Wheels - These are older higher mileage cars that have only gone through a quick basic informal visual inspection and are being sold in a true “as-is” condition without any other information other than what we may have done to it already (if any). We do not have any list of items not done as we have not performed a formal inspection and they do not come with a warranty of any kind. You could pay to have our pre-purchase multi-point inspection done on one of these cars so you have a list of any items that may need attention now or in the near future.
We hope that we can make buying and selling a vehicle a more pleasant and straightforward experience as it should be.
Shop Cars Now or keep reading about our warranty.
Depending on what sale class (Platinum, Gold, etc) the car you are interested in is in, it may come with a warranty that covers the cost of parts and labor.
Details of the warranty levels are below. See the car classification system to see which level and time length your car of interest comes with.
Our Platinum Certified cars are the only car sale class that comes with this 1-month premium coverage.
It covers repair or replacement of any components which fail under normal use due to a defect in materials or workmanship:
The limited powertrain warranty covers internally lubricated parts of major engine and drivetrain components. This warranty is provided on our Platinum Certified (12 mo.), Gold (6 mo.), and Silver (3 mo.) cars.
The vehicle must be brought back to the Expat Auto facility in Chiang Mai for warranty claims. The customer is responsible for any fees involved in getting the vehicle back to our facility. For full details of all the terms feel free to request a copy of our sale agreement that has all the fine print.
Please also consider our third-party extended warranty option. All cars have unexpected repairs; get nationwide comprehensive extended coverage from expensive repairs with the Asia Care Add-on warranty option.
Shop Cars Now or keep reading about our process
We take care of all necessary documentation such as DLT forms, title, registration, and taxes. Not only that but we also handle the logistics of taking the vehicle to DLT to do the ownership transfer on your behalf.
What you’ll need:
For your own curiosity, you can learn more about the paperwork requirements and DLT fees here. These are included in the purchase price of the car you buy from us.
We can also assist with other paperwork needs such as
Our sales team members do not work off of commissions, but rather other customer service based incentives so you can be sure their goal is to give honest advice to help you find a car that meets your needs.
We work hard to ensure you get a fair market value without the stress and hassle of negotiations. The price you see is the price you pay, no hidden costs.
In addition to the inspection/prep and warranty, the price of the vehicle also includes all road tax/registration (min 3 months left as we cannot extend before this), transport office inspection/ transfer fees, compulsory government insurance, and 7% VAT sales taxes.
If you wish to purchase an optional (but highly recommended!) collision insurance policy, we can give you a quote. See more details here.
Shop Cars Now or keep reading about other buying services
Whether you buy from us or not we may be interested in buying your car. Instead of trying to haggle with sellers and find a buyer, bring your car to us and we'll buy it!
How it works:
We partner with some of Thailand’s largest banks to offer you competitive rates.
In some cases, we can also work with a lender of your choice. More info
Let us take care of all your needs and even have your car delivered right to your doorstep wherever you are in Thailand.
Shoot us a message to get a quote for delivery. We can also take additional close up photographs and videos of the interior, exterior, engine startups, and even virtual test drives for your peace of mind!
Insurance quotes and even the sale contract can be done digitally. Liaising for any other paperwork is not a problem.
If the cost of delivery is prohibitive or you’d just rather come view a car here at our showroom in person instead, we will give you a credit for your one-way travel expenses (ie. airfare, train, bus, or fuel up to 2,500 THB with receipts) if you end up buying a car!
If you don’t see any cars that interest you on our website, you can also submit a car request so we can connect you with a car that meets your criteria.
The sure way to make this happen fast is to use our premium active search option as opposed to waiting for something that may or may not show up in our inventory.
Shop Cars Now or keep reading about other after-sales services
After the warranty period, we can also service and perform maintenance on the car you bought from us. We seek to develop a long-term relationship to assist with all your automotive needs.
We can also help you when you are ready to sell the car again either through a trade-in, consignment, or selling outright.
Expat Auto is you 1-stop repair center.
Looks aren't everything, but it sure is nice!
We've got you covered!
Please visit our services page for more details of the services we provide.
Sorry we cannot offer this service at this time as most of our vehicles do not have a current collision insurance policy until the buyer pays for a year policy after the sale.
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Yes. We are your one-stop shop! If we can’t take care of it we will find someone who can. Our repair garage and service department is not only set up to prepare our vehicles for sale but also to be able to provide ongoing assistance for our clients automotive needs.
See servicing and repairs details here.
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Since all of our cars have undergone a thorough inspection we have been able to categorize them into our car classification/grading system.
Platinum and Gold classifications have had all repairs completed. For the Silver and Bronze categories, you can ask our sales staff if there are any items that have not been done.
Our policy is full disclosure of everything we have been able to find out. You can read more about our inspection, renewal process, and classification system here.
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In many cases yes. This will depend on the car’s condition and our current inventory and buying capacity. If we can’t buy it from you though we do have other services to help you sell your car such as our consignment service.
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Yes this is also possible for serious buyers within a reasonable distance from our office. If it's not convenient for you to come into our shop and you are interested in several vehicles you may want to schedule a live video walkaround of a few cars with one of our sales team members before scheduling the in person viewing at your house of one car.
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Yes! We offer virtual test drives, live video walk-arounds on and off a lift, more detailed pictures, etc. Whatever you may need for your peace of mind.
Transport to many cities is possible on a multi-car trailer (This method would require you to pick up the car from a particular location). Alternatively transport to your house can be arranged on an individual car trailer, but this costs about 3-4 times as much. More details and FAQs here.
The ownership transfer into your name still has to happen locally in your city after you pick up the car though because the residency certificate for the buyer must be in the province where they are registering the vehicle. Depending on where you are we may be able to work with an agent to assist you with this.
Other services we could offer our out of province clients:
- Collision Insurance policy
- 24 hour roadside assistance policy
- Car accessories pre-delivery to Bangkok.
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No appointment needed, but we may be able to ensure better service if you do!
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Expat’s Autos standard warranty terms are generally only valid for claims at our office in Chiang Mai.
For our Platinum Certified class cars we can make an exception to provide the 1 month full coverage remotely as long as prior approval for a repair has been requested. Expat Auto still reserves the right to have the owner take the car to a garage of our choice for warranty claims.
Expat Auto’s Limited warranty will not be provided on any cars. As long as the car is not older than 10 years old we suggest to purchase a third-party mechanical insurance through us that can cover many of your car’s components anywhere in Thailand at the main dealer. See more details about this coverage here.
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