So. This turned out to be more of an adventure than we planned. Oh well. You live, you learn.
Let’s begin from the beginning. We got on the bus 7AM tuesday morning, planning to spend the day in PP finding a suitable car to buy, aided by contacts of Raymond (our friend and owner of the Guest House in Sihanoukville were we’re living). We arrived mid-day only to find that the people who were to help us were busy. What the hell, let’s do it on our own! We were recommended a Tuk-tuk driver by a friend of Raymond’s and asked him to drive us to places were they sell used cars, specifically pickup trucks.
Our first stop was a small outlet somewhere in downtown PP. They showed us a -98 rusty worn out Disel Toyota pickup with NGO plates, promising this was a great car. The NGO plates should supposedly protect us from getting stopped by the Police. The price they were asking for the car was a shock to us, so we left and continued our search.
Next stop was a store that specialized in importing cars from abroad (mainly the US), where we looked at some nice quality Toyota and Nissan pickups, which unfortunately turned out to be priced way above our budget, even after the customary price argument.
After this the we asked the driver to take us to a proper second-hand car dealer, and he said in bad English that there are some places, but he didn’t want to take us there because “the cars can have a lot of problem”, such as breaking down very soon after you buy them. We insisted and he took us to look at a -03 Toyota Tacoma RS5 that seemed to be in generally good shape, apart from some trouble with the electronics. We asked for the price and was a bit above our price range, but considerably less than the NGO ripoff from earlier.
By now it was late and we felt it was time to accept defeat for the time being, and withdraw to our hotel for some sleep. We spent the evening researching for information about car purchases in Cambodia, which only made us more worried and suspicious – rip-offs are common here, worn-out cars are exported from the US and polished-up here for sale, there can be trouble with paperwork and ownership, NGO plates mean you have to pay lots of extra taxes, etc. We’re going to need more help.
In the morning, strengthened by a good night’s sleep, we talk to the hotel owner who is a friend of Raymond’s, and through him we got the help of his driver, who in his turn knew a good mechanic. We employed them both for the day to help us in our quest. With our Tuk-Tuk driver, we now had three Cambodians working for us. We started by checking out the car from yesterday, that we actually like. Our driver and mechanic got to work right away. After initial inspection, they proposed we should take it for a test drive. We did and had the car driven to the mechanic’s workshop, testing suspension, breaks etc on the way. Once there, they lifted it up and checked for unseen problems. We now had four Cambodians checking the car for us. Quite nice.
Our mechanic says there seems to be no problems, but he wants to do a full service on the car, change the transmission, axis and engine oils, disassemble and service the breaks etc, if we decide to buy the car. By now the car salesman has arrived. We decide it’s time to do some business, and we discuss the price, ending up agreeing on a price that we are all happy with.
Now it’s time for lunch, and withdrawing a lot of cash. In Cambodia. From a Swedish bank account. We start by going to the big, fancy main offices of the two major banks here, but even after speaking to their managers, they insist on a $5000 per day limit for withdrawals. This is getting annoying. So, let’s try Western Union. The Tuk-tuk takes us there, but on entering the place, we’re convinced there’s no way this is going to work – they can’t possibly have more than even $1000 cash in this crappy office with no security.
I ask the teller to withdraw a large sum of money, she says no problem, takes my VISA and my Passport, and ten minutes later, we’re done and ready – having payed a lower commission than at the major banks! This place is upside down alright.
We go back to the garage, sign the papers (including putting my thumb prints on the ownership form), get the car keys, but since they still have some work left on the car, we jump in the Tuk-tuk and go out to do some errands. The salesman seems pretty surprised we’re leave with all the papers before paying him, but nobody stops us 
A few hours later, we’re back in the dimly lit garage to finish the deal – counting hundred dollar bills on the hood of the car, Mafia style. Finally, we’re done and ready!
Since it’s now late, we spend a second hotel night to avoid driving in the dark. Many people here drive with their lights off nighttime. In Cambodia, it’s illegal to have your lights on during the day, but legal to have them off at night. Welcome to upside-downia… We ask the driver to pick up our car from the garage in the morning and drive us around town for some errands, before leaving us at the airport were we can drive ourselves back to Sihanoukville.
The driver is supposed to pick us up at 8, Raymond says he’s going to be late. Right enough, 8 o’clock sharp he phones us and says it will be another half hour. He shows up 8:55, without seeming the least bit worried. Very typical Cambodian, makes me feel right at home (and doesn’t make Sammy very happy..).
The drive home is quite eventless, apart from the “good breaks, good horn, good luck” philosophy customary to drive in this country.
It’s great to be home, home in Sihanoukville.
- T
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