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jimmyjames1982
Joined: 13 Nov 2008
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 Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 6:51 pm Post subject: Buying a car in Korea |
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I have a few questions, if you don't mind, for those of you car owners in Korea.
I am thinking of just getting an international license. Is that a usuable here? Would insurance prices differ because of an international or Korean license? Whould one be cheaper than the other?
How much does insurance run for a 26, soon to be 27 year old?
If there is any other information you can offer me, other than get out of the buses way, I would really appreciate it. |
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Clockout
Joined: 23 Feb 2009
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| Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Why not just get a Korean driver's license? |
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jimmyjames1982
Joined: 13 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:07 pm Post subject: |
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| I was going to do that but then I found out I have to go to Pusan on a weekday, I have class, and I have to take test since I'm American and we can not simply swap licenses. The international license can be done online and I can have it in about a week. Although it cost more for fast shipping. |
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mtmelton
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Location: Chillin' in Gwangju
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| Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:25 pm Post subject: |
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| I think the insurance thing doesn't matter what kind of license. You will pay a certain amount because you are first year driver in Korea. It will drop later after you have no accidents after the first year. Also depends on if you get full coverage or liability and if you want insurance on yourself only or any one who drives over the age of 25 or whatever age it is. Best bet is to call agent with the make of the car you want to buy and ask. |
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saw6436
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Daejeon, ROK
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| Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:46 pm Post subject: |
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| When I last checked an IDL was only good for a limited time (30 days?) in Korea. After that you would need a KDL. When I got my KDL they DID NOT take my North Carolina DL. |
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I-am-me
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Location: Hermit Kingdom
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| Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 9:28 pm Post subject: |
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| I got a korean license after taking a written exam which was simple. They did not keep my Florida license either. I need that when I go home plus its mine!!!. Insurance depends on the type of car. I pay about 450,000w. Dont go with AIG..they will give you foreigner rate and it varies according to exchange rate. I dont recommned getting a car since any accident you will be the one at fault. You might lose all of your savings in one blow...so not worth it. |
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jimmyjames1982
Joined: 13 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:30 pm Post subject: |
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| So your saying if I get rammed from behind by some Korean, no homo, it is going to be my fault? The justification being if I, the foreigner, wasn't in the country, he would of never have had the accident. I asy this because I heard that is how the taxi system works if the driver gets in an accident. I hope this is not true of course. |
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i
Joined: 10 Apr 2008
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Check on the taxes before you get a car. I used to have a car, and when I went to sell it, I found out there were all these back-taxes. They don't send notices in the mail (or at least they didn't), and there's no sticker on the plate or windshield stating you paid the taxes. I had to pay something like 500,000 before I could transfer the title. Supposedly if you didn't pay the taxes, the tax office would take your plates till you paid, but that didn't happen to me. |
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b-class rambler
Joined: 25 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 12:38 am Post subject: |
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| saw6436 wrote: |
| When I last checked an IDL was only good for a limited time (30 days?) in Korea. After that you would need a KDL. |
That limited time is 1 year. But it's 1 year from the date you arrived in Korea, not 1 year from the start of the validity of the international driving permit, as is frequently wrongly assumed to be the case. So in other words, if you get yourself an IDP from your home country after you've been in Korea 9 months, then whilst you can use it for its 12 months of validity elsewhere, you can only use it for 3 months here.
I heard the 30 days limit for use of an IDP was in California, but never been there so not sure about that.
I wouldn't say that foreigners being unfairly blamed never happens in Korea, but to say that any traffic accident will be deemed your fault is completely wrong. I got rear ended on the expressway a couple of months ago. It was accepted by all concerned that the other driver (Korean) was 100% at fault and his insurance company duly paid for 100% of the cost of repairs to my car. I know of two other foreigners who've been in a traffic accident this year and both of their cases were similar to mine.
As far as insurance goes, then you would be classed as a new driver and premiums set accordingly. However, some Korean insurers will accept evidence of a no claims history in another country and reduce your premium as a result. I submitted a document proving I'd previously been insured and made no claims for 3 years in Japan and this got me a pretty tidy discount on my insurance here. The document was in Japanese and they didn't require a translation, so I'd expect if it had been in English it would have been ok too. |
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I-am-me
Joined: 21 Feb 2006
Location: Hermit Kingdom
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 4:53 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
I got rear ended on the expressway a couple of months ago. It was accepted by all concerned that the other driver (Korean) was 100% at fault and his insurance company duly paid for 100% of the cost of repairs to my car. I know of two other foreigners who've been in a traffic accident this year and both of their cases were similar to mine.
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I rest my case. Why put yourself at risk of a car accident? Whether or not its your fault, it's really not worth it. |
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b-class rambler
Joined: 25 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 4:00 pm Post subject: |
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| So your case is, 'if you drive, there's a risk you might be involved in an accident'? Absolutely fair point, even if not quite what you said initially. But still, I'm sure the OP will be grateful for the useful advice. |
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BadBadMan
Joined: 06 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 4:36 pm Post subject: |
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Here's a bit of truth to the "fault" debate going on.
In the States, they'll usually try to find the person that is most at fault and give the guy 100% blame.
In Korea, almost everything is a %/%. If you are both at fault, it'll be 50% your fault/50% other guy's fault. If you are at 20% fault, it's 20/80, and so on. I've heard there are only a small number of set instances where you can actually have 0% fault. For example, in the States, if you're in a traffic jam and the guy in front of you goes reverse and rams your bumper, it's 100% the other guy's fault as long as you kept your "safe distance". Here, even if you did keep a safe distance, if you had time to maneuver out of the way but didn't bother to, you'd be maybe 10~20% at fault. |
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b-class rambler
Joined: 25 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 6:45 pm Post subject: |
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| BadBadMan wrote: |
Here's a bit of truth to the "fault" debate going on.
In the States, they'll usually try to find the person that is most at fault and give the guy 100% blame.
In Korea, almost everything is a %/%. If you are both at fault, it'll be 50% your fault/50% other guy's fault. If you are at 20% fault, it's 20/80, and so on. I've heard there are only a small number of set instances where you can actually have 0% fault. For example, in the States, if you're in a traffic jam and the guy in front of you goes reverse and rams your bumper, it's 100% the other guy's fault as long as you kept your "safe distance". Here, even if you did keep a safe distance, if you had time to maneuver out of the way but didn't bother to, you'd be maybe 10~20% at fault. |
Yeah, I'd agree with that and think it's a good point.
There ARE some cases where it's 100% one party's fault and zero the other, and mine was one of them, but it's true that they are rare.
One of my wife's friends works in insurance and she told me the following. As a general rule, if you hit a stationary vehicle which had every right to be and to remain stationary where it was and how it was, then it's possible that it'll be 100/0. So that covers the rear ender where you'd stopped as you should've done but the guy behind didn't.
But it seems that if either you were moving, or were stationary but there was a reason why you should and could have moved, then it'll be unlikely you'll be 0% to blame, probably 10-20. I heard of one case a little similar to badbadman's example where it was deemed 20/80 - someone wanting to go straight at the lights was waiting in the right hand lane and a car behind wanting to turn right clipped the right side of their back bumper trying to squeeze past. The guy waiting for the lights to change was 20% at fault even though he was the one who got hit. Probably crucial here was that he was waiting in a lane marked as right turn only. Something along the same lines to be wary of is the increasing number of busy urban streets in Korea which are strictly no stopping/dropping off zones. Of course people still do it, but if you drop someone off in one of those zones and someone rear ends you, you're probably going to be held partly at fault.
Still, whilst all of this produces some results that may seem unfair wherever we come from, I haven't heard of any cases where the foreigner was automatically deemed at fault per se just because they were the foreigner. Of course, there'll be cases where a Korean driver tries to take advantage of the other party being a foreigner and tries to browbeat them into accepting more blame than they should. But that's the same the world over - some drivers will always try it on if the other party is someone they consider to be easy to take advantage of - be it a younger, timid looking, female or foreign driver. |
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b0101
Joined: 24 Jul 2009
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| Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 7:04 am Post subject: |
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| When I took the test, they did insist on keeping my American license, so when I went back to the US for a visit I had to go to the Secretary of States Office and get another one. |
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dogshed
Joined: 28 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2009 4:51 pm Post subject: |
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| b0101 wrote: |
| When I took the test, they did insist on keeping my American license, so when I went back to the US for a visit I had to go to the Secretary of States Office and get another one. |
They are supposed to give you your license back if you show them a print out of your plane ticket. |
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