[quote=“TienMouBen”]I was born and raised here, so when I moved back a year ago, I definitely wanted a “heavy” bike (I can’t stand scooters).
When living in Denver, I had the privilege to know of one of the world’s foremost experts on carbureutor set-up, and through a friend a sales manager at Fay Myers…All told, I’m out just about a cool 1000USD, not to mention a “lost” 4 months, over just buying the bike here . . . but at least I’m up 15 horses hehe.[/quote]
That’s a really nice bike you got there. It looks like you replaced the front fender with a sharper-looking KTM fender.
Anybody ever use a carnet to bring a motorcycle or car to pass through Taiwan?
For those that don’t know what a carnet is, it’s temporary import paper, stating that:
you’re just passing through, and you aren’t planning to leave the motorcycle / car there
and that you promise to take your vehicle out of the country within a declared timeframe.
you agree to pay all import duties/taxes if you leave your vehicle.
A carnet grants temporary import status and unemcumbered vehicle access. It can also be attached to your passport, and you would have to show proof that you’ve shipped your vehicle, otherwise you’d have to fork up the cash.
I’m planning to visit Taipei as a tourist, passing through and into Japan/China. I’m looking for anyone that’s actually used a carnet with their bike/car in Taiwan.
a couple on a round the world trip landed their landcruiser in a shipping container in Kaohsiung port, drove around the island and then left again, according to recent posts from Belgian Pie. they are on a world record longest trip around the world: 23 years so far. I guess they used a carnet de passage.
i do know they had lots of trouble and only good guanxi and connections with an MP allowed them to process the import fast enough to actually use their time here in the car rather than having to catch the train…
I have been looking around the forum for info on DIY car imports to Taiwan. There is very little information out there in English and the info is out of date by many years. There is, however, an amazing Chinese site that lists every detailed step, pitfall, advantage and cost involved with self imports: http://car2tw.com
If I have time I will try to translate some more of the important bits, but for now here is an example of how much you are being gouged if you buy a foreign marque from a Taiwanese dealer:
In this example somebody goes to California on business and likes the look of a Porsche Cayman S. The US price is approx $56,000 (manual/stick). How does the Taiwan dealer price compare?
A: Import tax = dutiable value x 20.3% = NT$262,309
B: Excise duty = (dutiable value + import tax) x 30% = NT$466,342
C: Business tax (VAT) = (dutiable value + import tax + VAT) x 5% = NT$101,041
D: Business promotion service fee = dutiable value x 0.04% = NT$517
Therefore the total fees for import are import tax + excise duty + VAT + business promotion fee = NT$830,209. Other fees are transport + customs clearance + warehousing + ARTC (emissions and safety checks) etc. = NT$120,000
The total price to import a new car into Taiwan is therefore 56,000 * 30.5 + 830,209 + 120,000 = NT$2,550,209
To buy a USED 2007 Porsche Cayman S in Taiwan is around NT$410 million (refer to Porsche’s approved used cars where the same car with 4,260km on the clock and a registered date of 12/07 in Arctic Silver Metallic is priced at NT$4,122,000).
In other words, a DIY import of the same car bought abroad will save you around NT$1.5 million.
Once Taiwan has entered the WTO the rates of import duty will be reduced year-on-year so in future the cost of DIY imports will be even lower.
The only problem with importing your own car is the warranty and service, but it’s pretty simple - if the engine fails, replace it with a new engine. If the computer fails, replace it with a new computer. For regular service just take it to the main dealer (everyone will want to service your Porsche because the margins are so high). If you write off your car, NT$1.5 million will get it sorted.
And do you want to know another secret of the Taiwan dealers? In Taiwan the warranty is only two years but in America it’s four years. During Taiwan’s warranty period you have to pay for parts but in America any warranty service or repair is completely free. Porsche America will also provide a replacement car for the day with no mileage limit. In Taiwan the parts are all more expensive than America but of course the labour is cheaper. So the main dealer is gouging and making a huge profit from you - not just when you buy the car but through its entire lifetime.
Llary mate… There’s quite a lot going wrong with your cost break down and the source of your info…
For starters you’re translating the claimed NT$150萬 saving as NT$150million, which is a little optimistic… Next the exchange rate today is NT$34.8 to US$1… Also I’m pretty sure TW customs will chose the higher of the two book values available, but even if we go with the lower $41k book value, ignore the suspiciously cheap freight and insurance, assume that the quoted US dealer price of US$56k is FOB not EXW (unlikely but the link doesn’t say), ignore the fact that the manual transmission is likely to incur further homologation tests than the TW dealer’s auto cars and re-run the maths for the for the American 2007 Cayman S 3.4l mentioned in your link:
Cost: US$41,000 (book value)
Insurance: US$66
Freight: US$1300
TOTAL: US$42,366 x 34.8 =
NT$1,474,337 Dutiable CIF value at customs:
A: Import tax = 1,474,337 x 20.3% = NT$299,290
B: Excise duty = 1,474,337 + 299,290 x 30% = NT$532,088
C: Business tax (VAT) = 1,474,337 + 299,290 + 532,088 x 5% = NT$115,286
D: Business promotion service fee = 1,474,337 x 0.04% = NT$590
TOTAL: NT$947,254 in taxes and excise [don’t forget this is based on the generous CIF price]
Actual US price paid to dealer US$56,000 x 34.8 = NT$1,948,800
Plus TW customs and excise based on book value: NT$947,254
Plus registration etc. : NT$120,000 [they claim, personally I think that’s optimistic]
Total ideal world landed cost for the American DIY import 2007 Cayman S 3.4l : NT$3,016,054
Even if we take the highest official online Porche finder TW price, NT$3,300,000 and the lowest conceivable DIY import price, NT$3,016,054, in the real world after haggling at the dealer and factoring in real world CIF and on the road costs and time and hassle for the DIY import, there’s really not much in it…
Hey plasma, just FYI these guys are posting info based on real world experience. I would give them a break over exchange rates because everything else is spot on.
I can verify the shipping and insurance costs because I have personally dealt with the company used by one of the dudes posting a ‘real world’ import report of a Jeep on their blog. I asked at the Taichung Porsche dealer a few months back and the lowest they will sell a brand new Cayman S is NT$4 mil flat. That’s $1 mil more than a worst case DIY import which is more than enough money to make me think it’s worth the arseache. Even on the old tax scheme I worked it out around NT$3.6mil all-in and at the time you were not just getting the $400k saving but a newer model since Porsche Taiwan are about 2 generations behind.
The Taiwan Porsche dealer does offer manual transmissions but it doesn’t matter because each car runs through the ARTC as a completely independent model.
One of the most useful things on that site is the info on ARTC… they have a ridiculous amount of info on general modifications and tweaks to specific models to get a first time pass. The only other info I ever found was about 5 years old from when the commodity tax was 60% so this stuff is very welcome.
I am looking at importing a car (not a Porsche) later this year because I can’t buy it in Taiwan so I guess we’ll find out for sure. I am confident in the math, I am just worried about passing the ARTC.
Not really, that NT$4 mil price you were quoted by the dealer is for a new Cayman S… The DIY import NT$3 mil example that we calculated is for a 2007 model Cayman S, as is the official Porche finder website’s NT$3.3mil… Redo the math for a new Cayman S, even a 2008 model and the DIY price will be much higher than the NT$3 mil, and don’t forget that was the rose tinted, perfect world DIY import cost, plus the DIY example is a manual which is cheaper than the auto-tiptronic models we were comparing it to anyway…
Factor in loosing the warranty entirely, the inevitable nightmares in getting it past inspections, licensing and smog testing, if you even can, and I’m still not convinced the single percentage figure savings of a DIY import (at least on this example anyway) are worth much consideration, other than as a nice little black and white negotiating wedge at the dealers, where you could knock a few percent off MSRP without trying too hard anyway…
Last year I wanted to buy - oddly enough - a new 2007 manual Cayman S so I priced up the difference between the Taiwan dealer and a self import. I never did buy it because the economy took a shit and now I will be lucky to afford a Toyota Vios. However, in the process I got some useful info and at the time I had a BRAND NEW 2007 manual Cayman S priced at $3m for DIY import and $4m for dealer bought. Without any serious haggling I found some local Californian dealers selling for around US$50k.
And who cares about the warranty when Porsche Taiwan give you a measly two years - labour only?? Nothing is going to go wrong with a properly service German mass market sportscar in the first 2 years (unless you copy this dude: youtube.com/watch?v=fSEkUV7torQ).
I guess we will find out for sure in the reasonably near future when uncle llary puts his balls at the mercy of Taiwan customs.
Do it. I’m very interested to know what happens. I looked into doing it with my bike when I came here but it looked like a headache. I still reckon you could do it and save a lot of cash but I’m put off by not being able to speak Chinese and being white. Easy to get a butt fucking from customs/testing I reckon but the savings are clear to see IF everything goes to plan.
I’m not convinced it’s worth it for most bikes, especially cheaper Japanese models. I worked out the cost of self importing a low end Kawasaki and it was more than the best dealer price, and you do usually get a decent warranty on these things.
The main vehicles that people are getting stung on are the luxury European marques - Porsche, BMW, Mercedes and to a much lesser extent Audi, VW etc. Believe it or not the Ferrari/Maserati dealer offers a pretty fair deal compared with the real import price.
I’d like to import a 97 ducati monster from HK… however the catch is the bike has been sitting for 10 years and i’d like to restore it. What should i expect for taxes and import cost?
Sadly, no. I am saying you simply cannot import anything more than ten years old! There is no appreciation whatsoever here for what we think of as classic vehicles and the government doesn’t see any advantage to them or the local manufacturers by allowing older used vehicles to be imported.
Hello everybody.
I’ve read this forum and found some information but I need a more practical set of information.
I am in Switzerland at the moment and I will be in Taiwan in May to continue my chinese studies.
I already have a BMW 1200 GS 1200 which is still quoted at CHF 12000. (More or less 12’000 USD).
I plan to bring it with me.
At first, I would like to know if I can use this bike with my Swiss insurance and so on in Taiwan.
I guess it should be possible as many riders made a nice world trip. However, I never read of experiences in Taiwan.
Then, after I settle down in Taiwan I would like to officialy import my motorbike and resign my swiss contracts.
How much should it cost me to fulfill Taiwan laws.
