I and my wife own (lock, stock and barrel) our 2006 Toyota Corolla Altis.
After I and my wife arrived in the Philippines in April of 2006, we relied on the local transportation to get around. We knew, however, that we'd need our own transportation eventually to effectively go where the jeepneys and trikes couldn't, or where it would be an extreme hassle NOT to use our own.
At first, we rode with a relative when we needed to do something unusual. The problem was that he wanted us to buy a tank of gas for his van almost every time we went somewhere. We were using up less than a quarter of a tank each time and he was using the rest for his own purposes in between trips, but he wasn't buying any gas because WE were. It was getting really expensive for us, really, really fast. We wanted to wait until our house was built to buy a vehicle, but we ended up putting the need to buy a vehicle on the front burner to cut down on future expenses.
Preparing to Buy
After being here for about 3 months (the end of June, 2006) we headed to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to get our local drivers licenses. We had to have drug tests and eye exams before they would accept our applications. At least we didn't have to take any road tests. We still have our U.S.-based driver's licenses, which don't expire until 2020 and 2021, but we couldn't use them here after the first 90 days. The LTO is just like any motor vehicle division in the U.S. The only difference is that drug tests aren't required in the U.S. (or are they now?) in order to get a driver's license.
One of my wife's brothers-in-law suggested that we head to San Fernando in the Pampanga province to buy a vehicle since it was much closer than Manila. Olongapo City doesn't have any new car dealers and I learned a long time ago not to invest in any used car here. He told me what the average prices were, and I believed him because he'd been a truck driver for years. I found out later that he was wrong and had quoted prices that were a couple of years old.
The Trip and the Purchase
Information about local car prices is practically not available. You won't find it on the Internet anywhere, at least not right now. There really isn't any way to find out what cars cost until you physically go to the showroom. So, we braved heavy rain in order to take the trip to San Fernando. I'm glad I didn't have to drive to get there. Still, I had to drive on the way back. It was my first time driving on the highways and local roads here and it was nerve-wracking, to say the least.
My wife wanted a van, but we ended up buying a 2006 Toyota Corolla Altis with power everything, automatic transmission, but without cruise control. Frankly, cruise control is pretty useless in this country. It cost us about USD $16,500 (including a year's worth of insurance), which was a lot cheaper than a comparable model in the U.S. If you look at the bumpers in both pictures, you'll notice the sensors. That's a must-have in a place like this, where parking downtown is incredibly difficult.
Since I'd never heard of "Altis" before, I had to do some research. It turns out it's a model that's only sold in Asia. For the most part, it's identical to the Toyota Corolla as sold in the U.S. Take a look:
We rarely use the car. It's 100% paid for since we used the profit from the sale of our house in the U.S. to build our house here and to buy the car. At the rate we're using it, barring any catastrophe, the car will easily last us for 20 or more years. Of course, we could have bought something like this:
The last time I checked, a jeep like that could be had for about 150,000 pesos (or about USD $3750 at the current exchange rate). It's a standard transmission and the air conditioning, stereo, and other luxuries are extra. It runs on diesel and the body is stainless steel. It's also incredibly ugly, in my opinion.
Temporary Tags and Registration
When we bought the car, the Toyota dealer explained to us that we could drive it for exactly seven days without plates. After that, we would have to wait for the plates to arrive by mail — which was estimated to be 14-21 days after we bought the car — in order to continue driving the car. He wasn't kidding. There are signs posted all over the place in San Fernando which say "No Plates, No Travel".
When you buy a car in the United States, they give you temporary tags that are good for a specific period of time (60 days in most states). That gives the motor vehicle departments the time to get your vehicle into their system and send the plates to you. In the Philippines, you do not get temporary tags at all.
We cut a week or more off of the mail delay (see my short article on Philippines mail) by picking up the plates ourselves. When we got there, they checked to see how we got there (we got a ride in a relative's van) because a lady got a ticket the day before when trying to drive her new car to get the plates, after the 7-day rule.
The nice thing about the registration is that it's good for 3 years!
A Year Later
I, my wife and Gerry, a sister-in-law's husband, went to the local insurance agent for the same insurance company to find out how much renewal for another year would be. It came out to around 24,000 pesos, about USD $520 at the time. I considered it a little steep considering we hadn't even reached 3000 kilometers with the car. The agent explained my policy, which was really way too much coverage for the usage. I didn't know, because I hadn't studied the policy close enough, that I had already paid for three years of the mandatory liability coverage. She still recommended renewing the coverage. Of course she would, that's money in her pocket.
I decided not to continue the extra coverage and stay with liability only. The car is paid for and if it gets destroyed by another vehicle, oh well. The car is a luxury at this point, not a requirement. I drive it an average of twice a month and usually only within a 6 kilometer radius, and at a speed of 40 km/h or less. Traffic is congested and the roads are narrow. Call me stupid or call me daring, but I don't see a problem with only having liability. Some Filipinos don't even have that on their cars (breaking the law). If I got hit by one, it's a guaranteed hit and run. They don't have traffic police here like in other places. I wouldn't be able to do anything about it other than report it to the local police station. I'm pretty sure I'd end up having to fix any damage (if I fixed it) out of my own pocket.
Our Car Now
Our car still looks brand new. After over a year and half, can you believe our 2006 Toyota Corolla Altis still has less than 4,000 kilometers on the odometer?
