Buying new scooter

Life Cars & Motorcycles
1

Hi! I want to buy a new scooter. I was wondering what is the process of buying a scooter in Taiwan. I’m from the US and usually we know how much the dealer buys the scooter for and how much we should offer the dealer.

However, when I ask Taiwanese people about this, they say just pay the price that is quoted like I’m buying a general retail item at a store. Is this correct? In the USA, we think that vehicles are “big-ticket” items and there is a wide range where we can negotiate a price.

Please give me some advice.

Thank you.

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2

Go to a few stores compare the price and then bargain.

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3

You can try and bargain but they are often pretty good at not budging much. Instead they will throw in fee stuff you might not want.

Used places have more room to budge.

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4

You can check online to get an idea of what they’re going for. PCHome even has most of them.

If you let us know which models you are considering, some of us could help you know if it’s a good price or not.

This is a good place for information about bikes (scooters, motorcycles, etc.) in Taiwan. Can find used ones there and just helpful tips.

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5

Pretty much. There are very low profits for most dealers on new scooters, they make money on maintenance rather than sales. You may get a few thousand NT off by bargaining, or a free helmet & rain gear, or some free oil changes. Source: I know a guy who owns a scooter shop.

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Even more specifically, parts. I think I’ve only been charged labor once.

7

I hope OP doesn’t mind me jumping in…

I currently own one Yamaha Majesty 125cc 1999 and I really like it. I find it very comfortable, but I’m looking to change for something newer. .Any recommendations?

It doesn’t need to be brand new, something up to 5yo is also fine.

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8

Don’t get a Kymco Dink.

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9

Why not?

10

For the same reason I didn’t buy the Honda Scrawny Joe Banana Head?

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The prices are pretty fixed on new scooters, most won’t bargain with you. There isnt a bargain range like cars in US. I went to 5 different Yamaha dealers to find my new scooter, all the prices were within 500nt range for a 79,000 scooter

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12

Right, well, the “part” cost actually is padded to include the labor.

You could buy a part from the shop for 3k and they install it for you. Or you could buy it yourself for 1.5k and pay the shop the other 1.5k to install it :slight_smile:

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Yeah, I get that. I worked in bicycle shops in Colorado for 15 years.

But, even just doing some extra labor while you’re there, they tend to do it for free. Regardless of buying more parts or not. And they definitely aren’t doubling the price to include labor.

14

You’re lucky it was only once.

15

To be fair, it was always only simple scooter work. Expensive big bikes are probably another story.

16

I don’t think scooters on display at a dealer are bought (owned) by them, it’s the manufacturer that puts them there, after a while they’ll change them and move them around. Seen that happen a lot, company pulls up a truck and loads and unloads scooters. So, wiggle room is not that huge. Maybe second hand has bigger range for negotiation.

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17

Thank you everyone for all the great information! :smiley: