yeah alphard is very popular in my country too especially among rich people as their 2nd or 3rd car…usually carries a driver, two nannies, a mom and three kids, found mostly at the malls and at school waiting to pick the kids up 
…it’s also used as a taxi there…it’s basically a luxury version of toyota hiace
Get a Wolkswagen caravelle, if you can afford it. Room for 8 and rock solid. I like my old t4 a lot.
I was going to suggest a T5 but I think he fancies something a little different. Also they are so difficult to find on the used market as they are still generally fit and functional and being used.
There really isn’t much info here on Forumosa re: auto insurance. I was hoping to find ideas on good companies, bargaining, recommendations as to adequate coverage amounts, but there’s only 2-3 postings that have even begun to answer some of these topics. I’m shopping right now and have found an English speaking agent with Fubon. I hope to post some more on my experiences.
Thanks Sulavaca and Taiwanbound, you’re posts here are probably the best thread yet on this topic. Sulavaca, consider an article on this topic. I searched your website and it wasn’t there either. One other good thread is Advice on Insurance
Given the dangerous driving customs in Taiwan, it would behoove us to be well insured. I don’t want my finances in the hands of some hit and run driver!
[sigh], if only people expected to pay for good advice, I’d be a wealthy man.
Hello,
I plan to buy a car in taiwan, I want to buy a medium size car, I spotted 3 potential model I like, mitsubishi lancer, mazda 3(5door) and honda civic. I have one problem with the civic though I think a new one is coming end of year so maybe not best time to buy one now ? Anyone have experience with one of those car and tell me what they think of it. Or if anyone have suggestion about another good medium size car.
PS : I dont plan to buy second hand car because I cant be sure of what I will be left with having no knowledge of mechanic and limited chinese.
budget?.
Skoda have yetis,octavias,fabias and roomsters at 600k-900k, they are pound for pound the best value for a quality car right now.
Sub 600k then look at the meccano assembled Japanese cars.
[quote=“smellybumlove”]budget?.
Skoda have yetis,octavias,fabias and roomsters at 600k-900k, they are pound for pound the best value for a quality car right now.
Sub 600k then look at the meccano assembled Japanese cars.[/quote]
How cheap are they in maintenance?
Ownership costs should include this.
Like for instance - I drove a Fiat panda 2010 model in Italy last week. Small, manual, cheap, cheerful, and with a bit of personality. I would not mind having one as the daily driver here in Taiwan.
Seeing that there’ s no importer currently, I would think that spares would be a huge issue, and that maintenance would cost an arm and a leg. That would shoot that idea down right there and then.
I love the Mazda 3, but I can’t imagine anyone calling it a “medium size car”. It’s tiny. I’m short, but I felt quite cramped in the little cockpit (and the bucket seat was too narrow for my fat arse). I think of the Mazda 5 (which we ended up buying) as more of a ‘medium size’ vehicle. But then again, I drove a Pontiac Bonneville and a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham in the late 70’s. If you want a recommendation on a salesperson for a Mazda 3 or 5, let me know, as we were very happy with ours, in Taibei.
By medium size car it means not the small car I tried the mazda 3 today and I was pretty surprised, I dont know why I didnt have good image of mazda but the inside looked good and the ride was good too, far better than I imagined, waiting to go try the lancer now. Concerning skoda, actually I didnt really check european car cause I thought maybe more expensive to buy and maintain, but I might give it a look if price are ok. My budget is around 800k.
To hell with those! I want one of these! Starting bid at 3,000 quid, can be driven on the roads with no MOT or tax with just a car licence. Carries 6 people. Four-wheel drive.
And then of course there’s the 1,600 feet of hose and the 35-foot ladder…
TALK about a cool ride!
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Green-Goddess-fire-engine-to.6804267.jp
[quote=“Mr He”]
How cheap are they in maintenance?
Ownership costs should include this.
Like for instance - I drove a Fiat panda 2010 model in Italy last week. Small, manual, cheap, cheerful, and with a bit of personality. I would not mind having one as the daily driver here in Taiwan.
Seeing that there’ s no importer currently, I would think that spares would be a huge issue, and that maintenance would cost an arm and a leg. That would shoot that idea down right there and then.[/quote]
I got servicing included with my car and 120,000kms or 4 years warranty on the DSG gearbox, 2 years warranty on the car though now skoda give 4 years for the car too.
Servicing and spares wont be your concern during the first 2-4 years and even if they were, parts are quite cheaply sourced through the right channels.
Fantastic cars that make alot of sense in Taiwan, im looking at buying a 2nd skoda presently 
-edit-
fabia combi 1.2tsi
800,000nt before haggling, wide range of colours with different roof colours availible if it floats your boat.
Engine is a fire cracker, gearbox is one of the best on the market, fuel consumption rivals diesels especially in town and the boot is absolutely massive yet the car is quite small, fantastic euro ncap rating (very safe in a crash), rock solid residuals, good reliability, great warranty… i could go on and on, only downside is that its rather fugly 
Best car you can buy hands down for under 800,000nt.
The Lancer doesn’t compare to either the Mazda 3 or Skoda Octavia for handling or ride IMO. A European car is always more expensive to own over a locally built car. Depreciation is higher, parts more expensive, less reliable and trickier to maintain.
The Lancer doesn’t compare to either the Mazda 3 or Skoda Octavia for handling or ride IMO. A European car is always more expensive to own over a locally built car. Depreciation is higher, parts more expensive, less reliable and trickier to maintain.[/quote]
Bought my car for 868,000nt selling for 800,000nt… so i lost 68,000nt in 1 year :roflmao:
depreciation is minimal on the right model euro car (small engine models mostly).
The Lancer doesn’t compare to either the Mazda 3 or Skoda Octavia for handling or ride IMO. A European car is always more expensive to own over a locally built car. Depreciation is higher, parts more expensive, less reliable and trickier to maintain.[/quote]
Bought my car for 868,000nt selling for 800,000nt… so i lost 68,000nt in 1 year :roflmao:
depreciation is minimal on the right model euro car (small engine models mostly).[/quote]
Is your car over one year old?
Did you sell it privately?
Edit
[quote] Re: Smellys vehicle dilemma
by smellybumlove » Sat, 30 Oct 2010 4:44
Got the car
[/quote]
So you have had the car for less than ten months!
[quote=“smellybumlove”]Bought my car for 868,000nt selling for 800,000nt… so i lost 68,000nt in 1 year :roflmao:
depreciation is minimal on the right model euro car (small engine models mostly).[/quote]
If u love the car so much then why sell it? and who would buy a car at $800k with less than 1.5 yrs warranty left when they can buy new at $868k (or maybe $898k now, dunno) with 4 yrs warranty? :loco:
oh and yeah, do not buy european car if u concern about maintenance and depcreciation cost…they are not as reliable and as cheap to maintain as locally build Jap car…for example, it costs less than $3000 to replace gearbox oil of a 2007 2.4 camry but it costs almost $9000 for just a 1.6 Golf and 1.8Tsi passat…both brands are serviced at authorized dealer
[quote=“StreetSpec”][quote=“smellybumlove”]Bought my car for 868,000nt selling for 800,000nt… so i lost 68,000nt in 1 year :roflmao:
depreciation is minimal on the right model euro car (small engine models mostly).[/quote]
If u love the car so much then why sell it? and who would buy a car at $800k with less than 1.5 yrs warranty left when they can buy new at $868k (or maybe $898k now, dunno) with 4 yrs warranty? :loco:
oh and yeah, do not buy european car if u concern about maintenance and depcreciation cost…they are not as reliable and as cheap to maintain as locally build Jap car…for example, it costs less than $3000 to replace gearbox oil of a 2007 2.4 camry but it costs almost $9000 for just a 1.6 Golf and 1.8Tsi passat…both brands are serviced at authorized dealer[/quote]
Really $9000 do change the gearbox oil of a car with a sealed dry clutch double clutch gearbox :bravo:
Get your facts straight mate.
As for selling my Yeti, its a hard choice but i have to carry alot of stuff, so much that i cant take passangers or leave baby seats in the car, need a bigger boot.
Also i do tons of highway driving and the Yeti is not very good MPG-wise on the highway, so a lower and more powerful car is needed.
Octavia combi is what i am getting.
Reason why somebody will buy mine for 800k, skoda ran out and wont have any till next year, price is 938,000nt new without alloys :roflmao:
Thats a $138,000nt knocked off plus a nice set of wheels thrown in
[quote=“smellybumlove”][quote=“StreetSpec”][quote=“smellybumlove”]Bought my car for 868,000nt selling for 800,000nt… so i lost 68,000nt in 1 year :roflmao:
depreciation is minimal on the right model euro car (small engine models mostly).[/quote]
If u love the car so much then why sell it? and who would buy a car at $800k with less than 1.5 yrs warranty left when they can buy new at $868k (or maybe $898k now, dunno) with 4 yrs warranty? :loco:
oh and yeah, do not buy european car if u concern about maintenance and depcreciation cost…they are not as reliable and as cheap to maintain as locally build Jap car…for example, it costs less than $3000 to replace gearbox oil of a 2007 2.4 camry but it costs almost $9000 for just a 1.6 Golf and 1.8Tsi passat…both brands are serviced at authorized dealer[/quote]
Really $9000 to change the gearbox oil of a car with a sealed dry clutch double clutch gearbox :bravo:
Get your facts straight mate.
As for selling my Yeti, its a hard choice but I have to carry alot of stuff, so much that i cant take passangers or leave baby seats in the car, need a bigger boot.
Also I do tons of highway driving and the Yeti is not very good MPG-wise on the highway, so a lower and more powerful car is needed.
Octavia combi is what I am getting.
Reason why somebody will buy mine for 800k, skoda ran out and wont have any till next year, price is 938,000nt new without alloys :roflmao:
Thats a $138,000nt knocked off plus a nice set of wheels thrown in [/quote]
[quote=“smellybumlove”]Reason why somebody will buy mine for 800k, skoda ran out and wont have any till next year, price is 938,000nt new without alloys :roflmao:
Thats a $138,000nt knocked off plus a nice set of wheels thrown in [/quote]
We got lucky the same way with the Audi A3, Audi were coming to take over Taigu’s operation so Taigu had to dump all the less desirable 1.8T models as fast as possible. We paid less than $1.3m about 3 years ago and I got offered $1m for it last week. Reason being that the absolute minimum price new is now $1.5m
[quote=“llary”][quote=“smellybumlove”]Reason why somebody will buy mine for 800k, skoda ran out and wont have any till next year, price is 938,000nt new without alloys :roflmao:
Thats a $138,000nt knocked off plus a nice set of wheels thrown in [/quote]
We got lucky the same way with the Audi A3, Audi were coming to take over Taigu’s operation so Taigu had to dump all the less desirable 1.8T models as fast as possible. We paid less than $1.3m about 3 years ago and I got offered $1m for it last week. Reason being that the absolute minimum price new is now $1.5m [/quote]
oh mate you got a good deal on that!.
The 1.8t is basically the 2.0t with a shorter stroke, the turbo from the gti or audi S3 bolts right on with no mods besides a map :bravo:
Thats why im picking up the very last 1.8t octavia combi (all the new ones are 1.6 diesels :no-no: )
Its not just your car, tons of the euro cars are selling for close to the original price, all the latest imports are more expensive with almost no justification for the price increase.