When my brother and sister and I were little, like most kids, we would watch for my dad to be heading out somewhere and run up to him, hollering, “Where you going daddy, where you going?”, hoping, of course, to be taken along for the ride.
My dad had a stock answer, particularly if he wasn’t interested in tasking any or all of us along. His pet standby phrase? “Crazy, want to go along”?
I enjoy driving here in the Philippines, most of the time that is, but there are times I feel that if it hasn’t already driven me crazy, crazy is just a few meters down the road.
Many Westerner friends have told me, “You are crazy, Dave, I wouldn’t drive there.”
I try never to argue with them, because if you truly don’t care to drive here, you should not.
it isn’t like being stranded in some American city like LA with no car … distances tend to be short and there are usually plenty of alternative methods to get some place … but I am nothing if not stubborn and set in my ways and I’ve had my own car for more than 50 years now, so I don’t plan on stopping driving any time soon.
If you are planning to come here to live permanently or even for a long vacation, here are some thoughts on finishing each drive with a car in about the same condition you started in.
Legalities and Licensing in the Philippines:
Your foreign driver’s license is good for driving anywhere in the Philippines for up to 90 days from your date of arrival.
There is nothing special you need to validate this privilege, it would be wise to carry your passport with you so you can prove your arrival date, though.
Unless your home country license is not written in English, you do not need one of those International Driver’s Licenses (properly called an International Diver Permit (IDP)).
Those certificates are merely host country certification that you do have a valid license and they convey no privilege at all unless accompanied by your home country license, so give them a miss, unless your home country license is in Chinese 
They are NOT needed for the Philippines and are, in my view, pretty much a rip-off.
Choice of Vehicle in the Philippines:
Bring Your US Car to the Philippines:
Many people planning to move here unconsciously think they will ship a vehicle from the States until they run up against the ugly truth.
For a number of reasons (maybe having something to do with the fact that Philippine new auto sales were up 6% in 2008, while US sales plummeted about 30% in the opposite direction), there are very restrictive laws about what cars are even “importable” and the customs duty and fees will run about 110% of the fair market value of the car. Add on $2,000 to $3,000 for ocean shipping and marine insurance and bringing an American car here becomes even less attractive.
Even if you do want to bring a favorite car here, regardless of the costs, I still advice against it.
The roads are covered in potholes and nasty speed bumps, connected by stretches of often very rough pavement. Most of Detroit’s finest creations , built to cruise freeways at 75 per, would fall apart in a year.
Mechanics who know what they are doing with US-spec electronic control systems are scares as hen’s teeth, and parts for a US version of even a “world” type car like a Toyota Corolla are often different, and thus unobtainable here.
You’ll see lots of Toyotas here in the Philippines, for example, it’s one of the most popular cars for taxi services, but the entire drive train and braking system is different than a Toyota sold in the US.
They carry the same names and badges, but they are NOT the same car, electronically and mechanically. Not recommended.
Buy a Used Car Here in the Philippines:
Many folks I have talked to sound like they are reading directly from some Consumer Reports guide to buying a car when they talk to me about transportation.
“Oh I won’t be buying a new car, too much depreciation, a used car is a much better value,”
In the US, this can very well be true. I do not recommend it in the Philippines, especially when you are new and “wet behind the ears” here.
Let me tell you a few things about the used car market here that the Philippine Chamber of Commerce isn’t going to publish any pamphlets about:
The vast majority of the cars on the road here are Japanese brands. Thus, the vast majority of used cars are Japanese. “So what?” you are probably thinking. “Many Japanese cars are just great.”
Yup, they sure are. My last car in the US was a Toyota and I miss it. But owning a car in Japan is nothing like owning a car in the US.
When a Japanese car is 6 years old, it come off the road. Doesn’t matter how many kilometers are on the clock it what kind of shape it is in, the tax and vehicle inspection laws in Japan force owners to trade in at least every six years. (there’s a reason Japan always has such low unemployment figures, you see).
So Japan might be a great source of low mileage used cars. In fact, it is. There’s a big industry in Japan of buying up used cars and shipping them out to the Philippines and other Asian countries, where they don’t have to meet US safety and emissions specs.
However in Japan, they drive on the left. In the Philippines we drive on the right.
Unlike in the US where you can drive a right-hand-drive car if you wish, it is illegal to put a right hand drive car on the road here.
So, what happens? Easy. Philippine ingenuity.
At the ports where these Japanese beauties come in there are hundreds if not thousands of little hole in the wall’ shops that convert the cars to left hand drive.
Sometimes this work is done to factory standards. Sometimes it isn’t. Why worry?
We’re only talking about inconsequential items like your brakes, your steering, your door locking systems, your mirrors and mirror controls, etc.
Nothing major. (did you know that even the headlights are different between right and left hand drive?
If you didn’t, you will know the first time you come up against one of these half-baked conversions on a dark night when the conversion shop failed to swap the headlights. You’ll learn fast.
Modern cars are much more computerized than many imagine. Little things like braking, fuel controls, transmission shifting and the like are controlled by microprocessors built into the car.
A mechanic uses a little plug-in computer terminal a soften as a wrench these days. Engine running rough and spewing black smoke at idle? Easy fix, just plug in the handy-dandy diagnostic test set and it will tell what component has a failure code.
Ooops. How is your Japanese? How is your Filipino mechanic’s Japanese? Yep, that’s right, all the internal programming, all the placards and warning labels and such, guess what? they are all in Japanese.
To make a long story short … this is getting too long already … if you are sure you want to buy a used car here in the Philippines, be my guest. You may get lucky. I do not recommend it, especially for a first car.
Next article in the series, the dealer and what to expect.
Resources for Driving in the Philippines:
International Driving Permit (IDP) allows an individual to drive a private motor vehicle in another nation when accompanied by a valid license from their home country. The document is slightly larger than a standard passport and is essentially a multiple language translation of one’s own existing driver’s license, complete with photograph and vital statistics. It is not a license to operate a motor vehicle on its own.
The Land Transportation Office of the Philippines Part of the Department of Transportation and Communications. Provides information on driving licenses and vehicle registrations.
CAR FINDER Philippines is a magazine dedicated to photo ads of cars, accessories, and all other types of vehicles because we believe that a picture is more appealing to readers and “it speaks a thousand words.”
Buy and Sell Philippines Sulit sa Free Ads! Buy Sell Swap cars and everything else.
Subscribe to PhilFAQS so you don’t miss an article.
I enjoyed your articles and in a way, happy to know that a foreigner finds it enjoyable to live in our country.
Yes, there are many quirks, scams, corruption and scandals that plague our government and society and I admit it is a source of shame for us Filipinos. However, we as a people still believe that we can hurdle these things. It might take some time (probably not even in my lifetime) but hope springs eternal that each and everyone of us will get to experience a Philippines wherein our leaders’ love for country goes above and beyond the love for self.
I wish to thank you for the fair, objective observations that you have listed in your blog.
Thanks for the kind words, Linus, and thanks for reading and for commenting. The main thing the Philippines needs is more Filipinos yo beleive in it … more important than anything else. My thought is, why can’t it happen in your lifetime?
Anyway, soapo box mode off, thanks again for stopping by.
Ahh but that is where the problem lies. Not a lot of those faces in the news can be trusted. Most the senators are salivating from ambition, and the ones in power cannot be trusted to have a word of honor.
Aww Don’t mind me. Just one of those disgruntled citizens, who most of the time feel hopeless and impatient with change. Was thinking of joining that Moral Revolution that Chief Justice Reynato Puno just recently launched then figured I need to do a lot of cleaning in my own backyard first. LOL
If you don’t mind, I would like to troll around your site for the meantime. I have not been writing in my blog lately, as the urge seems to escape me lately.
You are always welcome here. I wrote things to be read. I’m also always open to guest contributions if you have more to say than would fit in a comment.
That is so true about Japanese cars. It costs so much money for them (environmental fees) to junk a car, so they unload them to other countries who will take them. New Zealand loves them too. Second hand car business is big business there. Almost all cruisers buy them. No worries about re-selling too when they leave. We ourselves bought a van – diesel powered. I stuck a big sign in front reminding me to stay “LEFT”. I kept on turning on the windshield wiper everytime I want to turn
. It had no power steering and I called it “pawis steering”. When we were about to leave, I stuck a sign at the back “for sale” and sold it within 2 days – at the same price we bought it for. Good, eh? I think we were one of the lucky ones to get the same price – all because it was diesel powered.
Yes, without getting too far over toward the political side of the house, people who yearn for the government to step in and ‘save’ car makers had better be sure they really want what they ask for. Japanese unemployment in their car industry is very low … becuase when your perfectly good car or truck is abouty 6 years old it will _not_ pass its mandatory annual inspection. Period. By essentially government decree, you will take it off the road and buy a new one … or take the train.
Japanese in general are fanatical about what we call here “casa” maintenance, and it’s very hard to oput many kilometers on the c;lock in Japan, so you can well imagine how good a shape some of these vehicles are in at trad-in. Remind me to tell you about my $2500 USD Lexus I drove in Japan someday. US government people have a ‘loophole’ through that law, so you can buy some really, really excellent “junk” cars there.
If they go to a ‘left-drive’ country, fine and dandy. Thery are essentially ‘good to go’, but when you start getting into side-to-side conversions, that’s where things get dicey. I even occasionally see trucks on the road here with the mirrors still on the “wrong” side … terrible.
You can always tell a new to right-hand drive person by the fact when they come to an intersection, they signal by turning on their wipers LoL. What’s even funnier, as I did once, was to walk away from someone I was chatting with in a parking lot, calmly walk to my car while still talking to them over my shoulder, open the door, get in, sit down, and find I was on the wrong side of the front seat. Oops. Looked like a slapstick comedy show as I had to get back out, walk around the car, and get in behind the wheel this time. My face must have been red as abeet. Talk about Homer Simposon and d’oh!
So Dave My 1970 HEMI Challanger had a sticker of about 4500K brand new the tax would be that plus the gas guzzler tax and shipping right ? hmmmm i dunno i would sure miss drivin that beast
In contrast i also have a 2008 HEMi Challanger SRT which was a tad over 40K 
Hi Tommy. Thanks for eading and for taking the time to comment. I’m not sure if they would go by the oroginal sticke rprice or by the current market value … and with a special classic like that you could find arguments for values ranging from very low to very high.
I really wonder what it would be like to drive something like that here. You certainly would not be able to get the throttle open evry often, and you’d be ‘left in the dust’ in the continous “making singit” contests when you have to make 4 lanes out of three, or even five or six. When it comes to making time on the roads here, inches of overall width seem to be more important than inches of engine displacement.
But it surely would be a marvelous conversation piece/hobby, and you could get into any parade or offical function you cared to.
Crazy is just the word for it, when I stopped by customs in 1996 and asked what the import tax would be on my 1981 Jeep Rangler, (Fully rebuilt, and set for offroad) I was informed to just ship it in (at the time $1,100.00) and they would decide when it arrived. I sold it when I was back in the States. I bought an Owner Jeep, with roll up windows and Air/Con when I returned. Fun to drive but my wife wanted automatic shift. I picked up over the years a couple of used cars that was a Mits Lancer, and Honda Civic. Both built here and had great luck with both of them. But the one I’ll remember, was a Mits RVRX imported and converted and smuggled, and I’m stuck with it. You are dead on about the lights, and everything else what a mess. Then I get stopped by the Highway Patrol and they inform me the car has been smuggled. I was surprised since at their office in Subic they did the transfer papers two years prior, and now it’s smuggled.. But if I’ll pay the customs I can keep it. Stick a folk in, I’m done. Bought my Honda the next day. Can’t tell you what I did with the RVR-X, for as I explained to the Highway Patrol, I don’t remember where I parked it.
Another big issue with ;ised cars’ … one never knows. I am very happy I bought new, srill, even though I obviously could have made a cheaper choice … it may not have been a better choice in the long run.
When I was looking for a second hand vehicle, my main concern was the roads here in the Philippines. I dare not drive a brand new car here because of the conditions of the roads, not to mention that cars nowadays are not built to last. (except maybe if I can really afford it)
So when I saw a 1990 Pajero that the company I work for was disposing for around $2,765 I grabbed it. They even allowed me to pay for it within two years (about $115 per month).
For me the ideal vehicle here in the Philippines is an SUV. One, because of the roads, and second, some drivers tend to keep away from you. If you can find one with low fuel consumption, the better. Mine chugs a lot of gas, I am already planning to have the engine replaced with diesel. But all in all, it is one tough machine, perfect for the Philippines.
About politics: If you lived in the same house for a long time, you tend not to see the flaws anymore, and when someone visits, that person will see them all. That is analogous to a Filipino’s view of the Philippines versus a foreigner’s. Things that are common to us are oftentimes shocking to others.
That is life here. Not only people from the outside are trying to survive the bus rides and the political agendas, we Filipinos are trying our best to cope up. For me, I try not to ride buses or jeeps, especially on long trips. Just like I try to avoid politics. Not that I don’t care but it is already very difficult to live the life I wanted for me and my family. So why make it harder by getting into a bigger mess?
I agree that buying a conversion is a crap shoot, not in your favor. I had an Isuzu SUV for awhile, and had no problems out of the ordinary. I had always wondered about having an Owner Jeep made for me from a known Jeepney Maker. Jeepney’s have to contend with the roads there daily and are considerably cheaper. Your opinions please!
Hi John, thanks for writing in.
My personal opinion is,I wouldn’t go near an owner type Jeep no matter who built it … unless my son moved here and we built one as a hot rod, strictly as a ‘boy toy’ to experiment with.
Owner Jeeps seem to be conspicuously under-powered and almost always visibly under-engineered. You often marvel at the weird frontend geometry, obvious tire scrubbing wear patterns etc.
I don’t know that any of the major Jeepney companies make them, you’d have to check around.
You can buy a decent used Philippine-assembled car, like the Mitsubishi I have, for not much more than an owner Jeep and have such conveniences as seats that fit the human frame, windows that go up and now, air-conditioning that works, headlights that actually light the road, and maybe even brakes that work
Seriously, owner Jeeps are a real crapshoot. If you know what you are doing you can find something decent (but typically with 1930′s technology) cheap, but if you know enough to tell a good vehicle from a rolling road hazard you can buy a decent used, factory built sedan, van or pickup that will serve you better overall. IMO only, of course.